Ceramic vane demonstration in an industrial turbine

Conference · Tue Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:465327

Wenglarz, R A; Calcuttawala, S M; Pope, J E

A DOE program with Allison Engine Co. will demonstrate ceramic vanes in an industrial turbine. First-stage ceramic vanes and metallic mounts are to be designed, fabricated, and operated in a short-term engine test (up to 50 hr). The vanes and mounts will then be retrofitted into an existing turbine for operation at a commercial site for up to 8000 hr. They have been designed. Thermal and stress analyses of the vanes have calculated acceptable fast fracture stress levels and probabilities of survival > 99.99% for turbine continuous power and emergency shutdown (thermal shock) conditions. Max calculated steady-state stress is 169 MPa at 1182 C, so currently available ceramics appear to provide acceptable fast fracture strengths for use in industrial turbines. Long-term materials test will evaluate the lifetimes and retained strength of ceramics at stress and temperature levels in the range calculated from the ceramic vane analyses. Results of these tests will support on which vane material will be used in the long duration turbine demonstration. A successful demonstration could provide a basis for incorporating first-stage ceramic vanes into current generation industrial turbines and also the introduction of ceramic airfoils into downstream rows of future high temperature Advanced Turbine System (ATS) engines.

• Research Organization: Allison Engine Co., Indianapolis, IN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC21-93MC29257
• OSTI ID: 465327
• Report Number(s): DOE/MC/29257--97/C0782; CONF-970604--2; ON: DE97051969
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
GAS TURBINES
RETROFITTING
STRESS ANALYSIS
VANES