OPTIMIZING THE PERFORMANCE OF MATERIALS IN FBC CONDITIONS USING EROSION-CORROSION WASTAGE AND MATERIALS PERFORMANCE MAPS

The mechanism of wastage of in-bed heat exchanger tubes in fluidized b ed combustion conditions is possibly the least well understood area in high temperature erosion/abrasion. There have been many attempts to s imulate the wastage process. Yet, an understanding of the causes of th e very distinctive pattern of wastage with temperature is still elusiv e. The purpose of this paper is to review recent literature on wastage of materials in FBCs. The possible arguments for the differences betw een the results for laboratory and plant studies environments are disc ussed critically. Some critical issues which still remain to be resolv ed are also addressed. The results from laboratory data from a range o f research groups are used to construct erosion-corrosion 'wastage' re gime maps and materials performance maps. The use of such maps to opti mize process parameters and to provide a basis for materials selection is outlined. The application of materials mapping approaches to eleva ted temperature erosion in advanced power plants is described.