• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.273-279
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• 2015

Effects of passive film quality by chemical passivation and solution flow on the corrosion behavior of 304 stainless steel in HCl solution were investigated using a coloration indicator, and by corrosion weight loss, electrochemical polarization and element dissolution measurements. A high redness degree suggests a low passive-film integrity for 304 stainless steel following air exposure, while the minimum redness degree for the samples after chemical passivation suggests a high passive-film integrity. In the static condition, samples subjected to air exposure exhibited a high corrosion rate and preferential dissolution of Fe. Chemical passivation inhibited the corrosion rate due to the intrinsically high structural integrity of the passive film and high concentrations of Cr-rich oxides and hydroxide. Solution flow accelerated corrosion by promoting both the anodic dissolution reaction and the cathodic reaction. Solution flow also altered the preferential dissolution to fast uniform dissolution of metal elements.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2019

Severe wall thinning is found on the tube of a low-pressure evaporator(LPEVA) module that is used for a heat recovery steam generator(HRSG) of a district heating system. Since wall thinning can lead to sudden failure or accidents that lead to shutdown of the operation, it is very important to investigate the main mechanism of the wall thinning. In this study, corrosion analysis associated with a typical flow-accelerated corrosion(FAC) is performed using the corroded tube connected to an upper header of the LPEVA. To investigate factors triggering the FAC, the morphology, composition, and phase of the corroded product of the tube are examined using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The results show that the thinnest part of the tube is in the region where gas directly contacts, revealing the typical orange peel type of morphology frequently found in the FAC. The discovery of oxide scales containing phosphate indicates that phosphate corrosion is the main mechanism that weakens the stability of the protective magnetite film and the FAC accelerates the corrosion by generating the orange peel type of morphology.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.135-140
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• 2016

Piping and equipment are degraded by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) in nuclear power plants. FAC causes numerous problems and nuclear utilities maintain programs to control FAC. The key parameters influencing FAC are hydrodynamic conditions, water chemistry, and effect of materials. Recently, a nuclear utility has planned slight power uprates in Korea. Operating conditions need to be changed in the secondary system according to power uprates. This study analyzed the effect of wall-thinning caused by power uprates. The change of operation data in the secondary cycle is reviewed, and wall-thinning rates are analyzed in the main lines. As a result, two phase (mixture of water and steam) lines have a greater impact than a water line under power uprate conditions. Also, the quality of steam is the most important factor for FAC in two phase lines.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.325-330
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• 2015

Pipe wall-thinning by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a significant and costly damage of secondary system piping in nuclear power plants (NPPs). All NPPs have their management programs to ensure pipe integrity from wall-thinning. This study analyzed the pipe wall-thinning caused by changing the amine, which is used for adjusting the water chemistry in the secondary system of NPPs. The pH change was analyzed according to the addition of amine. Then, the wear rate calculated in two different amines was compared at the steam cycle in NPPs. As a result, increasing the pH at operating temperature (Hot pH) can reduce the rate of FAC damage significantly. Wall-thinning is affected by amine characteristics depending on temperature and quality of water.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.182-188
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• 2016

Significant piping wall thinning caused by Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) and Erosion-Corrosion (EC) continues to occur, even after the Mihama Power Station unit 3 secondary pipe rupture in 2004, in which workers were seriously injured or died. Nuclear power plants in many countries have experienced FAC and EC-related cases in steam cycle piping systems. Korea has also experienced piping wall thinning cases including thinning in the downstream straight pipe of a check valve in a feedwater pump line, the downstream elbow of a control valve in a feedwater flow control line, and failure of the straight pipe downstream of an orifice in an auxiliary steam return line. Cause analyses were performed by reviewing thickness data using Ultrasonic Techniques (UT) and, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images for the failed pipe, and numerical simulation results for FAC and EC cases in Korea Nuclear Power Plants. It was concluded that the main cause of wall thinning for the downstream pipe of a check valve is FAC caused by water vortex flow due to the internal flow shape of a check valve, the main cause of wall thinning for the downstream elbow of a control valve is FAC caused by a thickness difference with the upstream pipe, and the main cause of wall thinning for the downstream pipe of an orifice is FAC and EC caused by liquid droplets and vortex flow. In order to investigate more cases, additional analyses were performed with the review of a lot of thickness data for inspected pipes. The results showed that pipe wall thinning was also affected by the operating condition of upstream equipment. Management of FAC and EC based on these cases will focus on the downstream piping of abnormal or unusual operated equipment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.3003-3011
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• 2021

