npj Materials Degradation (Aug 2025)

Low-temperature corrosion in large-scale biomass boilers

  • Farzad Jafarihonar,
  • Emil Vainio,
  • Leena Hupa,
  • Mikko Hupa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00640-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract The shift toward biomass fuels for heat and power generation has introduced a range of new challenges for power plant technology, in particular large-scale boilers. One major challenge is the corrosion of preheaters and flue gas cleaning equipment, commonly known as low-temperature corrosion. Observations over recent decades show that this form of corrosion aligns more closely with chlorine chemistry than with sulfur chemistry. This review provides an up-to-date survey of the existing literature, with a particular focus on hygroscopic chloride salts that deliquesce and cause corrosion on cold-end surfaces.