Boiler Tubes are metal tubes located inside of boilers that heat water in order to produce steam. There are two major types of tube boilers: water-tube boilers and fire-tube boilers.

In water-tube boilers, water circulates inside the tubes and is heated externally by hot gases generated by the furnace. With fire-tube boilers, hot gas passes through one or many tubes, which through thermal conduction, heats the water surrounding them. Boiler tubes are susceptible to certain damage mechanisms, including:

• boiler feed water corrosion,
• graphitization,
• thermal fatigue, and
• corrosion fatigue.

In order to help prevent boiler tube failures, in 1985 the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) developed the model for a Boiler Tube Failure Reduction (BTFR) Program. The implementation of this program has greatly reduced the costs associated with failures.

Related Topics

• Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs)
• Boilers
• Bolts
• Coker Units
• Cooling Towers
• Crude Distillation Unit (CDU)
• Deaerators
• Fired Heaters
• Fixed Equipment
• Flanges
• Flare Systems
• Furnace Tubes
• Glass-lined Equipment
• Heat Exchangers
• HF Alkylation Units
• Hydrocracking Unit
• Hydrotreater
• Piping
• Pressure Relieving Devices (PRDs)
• Pressure Vessels
• Rotating Equipment
• Valves

Topic Tools

Share this Topic

Contribute to Definition

We welcome updates to this Integripedia definition from the Inspectioneering community. Click the link below to submit any recommended changes for Inspectioneering's team of editors to review.

Contribute to Definition