In the fall of 1975, field data from two nuclear power plants indicated a reduction in the diameters of Inconel 600 steam generator tubes at their intersections within the tube support plates.1 The affected plants had operated for a long time on a phosphate water chemistry (13 to 15 months) and were subsequently switched to an all volatile treatment (AVT) using ammonia and hydrazine. Shortly after the switch to AVT (3 to 6 months), reductions in tube diameter, or "denting", were observed. At that time, the long phosphate chemistry prehistory was considered to be significant, since plants with little or no phosphate history were not denting. It was also considered significant that the plants that were experiencing denting used sea water or brackish water for condenser cooling and were therefore susceptible to higher, and more acid, levels of chloride contamination from condenser inleakage than fresh water plants. However, denting has been observed recently in plants that have had no phosphate history.
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TECHNICAL PAPER
Laboratory Investigations of the Denting Phenomenon in Nuclear Steam Generators Available to Purchase
M. J. Wootten;
M. J. Wootten
Westinghouse Research & Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235
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G. Economy;
G. Economy
Westinghouse Research & Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235
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A. R. Pebler;
A. R. Pebler
Westinghouse Research & Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235
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W. T. Lindsay, Jr.
W. T. Lindsay, Jr.
Westinghouse Research & Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15235
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Paper No:
C1978-78194, pp. 1-14; 14 pages
Published Online:
March 06 1978
Citation
M. J. Wootten, G. Economy, A. R. Pebler, W. T. Lindsay; March 6–10, 1978. "Laboratory Investigations of the Denting Phenomenon in Nuclear Steam Generators." Proceedings of the CORROSION 1978. CORROSION 1978. Houston, TX. (pp. 1-14). AMPP. https://doi.org/10.5006/C1978-78194
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