Objective of chemical cleaning:

 To chemically clean and passivate internal

surfaces of steam generating portion and
heating surfaces.

 To make surfaces free of mill scale & other

deposits and form uniform & smooth protective
layer of magnetite.
..the results ……
Pre-operative
•Maintaining steam quality at the turbine inlet.
•Minimizing corrosion of the metal surface of boiler.

Post-operative
•Improving heat transfer in the system.
•Enhancing efficiency of the power plant.
•Minimizing under-deposit corrosion of the metal surface
•Minimizing plant outage due to boiler tube failures.
THE OBJECTIVE IS ACHIEVED BY:

STEP 1- ALKALI FLUSHING & RINSING:

To remove loose rust, debris, Oil & grease left in the
boiler.

STEP 2- EDTA CLEANING:

To remove patchy mill scale and adherent rust.

STEP 3- PASSIVATION:
To develop uniform and adherent Magnetite layer.

(EDTA cleaning and Passivation process is completed in

single step)
OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
 One each ID Fan, FD Fan and APH.
 LDO Firing System.
 Blow Down System of Boiler.
 ESP: Mech. Readiness of two passes.
 Temporary sampling system with cooling arrangement.
 Water and Steam systems.
 Air and Flue gas systems.
 Feed system readiness.
 DG Set ( emergency supplies) & UPS.
 Fire Fighting system.
 Equipment cooling water system.
 Effluent Pit (1200 – 1500 M3 hold up)
 Instrument & Service air system.
 FSSS, SADC, Scanner Air System.
 Adequate Qty. of DM water (3000 M3)
 LDO (100 – 150 KL).
 Communication system (Walki Talkies, PA System etc.)
Pre-operative: Chemical Cleaning System

Evaporator System

Economizer

Down comers

Bottom Ring Headers

Water Walls

Boiler Drum (Only water touched surface)

SPECIFICATION OF CHEMICALS & QUANTITY:
NAME OF CHEMICALS QUANTITY
1.Tri Sodium Phosphate (Purity, as P2O5 :17.5% Min) 175 kg.

2. Disodium Hydrogen Phosphate (99 % purity) 100 Kg.

3. Ammoniated EDTA,40% wt/wt as active EDTA,

ammoniated solution pH = 9.0-9.8)
(EDTA : Ethylene di amine tetra acetic acid) Density : 1.18 25 MT.

4. Ammonia solution (20% Min as NH3, sp gr:0.91) as per IS 799 / 1990 800 Liters

5. Hydrazine Hydrate (80% Min. conc). To IS 12086/1991 800 Liters

6. Bhelmax 450 kg

7. Bhelsol 450 Litres

WATER HOLDING CAPACITY OF BOILER

1. Drum - 50 m3 Approx
2. Water Wall - 200 m3 Approx.
3. Economizer - 60 m3 Approx.
4. Super heater .. - 140 m3 Approx.
5. Re-heater .. - 60 m3 Approx.
 What is EDTA?
EDTA or Ethylene Di-amine Tetra acetic Acid is a strong chelating
agent having ability to form stable complexes with transition metal
ions present in boiler such as of Iron and Copper etc.
EDTA and EDTA-Fe Complex Structure

EDTA EDTA-Fe Complex

Iron metal surface with corrosion layers
EDTA Pickling & its Reaction
 Magnetite Layer
• A protective layer of Magnetite (Fe3O4) is formed
on the water touched metal surfaces in the steam
generator.

•Magnetite layer acts as a coherent media that

stops further corrosion of the base metal.

•Magnetite is a combination of FeO and Fe2O3.

EDTA Cleaning
Process
 STEPS IN BOILER CLEANING PROCESS
Alkali Flushing:
Alkali Flushing
Hot Water Flushing
Cold Water Rinse

EDTA Cleaning:
EDTA Pickling & Passivation
Treated DM Water Rinsing

Inspection.
Alkali Flushing -Purpose

Alkali Flushing
–Removes organic materials such as oil, grease
etc. from the metal surface.
–Alkali reacts with polar organic materials to form
soluble glycerol's and salts.
–Loose deposits, dust etc. are also removed.
–TSP and DSP is used as alkali.

