Corrosion behaviour of boiler steels, coatings and welds in flue gas environments

In recent years there has been a steadily increasing focus on energy efficiency as a means to reduce the negative impact of human activity on climate, and in particular the effect that industrial emissions have on changes in the climate, specifically global warming. As far as power generation is concerned, emissions can be limited by maximizing energy efficiency while ensuring high levels of plant reliability. This paper reports on materials development work involving coated heat exchange alloys and the effect of welding of the coated alloys, simulating fabrication, on subsequent corrosion performance under laboratory conditions. Samples of the common boiler steels P91 (9% Cr) and HCM12A (12% Cr) were treated by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) in a pack cementation process to produce Al-rich coatings up to 100 mu m thick. The samples were machined to give bevelled edges for welding. Welding was carried out using commonly available alloy 625 fillet metal. It was found that sound weldments could readily be produced provided that care was taken to limit the heat input during the welding process. Excessive heat input could lead to cracking, but more importantly to dilution of Al in the coating adjacent to the weldment and in segregation of elements (Mo and Nb) in the weldment itself, Both dilution and segregation effects led to decreased corrosion resistance.