Corrosion in steam boilers is caused by chemical and electrochemical reactions of metal with its surrounding environment. The most important corrosion factors in steam boilers are oxygen corrosion, carbon dioxide corrosion, corrosion due to pH drop, alkalinity corrosion, corrosion of hydrolyzable salts and corrosion of organic materials.

The impact of various factors on corrosion damage are: 1_ Design, material selection and process 2_ Lack of necessary instructions 3_ Human error 4_ Poor inspection 5_ Poor layout, installation and coordination 6_ Failure to anticipate unwanted events 7_ Other cases