Condition Assessment
Evaluating the Condition and Remaining Life
of Older Power Plants
Zusammenfassung
Evaluierung des Zustands und der
Restlebensdauer älterer Kraftwerke
In der gegenwärtigen Situation gibt die In-
spektion, Prüfung und Bewertung von Kraft-
werken häufig Anlass zu folgender Frage: Wie
lange können Kraftwerke sicher und kostenef-
fizient betrieben werden und dabei gleichzeitig
den gestiegenen Anforderungen hinsichtlich
der betrieblichen Verfügbarkeit und reduzier-
ten Schadstoffemissionen genügen, wenn sie
ihre ursprünglich vorgesehene Lebensdauer in
Betrieb waren?
Diese Frage ist von wachsender Bedeutung,
wenn man berücksichtigt, dass der Anteil der
über 30 Jahre alten Anlagen unter den derzeit
betriebenen Kraftwerken steigt. Um diese
Frage zu beantworten, muss zuerst die Be-
triebstauglichkeit der bestehenden Anlage un-
tersucht werden.
Weltweit gibt es keine Restlebensdauer-
Methodik, die alle Unwägbarkeiten berück-
sichtigt, wie z. B. die Streuung der Material-
eigenschaften und zusätzliche Systembelas-
tungen. Der Beitrag erläutert die Grundlagen
der Reststandzeit-Methodik (RLT Methodol-
ogy) von LABORELEC für Qualitätsverluste
von Werkstoffen, wie Kriechen, thermische Er-
müdung und Erosion oder Korrosion:
— Konstruktionsdaten, Betriebs- und War-
tungsgeschichte, )
— zerstörungsfreie Prüfungen und Zerstö-
rungsprüfungen, wie Kriechversuche.
In Verbindung mit unserer risikobasierten In-
spektionsmethodik (RBI Methodology), einer
Risikobewertungsmethode, die ebenfalls in
diesem Beitrag behandelt wird, kann der
Kunde mit dieser Reststandzeit-Methodik das
optimale Inspektionsintervall für alle Elemente
des Prozesses ermitteln, die für den schlei-
chenden Qualitätsverlust anfällig sind. Die An-
lagenkomponenten, die nicht von schleichen-
dem Qualitätsverlust betroffen sind, können
nur durch Änderung der Konstruktion, War-
tung oder Betriebsbedingungen verbessert
werden.
Ch. Laire
Product Manager "Materials Technology",
LABORELEC - Laborator}' of the Belgian
Electricity Industry, Brussels/Belgium.
M. Eyckmans
Product Manager "Failure Analysis and Ma-
terial Assessment in Plants", LABORELEC -
Laboratory of the Belgian Electricity Industry,
Brussels/Belgium.
98
Da es immer eine Mischung von schleichen-
dem und nicht-schleichendem Qualitätsverlust
im Gesamtprozess geben wird, ist der Autor
der Ansicht, dass die kosteneffizienteste Mög-
lichkeit zur Handhabung von „schleichendem
und nicht-schleichendem Qualitätsverlust" in
der Durchführung eines progressiven, aber
flexiblen Inspektionsplans besteht, der von
einem Team aus Experten für Werkstoffe und
zerstörungsfreie Prüfungen sowie aus War-
tungs- und Betriebspersonal der Anlage aus-
gearbeitet wurde.
Background
The current situation regarding the assess-
ment, testing and inspection of power
plants frequently results in the formulation
of the following question: how long can
power plants be operated safely and cost-
effectively while satisfying increased
requirements pertaining to operational
availability and reduced pollutant emis-
sions after having served their originally
designed service life?
This question is of growing importance
considering that the percentage of plants
currently in operation that are more than 30
years old is rising. In order to answer this
question the operational capability of the
existing plant must first be investigated.
The availability of a power plant depends
on the availability of its non-redundant
components. Assurance of proper operation
of these components, so-called com-
ponents, should be, therefore, the main task
of a plant Remaining Life Time (RLT) pro-
gramme. The condition of these com-
ponents can only be assessed by means of a
RLT methodology. Based on the RLT re-
sults a proper decision can be made as to
plant safety and availability for each com-
ponent:
— maintain in operation as it is,
— repair, or
— replace.
Taking into account the economic im-
plications of these three alternatives as well
as the economic, social and environmental
implications of unscheduled outages due to
sudden failures, the selection of a proper
RLT methodology gains in importance. This
methodology should provide the best tech-
nical solution to ensure safe operation of the
plant.
VC3EI
Remaining Life Time Methodology
The art of determining a plant's actual status
and how much of its entire service life has
expired lies in the combination of analytic
considerations, calculation methods, the rel -
evant non-destructive tests, including strain
measurements and the correct selection of
those components, in which account is taken
of the respective damage.
Unexpected damage may be caused by ex -
ceeding thermal, static, and/or dynamic pa -
rameters which are used as the basis for cal -
culations.
An important basis for the results is the
analysis of the actual operational data (e.g.
temperature, pressure, throughput), opera-
tional experience and operational tenders.
A systematic integral approach which allow:;
assessment of the plant's current operational
capability and safety is only possible by cor-
rectly drawing a correlation between the op-
erational load and the actual status of the
plant or its components, which has been ob-
tained from tests and inspections.
Based on these results, the right measures for
future procedures can then be initiated in a
reasonable manner.
The LABORELEC RLT methodology is
structured in a "three level approach" with
the following sections:
— level 1 : design data collection and opera •
tion history
— level 2: operating/maintenance/inspectiou
history
— level 3: scientific approach based on
level 1 and 2 data in combination with
quantified material properties.
In accordance with the "three level ap-
proach" concept, each section contains a spe-
cific programme for the condition assessmen t
of the equipment.
The LABORELEC three level RLT method-
ology, schematically presented in F i g u r e
below, can be applied to the following powe r
plant components:
— high energy piping,
— boiler tubes, and
— boiler high-walled components.
VGB PowerTech 10/2001
 Condition Assessment

