Leak in the tube sheet weld of the drum heat exchanger
Thread Content
There was a leak in the weld of the tube sheet of the drum heat exchanger, allowing boiler water to leak into the heating medium – diesel. This led to numerous cracks in the welds of the downstream pipelines for diesel. What are the possible causes?
The pH value of the boiler water is too high. There are no actual photos of the cracked item. Only possibilities can be analyzed. Leakage at the tube sheet welds may be due to welding defects or cracking caused by thermal fatigue ； It is also possible that alkali concentration led to stress corrosion cracking of the welds, primarily due to poor expansion fitting at the pipe ends; usually, such heat exchangers are subjected to strength expansion fitting ； It’s unusual to see numerous cracks in the welds of diesel pipelines, unless the alkalinity of the boiler water is too high and accumulates in certain areas, leading to stress corrosion cracking.
Cause analysis of the main weld: material issue； Welding quality issues ； Welding method ； Post-weld treatment ； Water quality issues
A large number of cracks have formed in the pipelines; this is likely related to the quality of the boiler water. When the boiler water comes into contact with the heating medium, it vaporizes, creating pressure that increases the likelihood of stress corrosion cracking
Send over the photos of the leaks and weld cracks.