Failure Investigation of the Tube of a Dual Fired Steam Boiler in a Western Nigerian Food and Beverage Manufacturing Plant

•Failure investigation of tube failure of a 12,000 kg/hr dual fired boiler was carried out.•The investigation was carried out in accordance with BS 3059 PART 1 GR 320 ERW British standard.•Metallurgical microscope was employed for the metallurgical observation.•The investigation used visual examination, chemical composition, microstructure analysis, and analysis of the boiler feed water and boiler water.•The cause of the boiler tube failure was majorly due to pitting and thermal oxidation of the tube ID.•Decarburization and grain growth occurred due to thermal oxidation at the ID and pitting corrosion was observed at the OD.•Corrosion emanated from the scaling of the tube OD which possibly caused an uneven heat distribution in the boiler tube.•An in increase in the concentration of TDS components promotes deposition and scaling in the boiler.•Improvement on the boiler feed water, boiler water treatment and increase in blowdown was recommended for TDS reduction.