PREPARATION OF A PLANNING
CONCEPT

Plant operations

Inventory of existing
Calculation and conception
Design and construction Visual inspection Review of component Non-destructive testing Destructive testing of
Production, building and (exterior and geometry of materials materials
supervision documents interior - Wall gauge - Surface cracking - Investigations into
Special incidents/events inspections) measure ments test corrosion and
- Measurements of - Volume test deposits
ovality (ultrasonic test, - Determination of
Determination of the systems and - Measurements of radiographyX-ray mechanical-
components relevant for the life expectancy elongations test) technological
- Obstruction of - Investigations into characteristics
elongation the surface - Examinations of
Determination of the actual operating damage
and stress parameters
- Pressure, temperature,
- Incidents, events of damage, fail ure
repair statistics Complex materials testing
- Realized maintenance
replacement of components

Checking the existing conditions; of the

plant facility
by plant history
- n° start / stops (cold - hot)
- service hours
- special incidents

Calculation of theoretical life expectation and degree of exhaustion under creep stress and alternating load conditions

Complex analysis of life expectancy and plant

- Residual life prognosis
- Design changes
- Rehabilitation of components and
- Measures for a perspective-oriented manner of operation/plant technology

Programme for plant rehabilitation and upgrading

Figure 1. The LABORELEC 3-Level RLT methodology.

Level 1: Design Data Collection — For the maintenance part: Three major questions have to be answered
The question raised during an initial ap- - review of component replacement and before starting NDT:
proach is what kind of damage malfunctions repair, and — periodicity of the inspections,
or material failures can occur. - review of component geometry. — where to perform NDT
A first quick scan will separate the critical — For the inspection part: — which technique is most appropriate?
and non-critical items in the process and is - non-destructive testing (NDT) results
based on temperature and wall thickness de- The inspection techniques used depend on
of which the most important are:
the particular component, the location of the
sign data. The establishment of the list of - wall and internal oxide thickness component, the damage modes to be looked
possible critical parts is based on LABORE- measurement by ultrasonic testing, at and the material used. Some of the regu-
LEC's 30-years field experience for similar
- metallographic examination by repli- larly used methods to establish the material
equipment. For the final list the paper will
cation, and condition provide data which can be quanti-
proceed with level two and three.
- stress measurements by strain gauges. fied in analyses whereas others can only indi-
Level 2: O p e r a t i n g / M a i n t e n a n c e — Destructive material testing (DMT) like cate whether a defect is present or not. Ac-
and I n s p e c t i o n H i s t o r y failure analysis, isostress creep testing. cording to Figure 1 the examination methods
Level 2 gives a specific plant history input so with various components of fossil fired
The results of the NDE and DMT provide power stations are correlated.
design data can be completed with operating
one essential input for the component integ-
and maintenance events which are: rity evaluation and life assessment. In the following short overview the NDT
— for the operating part: techniques used on the different boiler com-
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) ponents can be seen.
- the operating parameters like pressure
Non-destructive testing (NDT) is an essential
and temperature, Destructive Material Testing (DMT)
part of any residual life assessment pro-
- incidents, events of failure and repair gramme. The objective of such assessment is The scatter band of material properties (in
statistics, and to compare the current condition of the ma- particular creep strength) is an important
- condition of the plant facility by terial of a given component with its original source of uncertainty for the calculation of
number of start-ups/shutdowns and condition to define the amount of component the life expenditure. Depending on the first
service hours. deterioration. calculations using standard material data, it

