Oxyfuel combustion is considered as one of the most promising technologies to facilitate CO2
capture from flue gases. From the conventional air-fired combustion the oxyfuel process differs by
involving combustion atmospheres with reduced nitrogen and much increased levels of recirculated flue
gas. The difference also affects the formation and chemistry of deposits, and risk of corrosion on the
fireside surfaces.
Corrosion resistance of three conventional superheater tube steels T22 (10CrMo9-10, with and
without Ni-50Cr thermal spray coating), 11Cr (X20CrMoV11-1) and alloy 347 were evaluated under
simulated oxyfuel combustion environments (3.6% O2 – 60% CO2 – 30% H2O – 6.4% Ar) at 580°C.
Reference tests were performed at the same temperature in an atmosphere simulating conventional airfired
coal combustion (1.8% O2 – 74.2% N2 – 16% CO2 – 8% H2O). Test duration was up to 1000 h in
all cases. Corrosion resistance was evaluated through metallographic examination and weight loss
measurements. Results are presented and future research needs are discussed.