The effect of pretreatment on the corrosion resistance of superheater materials

In order to improve the power production efficiency of biomass-fired boilers, power plants must be operated at higher steam temperatures than nowadays. One of the main factors hindering the rise of the steam temperatures is the corrosive nature of the flue gases and fly ash towards the superheaters. In this study, the high-temperature corrosion resistance of three commercial superheater steels exposed to potassium chloride was compared. The focus was on the effect of pre-oxidation on the protective properties of different steels, whereupon various variables were used during the pre-oxidation.