A damper from an internal bypass line in a waste heat boiler was removed during shutdown in a fertilizer plant because of severe metal loss. The damper was connected to a sulfur furnace – it failed due to detachment of the flapper from its hollow shaft. In the plant, sulfur is burnt in the furnace (1051C) to produce sulfur dioxide. The damper assembly consists of flapper and a hollow shaft which are fixed together using 3 pins. Chemical analysis showed that the flapper and hollow shaft material were constructed from SS 310 and SS 309 respectively, while the pins were made of plain carbon steel. The pins suffered premature, rapid, and severe high temperature oxidation attack. Consequently, the sulfur dioxide gas leaked into the hollow shaft to inflict severe sulfidation and oxidation attacks. Cross-sectional microstructural examination of the damaged hollow shaft revealed adherent deposits of oxide on the outer surface followed by layers of sulfidation damages penetrating through the bulk metal. X-ray mapping indicated that the sulfides were basically of chromium and iron and mainly present in the inner scale and in few grains in the base material. Remedial actions were suggested to mitigate the problem.
Keywords: stainless steel, oxidation, sulfidation, sulfur dioxide gas, damper, sulfur furnace, high-temperature corrosion