Possibilities of Restoring the Plasticity of Operationally Degraded Steel EN ISO 14MoV6-3

The article deals with the possibility of increasing mechanical and utility properties by means of regenerative heat treatment. Experimental program is focused on the heat treatment of low-alloy heat-resistant steel EN ISO 14MoV6-3. This steel has been used since the 1970s for high-temperature exposed components in practically all coal-fired thermal power plants in the Czech Republic. Thus, steel EN ISO 14MoV6-3 is currently the best studied refractory material whose data, collected from experimental creep behaviour tests, exceeds the computational service time 2.105 hours. In order to remain competitive in the new energy mix, conventional steam power plants are forced to adapt to the requirements of semi-scheduled power generation. However, these plants were not originally designed for such operation and therefore have to adapt to new demands on the timing of the power provided, including requirements to reduce overall plant emissions and to increase the efficiency of power generation. These components are now subjected to substantially increased cyclic stresses due to power changes during half-cap operation. These stresses have a major impact on the material lifetime and therefore on the overall performance and lifetime of the plant.