VGB PowerTech 10/2001 99

Condition Assessment
may therefore be necessary to determine
mechanical property values from specimens
of material taken from the actual com-
ponents. Sampling, however, may not de-
grade in any way the integrity of the com-
ponent. Various sampling methods are used:
boot samples, trepanned, core samples,
through wall trepanning, etc.
For some of them subsequent weld repair
may be required. Destructive testing can have
the following objectives:
— verification of non-destructive testing re-
sults (if no defects are found),
— direct (quantitative) assessment of the de-
gree of damage (structural and mechan-
ical),
— determination of component material
mechanical properties (to reduce the
scatter band): creep testing, fatigue test-
ing, fracture toughness, crack growth rate
evaluation, etc.
— post failure search for the damage mech-
anisms and propagation depth.
Isostress Creep Testing
Quantitative residual life assessments are
performed using the isostress testing tech-
nique. Acceleration is obtained by testing at
increased temperatures, applying the repre-
sentative service stress.
The decision to opt for increased temperature
testing instead of increased stress is based on
the fact that creep is a thermally-activated
process. For ferrous materials, however, the
maximum temperature is limited to about
720 °C (by approaching the AC1 tempera-
ture).
Test specimens are subjected under tension
to a stress equal to the service stress of the
component under investigation. Usually five
to six specimens are exposed to mutually dif-
ferent temperatures, chosen such that creep
rupture times are invoked in the range of 100
to 1000 hours. The secondary creep rate is
deduced from the recorded strain-time evo-
lution. Time to failure and total elongation
after failures are also determined. Finally the
test results are extrapolated, in the co-ordinate
system in (rupture time) versus temperature
(°Q.
Level 3: Scientific A p p r o a c h
Based on the information of level 1 and 2,
LABORELEC finally calculates the theoreti-
cal remaining life of the component. This can
be done by two different scientific approaches:
— theoretical life time consumption calcu-
lations mainly based on the TRD 508 rec-
ommendations, and
— qualitative life time assessment based on
metallographic investigations.
For each of these approaches several in-
house software tools are used:
100
— recalculation of stresses from internal
pressure under static loading and ultra-
sonic measured wall thickness by our
software programme "LILCA". Calcu-
lation of metal temperature by oxide
thickness measurement is also done by
the software "LILCA",
— recalculation of the stress range under
cyclic loads taking into account start-
ups/shutdowns, by an in-house software
programme called "THERMSTRESS",
— calculate or estimate creep damage level
based on metallographic examination,
and
— recommendation of predictive inspection
intervals by the LABORELEC software
"INTERVAL".
T h e o r e t i c a l Life Assessment Based
On TRD 508
The ageing of the boiler and piping com-
ponents is mainly manifested by three mech-
anisms :
— creep,
— internal and external metal loss, and
— thermal fatigue.
Degradation mechanisms other than creep
and fatigue are less accessible to useful life
prediction by calculation. In the USA an ap-
proach to the creep-fatigue design and re-
maining life calculation was developed in the
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code,
Section III, Code Case N-47 which is essen-
tially based on the linear damage summation
method. The damage summation method is
very popular because it is easy to use and
requires only standard S-N (Wähler) and
creep stress rupture curves.
High-temperature Tube Life Prediction with
"LILCA "
To perform assessments and determine the
remaining life of high-temperature boiler tub-
ing, it is necessary to accurately measure
critical tube dimensions and predict the time-
dependent response of the tube material.
LABORELEC measures wall and internal
oxide scale thickness to predict remaining
tube life with "LILCA" (LABORELEC In-
cremental Lifetime Calculation Algorithm)
software. Thickness measurements are made
using focused UT transducers. Steam side
oxide layer thickness measurements allow
the evaluation of the average metal tempera-
ture of components by using the material ox-
idation kinetics.
"LILCA", with the possibility for input of
external wall loss due to erosion or high-tem-
perature corrosion, contains algorithms that
allows the user to make deterministic esti-
mates of remaining tube life.
VCEi
Fatigue Calculations with "Thermstress "
Fatigue only takes place under alternating
load conditions. During this load alternation
three types of alternating stresses can be
registered:
— mechanical stresses due to change in
pressure or to changing system stresses,
— thermal stresses due to temperature dif-
ferences through the component wall
thickness,
— these stresses only become significant for
wall thickness larger than 45 mm, and
— stratification due to temperature dif-
ferences on two opposite spots on the
component.
Remaining Life Assessment
and Inspection Interval
Recommendations Based on Materia
Microstructure Investigations
Background
One of the main damage mechanisms a f -
fecting power plant components is creep
damage. Such damage may occur in different
forms: localized or bulk damage.
Localized creep damage may become mani •
