Development of a short-term high temperature gas-blast type erosion tester
for boiler materials
A laboratory procedure was designed to identify, analyze and quantify erosion rates of materials
used in fluidized bed boilers. A gas-blast type erosion equipment was designed for short-term testing
and prediction of the erosion resistance of metals.
Several tests were made at different test temperatures (RT-600 oC), different particle velocities (1060 m/s), different impact angles (20o – 90o) and different erosive materials. Particle velocities at
room temperature were measured separately using a double-disc setup. The eroded surface was
analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Confocal Optical Microscope (COM). The
profiles obtained with COM were processed with an Ms-Excel program to get key erosion values,
such as maximum and average erosion, annual erosion rate. In addition, the weight loss results were
compared to an MS-Excel program data. The testing showed that COM profile analysis gave a better
understanding of material erosion compared to the conventional weight loss analysis method.
Figure 1. Erosion equipment
Figure 2. COM profile analysis
Figure 3. SEM image of an eroded surface