Stellite liberation from large valves installed in main and hot reheat (HRH) steam systems serving F-class combined cycles, considered a major industry problem 10 years ago, has been eliminated by substituting chrome carbide as the hard-facing material for critical valve parts.

The editors first learned of stellite delamination at the 2009 7F Users Group Conference where the liberated material from a 20-in. HRH block valve was displayed. The industry had been made aware of stellite liberation by GE, which issued Technical Information Letter 1626 about three months ahead of the 7F meeting. It advised steam-turbine owners to check the condition of the stellite inlay sections used in fabricating seats for the OEM’s combined stop and control valves.

Revision 1 of that TIL, published at the end of 2010, recommended a “one-time seat stellite inlay UT inspection during valve installation or the next planned maintenance inspection”—this to identify any lack of bonding between the inlay and base metal on units with fewer than 50 starts.

Disbonding of stellite associated with combined-cycle plants has occurred primarily in parallel-slide gate valves and non-return globe valves. Hardfacing has been liberated from valve seats, guide rails, and discs. Tight shutoff of valves has been compromised in some cases.

Many incidents of stellite liberation were reported. To illustrate: CFM/VR-TESCO LLC (formerly Continental Field Machining), a leading valve services company said that in 2011 and 2012 it repaired 50 valves manufactured from F91 (forged body) or C12A (cast body) and ranging in size from 12 to 24 in. More than half of these jobs involved stellite liberation.

These repair projects were split roughly 50/50 between valves within the Code (ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code) boundary and those that were part of the boiler external piping. Repairs on the former were performed according to guidelines presented in Section I of the Code and in the National Board Inspection Code; those outside the Code boundary were performed according to ASME B31.1.

There hasn’t been much discussion on stellite disbonding the last few years—at least at meetings attended by the editors, which include the Combined Cycle Users Group, Steam Turbine Users Group, and HRSG Forum with Bob Anderson.

However, mention was made by one owner/operator regarding the successful use of ValvTechnologies Inc’s IsoTech® parallel-slide gate valves on his company’s HRSGs in eliminating the need for stellite. According to the manufacturer, critical parts for its severe-service valves, used where steam temperatures exceed 1000F, are provided with its RiTech^® 31 coating.

This chrome carbide refractory coating is much harder than Stellite 6 (68-72 RC versus 34-38 RC). It is applied in state-of-the-art HVOF (high-velocity oxygen fuel) spray booths using a proprietary compressive spray technique to achieve high bond strength. Applications extend up to ASME/ANSI Class 4500 at 1800F for valves up to 36 in.

The chrome carbide hard-coated web guide ensures the discs are kept parallel through the entire valve stroke. As the valve is cycled under differential pressure, the hard surfaces reportedly burnish and polish each other, avoiding the scratching and galling cited by some others.

The user sharing his experience with the ValvTechnologies product said their parallel slide gate valves have been operating on four or five of his company’s HRSGs for three years or so and the only hiccup was a stem-packing leak on one valve which was quickly corrected. This testifies to the vendor’s claim that RiTech^® 31 hard-coating technology is impervious to the effects of high-temperature cycling typically experienced today in combined-cycle main-steam isolation and HRH applications. The company guarantees coating integrity for 10 years or 10,000 cycles—whichever comes first.

Finally, the user mentioned that a representative of the manufacturer annually visits each plant where ValvTechnologies valves are installed to verify that they continue to meet expectations.