Development and application of a methodology for the measurement of corrosion and erosion damage in laboratory, burner rig and plant environments

Fuel gases derived from solid fuels such as coal, biomass and waste and the ir mixes have the potential to cause both erosion and corrosion damage to c omponents in gas turbines and diesel engines. To allow the statistically va lid assessment of materials performance in short term plant runs, burner ri g tests and laboratory simulated environments a methodology has been develo ped to collect compatible quantitative data on materials degradation. Accur ate measurement techniques based on pre-exposure contact metrology and post -exposure optical microscopy/image analysis have been developed. These take into account both the low level of damage required for practical systems a nd the localised nature of hot corrosion damage. The data produced have bee n used to derive and test quantitative models for the prediction of the per formance of candidate materials in such power systems. For these models to be used with confidence, similar damage morphologies must be produced in bo th the real and simulated conditions, as well as similar damage rates.