Stress Corrosion Cracking of Heat Exchanger Tubes in District Heating System

The purpose of this paper is to present failure analysis, of the heat exchanger tube in a district heating system. SS304 stainless steel is used, as material for the heat exchanger tube. The heat exchanger operates in a soft water environment containing a small amount of chloride ions, and regularly repeats operation and standstill period. This causes concentration of chloride ions on the outer surface of the tube, as well as repeat of thermal expansion, and shrinkage of the tube. As a result of microscopic examination, cracks showed transgranular as well as branched propagation, and many pits were present, at the initiation point of each crack. Energy disperstive spectroscopy analysis showed Fe and O peak, as well as Cl peak, meaning that cracks were affected by Cl ion. Failure of the tube was caused by chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking by thermal stress, high temperature, and localized enrichment of chloride ions.