Erosion-corrosion of laser and thermally deposited coatings exposed in fluidised bed combustion plants

Journal article, 2006

Coated steel tubes were exposed in two power plants (CFB and PFBC) fired with wood chips and coal with a small addition of olive seeds, respectively. Laser coating and two thermal spray techniques were used. The samples in the PFBC plant were immersed in the fluidising bed at material temperatures 450 °C and 400 °C. The exposure lasted for a total time of 8089 h. In the CFB plant a probe at the cyclone entrance had a material temperature of 630 °C for the first 2100 h and then 480 °C for 920 h. The material wastage was determined from tube cross-sections. The corrosion products and deposits were analysed by SEM/EDX, Auger spectroscopy, XPS and XRD. Cobalt based coatings show the best performance in both plants, while nickel based coatings are very sensitive to erosion but resistant to a corrosive atmosphere. The totally degraded chromium carbide containing coating in the CFB plant shows that the degree of corrosion is much larger in this environment. The same coating was excellent in the fluidised bed due to its high erosion resistance. The material wastage is independent of the deposition method. The coating technicques had no significant effect on the spallation behaviour.