# Presentation: 128116

** ****Hot Section Silicon Nitride**
**Materials Development For**
**Advanced Microturbines**
**and Other Gas Turbine**
**Component Applications**

*Goddard Road*
*Northboro, MA 01532*

**27th Annual Conference on Composites, **
**Materials, and Structures**
***January 29, 2003***
***Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, FL***
***Robert H. Licht***
***Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc.***
***508-351-7815; robert.h.licht@saint-gobain.com***

## Hot Section Materials Development For Advanced Microturbines Program

- Co-Authors:  Vimal Pujari, Marc Abouaf, Bill Collins, Brian LaCourse, Ara Vartabedian
**Acknowledgements**
- Research sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) managed by UT- Battelle, LLC, under Prime Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the DOE.
- ORNL -- Dave Stinton, Terry Tiegs, Matt Ferber, Peter Tortorelli, Shannon Bridges.
- DOE -- Debbie Haught, Steve Waslo, Jill Jonkowski
- UTRC -- John Holowczak, Gary Linsey, Bill Treadway
- Dave Richerson, Dave Carruthers

## Purpose of the Work

**Hot Section Si****3****N****4**** for Advanced Microturbine Program**
- Under DOE/ORNL Program, Develop and improve a cost-effective, reliable monolithic silicon nitride material for Hot Section Components in DER Advanced Microturbine Systems
- Through surface engineering, demonstrate sufficient environmental stability for operation w/o EBC -- Or compatible with EBC
**Overall Goals**
- Contribute to AMTS Objectives of efficiency, fuel flexibility, durability, operating cost
- Expand utility of HT silicon nitride component for other power generation and military applications

## Outline

**AMTS and Hot Section Material Goals**
**Historical - Silicon Nitride for GT Applications**
**Technical Activity -- Technical Progress and Plans**
- Material and Process Qualification
- Materials
- Process Development
- Surface Engineering
**Next Steps and Summary**

## DOE Advanced Microturbine Systems

**25 kW to 500 kW (or  to 1 MW)**
**Goals:**
**Increase efficiency to > 40 % **
**Enabling technology: ceramics and EBC**
**Less than 7 ppm NOx**
**Durability -- 11,000 hours bet major overhaul, 45,000 hour service life**
**Cost of Power, $500/kW (now ~$1,000)**
**Fuel Flexible**
**DOE Funding $60 M FY 2000 - 2006**

## DOE DER Microturbine System Development ProgramsOriginal Prime Contractors

**Capstone**
**GE **
**Honeywell ****Power Systems**
**Ingersoll Rand**
**Solar Turbines ****(recuperator)**
**United Technologies**

## Materials Development Objective

**Develop and optimize a high temperature ceramic material and process suitable for microturbine applications up to 1300****o****C.**
_**Specific Properties**_** **
**  ****Fast Fracture**
- RT –    950 MPa
- 1300oC    600 MPa
**  ****Fracture Toughness  ******** 6.5 MPa******** m**
**  ****Weibull Modulus  ******** 12**
**  ****High Temperature Creep Rate**
**      ********1.9 x 10-8 @ 1250****o****C/130 MPa**
**  ****Oxidation Resistance up to 1250****o****C**
**  ****Recession Resistance in humid  **
**     ****environment up to 1250****o****C**

**Processing**

**Microstructure**

**Properties**

**NT154**
**(Optimization)**

## History - Ceramic Gas Turbine

**DoD Ceramics for High Performance Applications**
- 70’s & 80’s: Army Conferences, NAVAIR Bearings
- NC-132 HPSN
**DOE Automotive Gas Turbine Programs (80’s-90’s)**
- Allison, AlliedSignal Primes
- Norton/TRW NT154 SN, ASCC, Kyocera, Carborundum SiC