TUBING MATERIAL SELECTION FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT HEAT EXCHANGERS

A Nuclear power plant has many choices when selecting tubing materials for its condenser; the main aim is to get maximum efficiency of feed water heater or balanceof-plant application. In the previous times aluminum, brass and after that the wide variety of stainless steel choices available (ASTM lists over 75 alloys) gives the Heat Exchanger system. The material selection for the condenser tube to meet the budgetary consideration and also to consider the lifetime of the plant without difficulty is the main task of the power plants. Due to poor selection of the material to consider the minimum budget for plant operation conditions can be common in power generation, and leads to premature unexpected failure of tubing and piping materials. This failure are included in the many factors like design, mode of operation and also changes in water chemistry and lead to leak in the system. Corrosion is also one of the factors for reducing the life of the system. The main aim to combined-cycle power plants for the lowest cost per kilowatt has stretched the selection of the materials and their performance.