Hot Water Flushing

Cold Water Rinse

 Alkali Flushing-Procedure

Alkali Flushing:
Alkali solution made by adding TSP(0.1%) & DSP (0.05%)
with DM water.

Solution is filled into boiler through bottom ring header

& economizer drains up to NWL.

Boiler is fired. Water temperature is raised to 140ºC

then boiler is tripped keeping fans running for cooling.

Solution is allowed to cool till 90ºC and then drained.

Alkali Flushing-Procedure (Contd..)

Hot Water Rinse:

System is filled with DM water and temperature
raised to 130-1400C . Then boiler is tripped and
allowed to cool to 900C and drained subsequently in
hot condition.
At this stage pH and Phosphate content of boiler
water will be analyzed and recorded, the process will
continue till pH value and Phosphate value reduced to
7.5 and 10-15 ppm respectively.
Alkali Flushing-Procedure (Contd..)

Cold Water Rinses:

This will be done by fills and dumps method.

System will be filled with DM water and drained.

pH of drain water will be tested during each
draining. The rinsing process is repeated until the pH
of drain water is equal to pH of inlet water.
EDTA Cleaning:

EDTA solution is prepared for total boiler volume

by mixing:

1.EDTA Ammoniated(40%) : 3- 4%
2.BHEL MAX (inhibitor): 0.15-0.2% w/v
3.BHEL SOL (inhibitor): 0.15-0.2% v/v
4.Hydrazine hydrate: 1000 ppm.
5.Ammonia: for setting pH as 9.5-9.8

Each batch is of 40 M3 Volume.

EDTA Pickling and Passivation
The system is filled with solution of EDTA + BHELSOL
+BHELMAX+AMMONIA+HYDRAZINE solution through LP
drain header up to drum NWL.
 The composition of fill solution will be:
EDTA content: 3 ± 1% W/V.
Hydrazine: 1000 ppm.
pH: 9.0 – 9.8.

The boiler is lighted up and temperature raised to

1400C and maintained for 4 hours then boiler is
tripped.
 EDTA Pickling and Passivation contd.....
The sample solution is checked for iron, pH and
EDTA concentration every ½ an hour when temp. is
reached 1100C
 On achieving 3 consecutive readings of constant
iron concentration. The system is allowed to cool till
950C and drained.
 If constant iron level is not attained, regardless of
results EDTA contact period for temp above 1100C
should not exceed more than 8 hours.
Treated DM Water Rinsing

A blended solution of hydrazine content 50 ppm

& ammonia with DM water is prepared (pH 9.5 –9.8)

 Boiler is filled with above DM water up 100 mm

above NWL.

Boiler is fired and temperature raised to 110⁰C, then

boiler is tripped and allowed to cool naturally.

When boiler water temperature comes down to 95⁰C,

drain the boiler and allow the system for natural
aeration.
Inspection:

Boiler drum is opened and visually inspected for

uniform smooth coating of protective layer.

Bottom ring headers are inspected and manually

cleaned if required.

Test coupons placed at identified location are

inspected, they should be free of deposits and have
uniform coating of protective layer.
Super heater back flushing (Optional):

Super heater is filled with a solution of hydrazine

(N2H4 >50 ppm) & Ammonia (pH>9.5) in DM water
through SH drain header. When the solution comes
through SH openings in the drum, the back flushing is
continued for 10-30 minutes and drained.
 WASTE TREATMENT:
Hot DM water flushing’s are drained in to plant normal
drain.
The organic spent EDTA chemical solution after the
cleaning process is drained into a pit.
The pH of the effluent will be in the range of 8.5 to 9.0
& hence no treatment for pH adjustment is required.
Compressed is used to destroy the residual Hydrazine
& organics and the effluent shall be disposed after
aeration for 10 days.
 EDTA Cleaning Results

Water wall tube sample Water wall tube sample

before cleaning. after cleaning and
passivation.
Drum internals before EDTA cleaning & Passivation
Drum internals after EDTA cleaning and Passivation