A FAC (flow-accelerated corrosion) test was performed for a straight pipe composed of the SA335 Gr P22 and SA106 Gr B (SA106-SA335-SA106) types of steel with welds as a function of the flow rate in the range of 7-12 m/s at 150 ℃ and with DO < 5 ppb at pH levels ranging from 7 to 9.5 up to a cumulative test time of 7200 h using the FAC demonstration test facility. Afterward, the experimental pipe was examined destructively to investigate opposite effects as well as entrance effects. In addition, the FAC rate obtained using a pipe specimen with a 50 mm inner diameter was compared with the rate obtained from a rotating cylindrical electrode. The effects of the complicated fluid flows at the elbow and orifice of the pipeline were also evaluated using another test section designed to examine the independent effects of the orifice and the elbow depending on the distance and the combined effects on orifice and elbow. The tests were performed under the following conditions: 130-150 ℃, DO < 5 ppb, pH 7 and a flow rate of 3 m/s. The FAC rate was determined using the thickness change obtained from commercial room-temperature ultrasonic testing (UT).

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.82-89
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• 2011

When pipe components made of carbon steel in nuclear, fossil, and industry plants are exposed to flowing fluid, wall thinning caused by FAC(flow accelerated corrosion) can be generated and eventually ruptured at the position of pressure boundary. The aim of this study is to identify the locations at which local wall thinning occurs and to determine the turbulence coefficient related to local wall thinning. Experiment and numerical analyses for the tee sections of down scaled piping components were performed and the results were compared. In particular, flow visualization experiment which was used alkali metallic salt was performed to find actual location of local wall thinning inside tee components. In order to determine the relationship between turbulence coefficients and local wall thinning, numerical analyses were performed for tee components in the main feedwater systems. The turbulence coefficients based on the numerical analyses were compared with the local wall thinning based on the measured data. From the comparison of the results, the vertical flow velocity component(Vr) flowing to the wall after separating in the wall due to the geometrical configuration and colliding with the wall directly at an angle of some degree was analogous to the configuration of local wall thinning.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2020

A number of piping components in the secondary system of nuclear power plants (NPPs) are exposed to aging mechanisms, such as flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC), cavitation, flashing, solid particle erosion, and liquid droplet impingement erosion. Those mechanisms may lead to thinning, leaking, or rupture of the components. Due to the pipe ruptures caused by wall thinning in Surry unit 2 in the USA in 1986 and Mihama unit 3 in Japan in 1994, pipe wall thinning management has emerged as one of the most important issues in the nuclear industry. To manage pipe wall thinning, a foreign program has been utilized for NPPs in Korea since 1996. As our experience and knowledge of pipe wall thinning management have accumulated, our program needs to reflect our experience, requests from users, and the result of recent experiments using Flow Accelerated Corrosion Testing System (FACTS). FACTS is the empirical experimental facility developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) for tests. Accordingly, KEPCO-E&C developed a 3D-based pipe wall thinning management program called ToSPACE in 2016. This paper describes a comparison between the FAC analysis results using ToSPACE and the experimental results using FACTS to verify their applicability to pipe wall thinning management in NPPs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.784-790
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• 2020

The accelerated corrosion by Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) has caused unexpected rupture of piping, hindering the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and sometimes causing personal injury. For the safety, it may be necessary to select some pipes in terms of condition monitoring and to measure the change in thickness of pipes in real time. Direct current potential drop (DCPD) method has advantages in on-line monitoring of pipe wall thinning. However, it has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to quantify thinning due to various thinning shapes and thus there is a limitation in application. The machine learning approach has advantages in that it can be easily applied because the machine can learn the signals of various thinning shapes and can identify the thinning using these. In this paper, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed by applying direct current to a carbon steel pipe and measuring the potential drop. The fundamental machine learning was carried out and the piping thinning model was developed. In this process, the features of DCPD to thinning were proposed.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.83-93
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• 2010

Feedwater heaters of many nuclear power plants have recently experienced severe wall thinning damage, which will increase as operating time progresses. Several nuclear power plants in Korea have experienced wall thinning damage in the area around the impingement baffle inside feedwater heater installed downstream of the turbine extraction stream line. At that point, the extract steam from the turbine is two phase fluid at high temperature, high pressure, and high speed. Since it flows to reverse direction after impinging the impingement baffle, the shell wall of feedwater heaters may be affected by flow-accelerated corrosion. In this paper, to compare degree of shell wall thinning mitigation rate to squared type with mitigation rate of other type baffle plate, four different types of impingement baffle plate-squared, curved, mitigating type and multi-hole type-applied inside the shell. With these comparison data, this paper describes operation of experiments and numerical analysis which is composed similar condition with real feed water heater. And flow visualization is operated for verification of experiments and numerical analysis. In conclusion, this study shows that mitigating type and multi-hole type baffle plate are more effective than other baffle plate about prevention of pressure concentration and pressure value decrease.