fest in the form of cracks. The cracking pro-
cess is characterized by a time-dependen ;
growth under an approximately constan:
load. As in the case of fatigue cracking, creep
cracking may be characterized by some frac •
ture mechanics parameters.
Bulk damage can manifest itself in two forms
(Figure 2):
— intergranular creep cavitation, and
— microstructural degradation.
Scope of A p p l i c a t i o n
The assessment of microstructural damage:
under creep conditions is of special interest
for the component life assessment. The levels
of microstructural degradation or creep cavi-
tation may be evaluated in terms of remain-
ing life or required inspection intervals.
Life assessment techniques based on metallo-
graphic methods may be performed destruc-
tively by means of sample extraction, prep-
aration and microscopic investigation. Alter-
natively, metallographic investigations may
be done non-destructively by way of repli-
cation.
There are two major applications of the repli-
cation technique:
— study of the micro structure (creep cavi-
tation, precipitate spacing, grain size,
etc.) using an optical or electron micro-
scope, and
— examination and identification of second -
phase particles by extraction technique.
VCB
(b)
(d)
(a) ferrite-perlite structure; (b) carbides precipitation at the grain boundaries;
(c) spheroidization of carbides from pearlite has begun; (d) spheroidization of carbides from pearlite is
finished; (e) dispersed carbides (no ferrous-pearlite structure); (f) carbide coalescence
Figure 2. Reference SPRINT SP 249.
Softened acetate tape
Tape applied to
surface and dried
Tape removed
with negative
replica of
surface
Figure 3. Description of the replication prin-
ciple (reference SPRINT SP 492).
At present, the plastic foil replication tech-
nique is used principally for reproducing sur-
face features such as creep cavities, cracks
and gross microstructural features. Field ap-
plication of the carbide extraction replica
method will require further development
work. F i g u r e 3 illustrates the replication
principle. In order to obtain accurate results,
a very high surface quality is mandatory.
Surface oxides as well as decarburized zones
must be removed prior to replication of the
component surface.
Remaining Life Assessment and
Recommended I n s p e c t i o n
Neubauer and Webel have published the first
attempt to correlate the creep life con-
sumption of plant components to cavitation.
They collected data on steam pipes from nu-
merous German power plants. According to
their theory, the creep damage level can be
classified in accordance with the number of
cavities and their orientation.
Thus, they separated four classes of degrada-
tion (Figure 4):
VGB PowerTech 10/2001
Assessment
and process parameters and operation and
maintenance history. Fine tuning is sub-
sequently possible by the implementation of
an integrity factor.
The consequence factor is built of four sub •
sidiaries. These are the costs of security, en
vironment, maintenance and production loss
due to down time. Only the highest value is
taken into account for the consequence rank
ing.
Trend Analysing and Inspection
Interval Modelling
Trend analysing and inspection interval mod-
elling is only possible for trending degrada-
tion mechanism such as uniform corrosior
and erosion, as well as creep and fatigue. For
each of these degradation mechanisms, the
Class A - isolated cavities,
Class B - oriented cavities, Damage Fracture
parameter Action required
Class C - microcracks, and
A None until next major
Class D - macrocracks. scheduled maintenance outage
B Replica test at D
They suggested also corresponding specified intervals f
C Limited service /
actions for each damage stage: until repair ƒ
D Immediate repair C/
— Class A - no remedial actions
required,
— Class B - replica tests at spec-
ified intervals,
— Class C - limited service until
repair, and
— Class D - immediate repair. Exposure time.,
Because of the high conservatism
included into this theory, it is ac- Figure 4. Reference SPRINT SP 492.
tually used as a monitoring tech-
nique, rather than a life prediction method.
LABORELEC also suggested a mixed inspection interval is defined as the remain-
method of assessment where creep degrada- ing lifetime determined by a security factor.
tion and ageing process are taken into ac- At this time LABORELEC uses a statistical
count in combination with their repercussions approach for the erosion and corrosior
on the component's remaining life. degradation mechanism. For creep evaluatior
we prefer a deterministic approach such as a
sudden death risk analysis method.
The LABORELEC RBI Methodology
As for each existing RBI methodology, LA-
BORELEC also started from the basic defini- POF
tion of risk as a product of probability and
consequence of failure. This probability and
consequence for each process item are sche-
matically presented in a 5 X 5 risk matrix
allowing clear identification of the high,
medium and low risk items. The aim of this
risk matrix is to reduce the non-availability
of the high risk items and to prolong of the
inspection intervals of the low risk items
(Figure 5). 1 2 3 4 5
Identification of P r o b a b i l i t y and COF
Consequence
LABORELEC uses a^quick scan tool in the Figure 5. Matrix of the probability of failure
first instance for the item probability ranking. (POF) in function of the conse-
This quick scan is based on a mix of design quence of the failure (COF).
10"