Degradation of Condenser Tubes of a Nuclear Power Plant Exposed to Harsh Process Conditions

Abstract

Nuclear Power Plants condensers face various problems during their lifetime. One of very common problem is the leakage of Al-brass condenser tubes. Usually with the extended operation of condensers for 20 year or so, one can expect replacement of about 15-20% of condenser tubes due to leakage. One of the significant reasons of leakages of condenser tubes is ammonical corrosion. This ammonical corrosion can be minimized by controlling temperature along with various prevention method of corrosion. Current method used in power plant condensers is Sacrificial Cathodic Protection (SCP). A number of experiments were performed in the lab to protect corrosion by using SCP as well as the Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP). It was found that the ICCP is much better than SCP.