Failure of gas turbine cone burner by carburization

Gas turbine for a power plant has 72 pieces of cone burner in its combustion chamber. High-speed diesel oil (HSD) is use as fuel to produce 130 MW of power at 3,000 rpm. The maximum temperature at the turbine inlet is estimated about 1087 centigrade and at the outlet is between 400-540oC. Sixty percent of the cone burner failed repetitively at one side of the tip-end after 6,000 hours of service. The refurbished cone burner has to be replaced by a new one after 18,000 of service-hours. The cone burner material is cast Hastelloy-X (nickel based alloys). Metallurgical analyses by microstructural observation using optical and scanning electron microscopes, and energy dispersive spectroscope have been performed to observe the change in burner microstructure. Thermodynamics analysis has been performed to obtain temperature distribution around the failed section. Two failed cone burners have been examined; cone burner that has not been repaired, and that has been repaired twice. Thermodynamics analysis result shown that the temperature around the failed section is between 897 to 1087 centigrade. Microstructure of the good part, far from the failed section, consists of cast structure of austenite matrix and fine carbide particles. Severe carbide precipitation and growth was observed on the failed section even the nominal carbon content in material is only 0.10 percent (max.). Severe carbide precipitation occurred because of carbon ingress from the environment (carburization) which combines with carbide forming elements in material (chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten). As a result, the corrosion and oxidation resistance of material decreased significantly after long time exposure at high temperature that led to oxidation, thinning, and failure of the cone burner tip. Failure only localized on one side of the tip-edge, therefore refurbishment by welding and coating can be performed to extend the life cycle of cone burner. The current examination results shows that the replacement cycle is not only limited to 18,000 hours but can also be extended to 48,000 hours.