Alloy Selection for a Cofired Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler Vortex Finder Application at 880 °C in a Complex Mixed Mode Corrosion Environment

X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used on a corroded industrial-scale circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler vortex finder (VF) 253MA alloy plate material to identify the dominating corrosion products and to enable a qualified selection of candidate alloys for the long-term, full-scale exposure study. Alloys 253MA, 310S, 800H/HT, Alloy DS, and Alloy 600 were chosen, and the alloy plates were exposed to the CFB boiler combustion atmosphere having an average temperature of approximately 880 °C, consisting of a moist globally oxidizing gas, burning hydrocarbons, CO2, CO, SO2, HCl, NH3, N2, alkali species, and erosive particles. The exposure times used in this study were 1750, 8000, 12000, and 16000 operating hours. After exposure, the alloy samples were cut, and cross-sections were dry-polished and analyzed with an SEM-backscatter electron detector (BSD) setup to quantify material loss and penetration depth of the corrosion attack. This work suggests two novel concepts: heavily af...