Foil Bearing Coating Behavior in CO₂

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1374696· OSTI ID:1374696

Walker, Matthew ^[1]; Kruizenga, Alan Michael ^[1]; Pasch, James Jay ^[2]; Fleming, Darryn ^[2]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The Sandia S-CO₂ Recompression Closed Brayton Cycle (RCBC) utilizes a series of gas foil bearings in its turbine-alternator-compressors. At high shaft rotational speed these bearings allow the shaft to ride on a cushion of air. Conversely, during startup and shutdown, the shaft rides along the foil bearing surface. Low-friction coatings are used on bearing surfaces in order to facilitate rotation during these periods. An experimental program was initiated to elucidate the behavior of coated bearing foils in the harsh environments of this system. A test configuration was developed enabling long duration exposure tests, followed by a range of analyses relevant to their performance in a bearing. This report provides a detailed overview of this work. The results contained herein provide valuable information in selecting appropriate coatings for more advanced future bearing-rig tests at the newly established test facility in Sandia-NM.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Reactor Technologies (NE-7)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1374696
• Report Number(s): SAND--2017-8280R; 655946
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE