ETD is currently coordinating / running two large industry or group sponsored projects (GSPs) on P91 and P92 Issues. These are sponsored by European and Asian utilities and manufacturers.

The projects are:

  • Abnormal P91: a five-year project, started in April 2014.
  • P91-P92 Inspection and Life Assessment: a two-year project, also started in April 2014.

As part of these projects, and for our ‘Int. P91 Users Group’, we are now conducting the following surveys:

The one-page questionnaire in the attachment labelled ‘steamside oxidation’ is in two parts. Part one is on the effect of Cr content on T91 tube failure due to steamside oxidation, and part two covers the relationship between plant start up cycles, creep ductility and failure of thick section components.

R&D findings clearly indicate that T91 boiler tube failures due to steam oxidation could be possibly related to the metal Cr content and failed tubes lying at the lower end of ASME specification (Cr range 8% – 9.5%), as steam oxidation falls rapidly with the increase in Cr level within this range.

Similarly, in the privatised industry scenario and with increasing penetration of renewables, more and more plants are being subjected to cyclic operations and the failure of thick section components in such plants could possibly be related to material creep ductility and the number of start ups.

The current data shows that creep ductility of P91 and P92 casts can vary significantly from cast to cast. However, it is appreciated that you may not have creep ductility information for your failed components, in which case we will try to relate the service duration at the time of failure with the number of starts and other parameters such as operating temperature, pressure and chemical composition, among others.

You are invited to participate in this survey by answering a few simple questions in the one and two-page questionnaires. Your data will be treated anonymously and aggregated with our existing database and other respondents’ data.

In return, the outcome and summary of the analysis will be provided to you. If you are a plant manufacturer, plant owner or service provider then the outcome of this survey should prove very valuable to you. If you wish to participate in these two surveys please click here.

You will receive the summary of the findings for the questionnaire that you have completed.