Research Evaluation of Polyamine Chemistry for Boiler Treatment: Corrosion Protection

Multiple component boiler treatment programs based on "polyamine" chemistry have been applied commercially in the global boiler marketplace for more than a decade.  These programs have been used in both high and low-pressure systems.  Although there is a considerable body of literature on the results from a polyamine program there is a lack of detailed comparisons between a conventional traditional boiler treatment and a polyamine program.  Traditional treatment approaches utilize a conventional inorganic or organic oxygen scavenger for control of dissolved oxygen corrosion. This paper will summarize the results of a recent research project comparing the performance of a polyamine-based boiler treatment program to traditional, oxygen scavenger based programs under simulated boiler feedwater and condensate return conditions.  In the low-pressure comparisons, both deaerated and non-deaerated feedwater conditions were simulated in softened-quality feedwater.  In the high-pressure comparison, the program was compared to a benchmark organic scavenger under simulated deaerated conditions in demineralized-quality feedwater. 

The corrosion behavior of carbon steel, copper and a copper alloy (admiralty) were measured and compared.  

In addition, the field test results of the application of a polyamine product in a 180 psig (13.4 bar) utility boiler will be presented.