Estimation of oxide scale growth and temperature increase of high (9–12%) chromium martensitic steels of superheater tubes

• Oxide scale growth and temperature increase in martensitic steels.
• Comparisons on scale growth were made with those of 2.25% Cr steels.
• Actual data from a power plant is also presented.

The improved ferritic steels that have very good creep strength such as grades 91 and 92 have been widely used for power plant applications. For example, a chromium–molybdenum–vanadium steel tube (SA213-T91) has been available in the market for two decades. The SA213-T91 material has better high temperature strength and oxidation resistance than those of the more widely used materials such as T11 and T22. In this paper, estimations of the oxide scale growth and temperature increase of 9–12% Cr martensitic steels of superheater tubes are carried out using an incremental procedure, utilizing the finite element simulations and the relation between the Larson Miller Parameter (LMP) and the scale thickness over a period of time. In order to show the superiority of T91 steels over T22 steels, two different steam temperatures are considered in the models for comparisons. The estimations showed as expected that the oxide scale growth and temperature increase of the 9–12% Cr steels were significantly lower compared to those of 2.25% Cr steels.