Technical Information

TIHE20111811_R01, Updated : 2020.11.18

Preservation of boilers

In this document, we will talk about the

Limestone
measures to prevent the rust of boilers and the
dry
storage procedure when they are not used for a preservation
long time(it means shut-down) after boiler Dry Nitrogen
installation or operation. Preservation
Long term preservation

preservation
VCI
1. Preservation of boilers
preservation

A. Preservation measures of shut-down Wet Soda water-

filling
Preservation
preservation
The factors that cause the boiler to corrode
Dry Heating
during the rest period are air(oxygen) and water.
Preservation preservation
If air and water are in the boiler, they will act to Short term
corrode the inner surface(iron) of the boiler. preservation Normal water-
Wet
Therefore, the fundamental countermeasure for filling
preservation
preservation
the resting of the boiler should not allow air and
water to coexist in the boiler. Emergency preservation
Table 1 Preservation methods of shut-down

B. Preservation methods of shut-down

C. Boiler preservation before shut-down
Depending on the duration of the shut-
down period, preservation methods are The pH and PO4 concentration of the boiler
divided into the long term preservation water must be increased to sludge 2 ~ 3 days
method (2 ~ 3 months) and the short term before the start of shut-down, and the sludge
preservation method (3 weeks to a month). and floating suspended matters should be
And also depending on the presence of water discharged by blowing down frequently.
in the shut-down boiler, preservation methods
are divided into the wet preservation and the 2. Long term preservation
dry preservation. This is further subdivided as
shown in Table 1. A. Dry preservation

Form_KH1000293A03_R02 Copyright by Kangrim Heavy Industries or Kangrim Insulation, All Rights Reserved. www.kangrim.com
1) Limestone dry preservation the condition, change it if the desiccant has
weathered, and inspect it regularly every 3
A) Cool the boiler slowly, then completely months or 6 months.
discharge the boiler water and clean the inside
and outside of the boiler cleanly and safely. And F) In the same way as in the case of boilers,
completely shut off the connection of pipes such measures should be taken in the funnel and
as steam pipes, water pipes or discharge pipes furnace, and dampers and gates should be
so that steam or water does not penetrate into closed securely. This also needs to be checked
the boiler from other boilers. regularly, as with the boiler.

B) Lightly burn firewood, burning charcoal, etc. 2) Nitrogen preservation

in the furnace after the above measures, or
sufficiently dry the inside and outside of the A) It is a method of injecting nitrogen into the
boiler with hot air. boiler and excluding oxygen. When the steam
pressure becomes below about 0.3 MPa (3
C) In order to remove the moisture from the kgf/cm2) after the boiler is stopped, slightly open
boiler, a desiccant such as quicklime or silica gel the blow down valve at the bottom of the water
is put into the boiler. The amount of desiccant is drum to gradually drain the water and connect
3
0.25 kg in case of using quicklime per 1m of the the hose cock of the nitrogen bottle and inject
boiler water and 1 ~ 1.3 kg in case of silica gel until the nitrogen reaches 0.06 MPa (0.6
or calcium chloride or activated alumina. Put the kgf/cm2).
desiccant into a few shallow containers and
disperse them in the boiler. B) Keep the pressure of the nitrogen at 0.06
MPa (0.6 kgf/cm2) and regularly check during
D) In addition to this desiccant, it is also good to storage. If the pressure is less than 0.015 MPa
disperse an appropriate amount of burning (0.15 kgf/cm2), inject additionally until it
2
charcoal in the same container with the becomes 0.06 MPa (0.6 kgf/cm ).
desiccant.

E) Close the manhole completely to seal the

boiler. In this way, the moisture in the boiler is
absorbed by the desiccant to remove the
harmful moisture in the boiler, and the burned
charcoal is effective in preventing corrosion by
consuming most of the oxygen in the boiler.
Check the desiccant about two weeks after
sealing the boiler, add a desiccant depending on
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of nitrogen preservation

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3) VCI preservation outside, check that the boiler is filled with
alkaline water so that it does not corrode, and if
A) It is a method of removing the water inside it is connected with another boiler, make sure
the boiler, drying it, and putting the volatile the pipes are disconnected to keep the boiler
corrosion inhibitor(VCI) inside and seal the from being affected.
boiler.
2) Chemical concentration
B) The VCI are recommended to be applied with
mixed corrosion inhibitors because boilers are In order to prevent corrosion of the boiler, the
manufactured using various kinds of metal following chemicals should be used and kept
materials. alkaline. The chemicals used are usually sodium
hydroxide(NaOH) and sodium sulfite(Na2SO4).
C) The amount of input shall be determined Sodium hydroxide is used to control alkalinity
according to the application guide of each and increase pH, and sodium sulfite is used to
inhibitor. prevent corrosion by oxygen contained in water.

B. Wet preservation 3) Chemical input procedure

1) General A) Dissolve a fixed amount of chemical in water

in a separate tank and fill the boiler with the
A) Also called the soda water-filling preservation water.
method, it is a method to be used for the boiler
when the boiler cannot be kept dry for some B) Make a highly concentrated chemical water
reason, or is going to be shut down for a long with warm water and fill the boiler by
time but should be available anytime and alternatively injecting plain water and the
anywhere. chemical water into it keeping the fixed
concentration of chemical.
B) The wet preservation method should never
be used during winter. It’s because general Amount
Alkalinity
liquid decreases in volume when it changes from Chemical pH (per water
(ppm)
liquid to solid, but when water(liquid) changes 1 ton)

into ice(solid), its volume increases. Therefore, 0.3 kg

NaOH
this should be taken into consideration, as a 0.7 kg
Na2SO3 10.8~11.3 350~400
water-filled boiler may be damaged if it freezes.
0.8~1.0 kg
Na3PO4

