Condition assessment technologies for power plant boiler refractories

Refractory linings are used to provide protection against erosion, corrosion and high temperatures. The water wall tubes near the burners in conventional fossil plant (especially fired by low volatile coal) may be coated by a thin layer of refractory applied by brushing or spraying. This paper reviews existing and future technologies which could potentially be used for the condition assessment of power plant refractories. It is based on an extensive survey carried out by ERA Technology and CERAM Research in support of a proposed multi-client research programme to develop new condition assessment technologies for refractory asset management and is known as the CATRAM project