Long-term Stability of 9- to 12 % Cr Steels

In the recent 25 years creep rupture strength of 9- to 12 %Cr steels for steam pipes and turbines has been doubled by development of new alloys. This development has formed a basis for improved efficiency of fossil fired steam power plants by introduction of advanced steam temperatures and pressures. Newly developed steam pipe steels are based on modifications of well-established steels like the X 20CrMoV12 1. Balanced addition of V, Nb and N to a 9Cr 1 Mo steel led to the Modified 9 Cr steel P 91. Addition of 1% W to a 9Cr 1 MoVNbN base composition led to steel E 911 and partial replacement of Mo with 1.8 % W combined with a slight amount of Boron led to steel P 92. The creep rupture strength of these new alloys are now secured with long-term tests up to 100,000 hours, which demonstrate improvements of 50% (P 91), 75 % (E 911) and 100 % (P 92) in strength compared to X 20CrMoV12 1.