The use of a condensing economizer within a biomass combustion system is a potentially
attractive heat recovery solution for the pulp and paper industry. Selecting materials from which to
construct condensing economizers for installation within utility power boiler units is, however, not trivial
considering that aqueous sulphuric acid (H2SO4) condensates are typically formed. The expected
corrosiveness of the flue gas condensate derived from pulp and paper biomass fuels is likely higher
than that derived from natural gas (lower sulphur and chlorine contents), but lower than that derived
from fossil fuels (higher sulphur and chlorine contents). To help guide materials selection, a laboratory
corrosion testing program was initiated to evaluate the corrosion resistance of candidate alloys to
synthetic acidic flue gas condensates expected to be derived from pulp and paper biomass fuels. The
initial work, which is reported here, was focused on evaluating the resistance of carbon steel and
stainless steel to dewpoint corrosion in chloride-free aqueous H2SO4 condensates and to stress
corrosion cracking in a saturated aqueous ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) solution.