Na2SO4 - 100~120 -
C) After cooling the boiler and draining the boiler
Table 2 Chemical and concentration for corrosion
water, thoroughly clean both the inside and
prevention

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C) Continuously inject into the feed pump the filling, the air outlet valve should be opened
separately made high concentration chemical every 2 ~ 3 weeks depending on the situation to
water and, at the outlet of the pump, uniformly check whether the boiler water is full. If the
dissolve the water to fill the boiler. water has been lost or air has been generated,
operate the boiler to let out the air and, at the
D) Do not inject the high concentration chemical same time, fill the boiler with water.
water into the manhole after feeding the boiler to
some degree since it makes it difficult to keep B) Check the concentration of the boiler water.
the concentration stable. And in case of noticing sodium sulfite
concentration has decreased to half of its
4) Water-filling method original concentration, add sodium sulfite to
increase the concentration to the fixed
A) Open the air vent valve or main steam valve
concentration and make regular checks.
at the top of the steam drum, and drain the air in
the boiler. Continuously supply water to the
C) When filling the boiler with water, place if
water supply unit until the water overflows and
possible a container of chemical of the same
keep the boiler fully charged.
concentration as the boiler water several meters
above the boiler. If this water and the boiler
B) When the inside of the boiler is filled with
water are connected, the expansion or
water, the air cannot be completely discharged.
contraction of the boiler water does not create
Therefore, after the boiler becomes full, heat the
space or change the pressure of the boiler water.
boiler to slightly increase the pressure and
And it is also possible to keep the boiler full at a
sufficiently discharge the air from the air vent
constant water pressure.
valve at the upper part of the body and then
close the valve.
D) If hot and humid weather continues, the
water on the boiler’s surface becomes
C) Once you stopped the heating and the boiler
condensed creating water drops. In this case,
water has cooled, the water that was once
dry by slight heating.
expanded shrinks, so supply water again so that
the pressure of the pressure gauge becomes
0.015 ~ 0.03 MPa(0.15 ~ 0.3 kgf/cm2), and then E) When reusing the shut-down boiler, drain

completely close the valves. Of course, water of out the boiler water and clean inside the boiler.

the same quality as the boiler water should be Then inject water up to the standard level and

supplied. operate.

5) Action during water-filling 3. Short term preservation

A) 3 ~ 4 days after completing the water- A. Dry preservation

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1) Heating preservation water in the same procedure with the soda
water-filling preservation. The water should not
A) It is similar to the method of limestone dry contain an alkalinity enhancer such as caustic
preservation for long term shut-down, but does soda or an anticorrosive such as sodium sulfite.
not use desiccant such as quicklime or silica gel. This method can be applied in urgent situations,
When drying the drained boiler, it should be but it is very difficult to manage the boiler water
heated by firewood or completely dried with hot without adding an alkalinity enhancer or
air, and if possible, burning charcoal should be anticorrosive. Therefore, if possible, it is better to
placed in a shallow container and dispersed in use the soda water-filling preservation even for
several places. However, it is recommended to short term shut-down.
use the limestone dry preservation even for
short term shut-down.
4. Emergency preservation

B) Heat the boiler to dry and then keep it slightly

above the ambient temperature. If the boiler is in A. Also called “Standby preservation”, it is the

a humid place or time, check the inside and preservation that can accommodate any

outside of the boiler occasionally and heat and unscheduled use of the boiler during its shut-

dry it lightly. down.

C) Completely disconnect any steam pipe or water B. Take extra care if it is unclear when the boiler
pipe or such like from other boilers to ensure no will be reused. It is because the boiler can be
steam or water permeates inside the boiler. neither full nor empty but must keep an
adequate amount of water(position where the
B. Wet preservation water level is seen in water level gauge glass),
and this makes the underwater part and the part
1) Normal water-filling preservation
around the level line vulnerable to corrosion.

A) It is used when it is difficult to keep the

boiler dry due to the boiler structure or location C. This preservation is necessary when it is not

conditions. For short term preservation method, possible to predict the next operation or when it

normal water-filling preservation is usually is in 8 ~ 9 days long break after 3 ~ 4 days of

used. However, during winter time, normal operation.

water-filling preservation should never be used

so as to keep the boiler safety from damage 1) Before putting the boiler to shut down, keep
by frozen boiler water. the boiler water at pH 10.8 ~ 11.3. And
to minimize the amount of oxygen dissolved in
B) It is preferable to thoroughly clean the inside the boiler water, put enough deoxidant such as
and outside of the boiler. Fill the boiler with clean sodium sulfite.

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 the upper part of the water level glass. This
should be repeated so as not to leave it at the
same level for a long time.

5. Reference

1) McGraw Hill, 2011, The Nalco Guide to Boiler

Failure Analysis, Chapter 22 Cold-End Corrosion
during Service, 2nd ed., Nalco Company
Fig. 2 Corrosion caused by water-filling at the 2) 2005, Steam, Chapter 21 Fuel Ash Effects
water level line
on Boiler Design and Operation, 41st ed., The

2) Stop the boiler and drain the water every Babcokc & Wilcox Company

four to five days to keep changing the water 3) McGraw Hill, 2011, The Nalco Guide to Boiler

level rather. Failure Analysis, Chapter 23 Dew Point Corrosion

during Idle Periods, 2nd ed., Nalco Company
3) In order not to corrode the water level line, 4) Japan Boiler Association, 1997, Recent boiler
lower the water level every 4 ~ 5 days, and corrosion and countermeasures
when the water level falls to the lower part of the 5) Korea Energy Agency, 2008, KEMCO CODE
water level glass, raise the water level again to Section III

＊This document contains maker's technical opinions,

and some contents are subject to change without notice.

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