Development of Niobium-Based Alloys for Turbine Applications

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Program:
ULTIMATE
Award:
$1,100,000
Location:
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
05/03/2021 - 06/30/2024
Website:

Technology Description:

Current Ni-based alloys used in turbine blade applications are operating at 1100°C, which is approximately 90% of their melting temperatures. Refractory alloys, such as niobium (Nb) alloys, can withstand higher temperatures. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will use computational modeling tools and advanced characterization to develop two classes of Nb alloys for use in a tri-layered turbine system consisting of a core high strength Nb-alloy layer, an intermediate layer consisting of a more oxidation resistant Nb alloy compatible with a core layer, and an external thermal barrier/coating such as a commercially available silicide coating designed to provide oxidation resistance. The alloys will be able to continuously operate at 1300°C with coatings. This capability will enable gas turbine inlets of 1800°C or higher.

Potential Impact:

Combining development of new ultrahigh temperature materials with compatible coatings and manufacturing technologies has the potential to increase gas turbine efficiency up to 7%, which will significantly reduce wasted energy and carbon emissions.

Security:

Coal-fired and nuclear-powered plant electricity generation is uneconomical, unsafe, outdated, and/or contributes to significant CO2 emissions. Increasing gas turbine efficiency is critical to ensuring that plants can effectively deploy their capacity to the grid, increasing energy security.

Environment:

Improving gas turbine efficiency can significantly reduce carbon emissions from air travel, which represents 2% of all global carbon emissions.

Economy:

By 2050, a 7% efficiency improvement in the natural gas turbines used for U.S. electricity generation could save up to 15-16 quads of energy; in civilian aircraft turbines, 3-4 quads of energy could be saved for U.S. air travel.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Philseok Kim
Project Contact:
Dr. Govindarajan Muralidharan
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
muralidhargn@ornl.gov

Partners

University of Kentucky

Related Projects

• General Electric (GE) Global Research - ULTIMATE Refractory Alloy Innovations for Superior Efficiency (RAISE)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Additive Manufacturing of Oxidation-Resistant Gradient Refractory Composites
• National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) - Rapid Design and Manufacturing of High-Performance Materials for Turbine Blades Applications above 1300°Celsius
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Facility for Evaluating High Temperature Oxidation and Mechanical Properties
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Development of Niobium-Based Alloys for Turbine Applications
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) - Selective Thermal Emission Coatings for Improved Turbine Performance
• Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) - Design and Manufacturing of Ultrahigh Temperature Refractory Alloys
• QuesTek Innovations - Concurrent Design of a Multimaterial Niobium Alloy System for Next-generation Turbine Applications
• Raytheon Technologies Research Center - Computationally Guided ODS Refractory HEAs via Additive Manufacturing
• Raytheon Technologies Research Center - Environmental Protection Coating System for Refractory Metal Alloys (EPCS for RMAs)
• Texas A&M University - Batch-wise Improvement in Reduced Design Space using a Holistic Optimization Technique (BIRDSHOT)
• The Boeing Company - Ultra-High Performance Metallic Turbine Blades for Extreme Environments
• University of Maryland (UMD) - New Environmental-Thermal Barrier Coatings for Ultrahigh Temperature Alloys
• University of Utah - Designing Novel Multicomponent Niobium Alloys for High Temperature: Integrated Design, Rapid Processing & Validation Approach
• University of Virginia (UVA) - High Entropy Rare-earth Oxide (HERO) Coatings for Refractory Alloys
• University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) - Additive Manufacturing of Ultrahigh Temperature Refractory Metal Alloys
• West Virginia University - High-Throughput Computational Guided Development of Refractory Complex Concentrated Alloys-based Composite

Release Date:
04/21/2020