Researchers look to extend turbine life
A team of scientists in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University will explore ways to boost the longevity of steam turbines, thus improving the efficiency of coal-fired power plants.
Assistant Professor Steven Niezgoda and Professor Yunzhi Wang will develop new modeling capabilities to predict long-term creep behavior of nickel-base superalloys used in advanced ultra-supercritical (A-USC) steam turbines in coal-fired power plants. Creep is the permanent deformation that occurs to a solid material under long-term exposure to mechanical stresses. It is an important failure mode at elevated temperatures.
The integrated computational materials engineering approach of this project will improve the efficiency and accuracy of assessing the alloy’s long-term creep performance, thereby accelerating the development of next- generation materials for A-USC steam turbines. This will allow U.S. manufacturers to maintain a competitive edge in building highly efficient coal-fired power plants.
“The current design for steam turbines allows for a life span of approximately 40,000 working hours, and the next generation promises 100,000 working hours,” Niezgoda said. “The purpose of this research is to extend that lifespan even further, to 300,000 hours.”
Niezgoda and Wang’s modeling will be critical to understanding the capacities of the superalloys used in the turbines. They will examine current models, examine legacy data, and identify some missing pieces in models that are currently in use. Once that phase is accomplished, they’ll develop an improved model to predict creep.
“Aging infrastructure is a universal problem, and it’s definitely evident in the energy industry,” Niezgoda said. “Creep behavior is a limiting factor in design, and compensating for it can improve a plant’s efficiency.”
UTR is the umbrella program under which DOE's University Coal Research (UCR) initiative operates. The initiative addresses pressing scientific and technical energy challenges while also building our nation’s capabilities in energy science and engineering by providing hands-on research experience to future generations of scientists and engineers.
The Office of Fossil Energy funds research, development and demonstration projects to reduce the risk and cost of advanced carbon technologies and further the sustainable use of the Nation’s fossil resources.
by David Welsh, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
