Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 1 (March 2021)
1Development of Advanced Thermal Barrier Coatingsfor World’s Highest Turbine Inlet Temperature1650°C Class JAC Gas Turbine

YOSHIFUMI OKAJIMA*1 TAIJI TORIGOE*1
MASAHIKO MEGA*1

MASAMITSU KUWABARA*2

SUSUMU WAKAZONO*3

Mitsubishi Power, Ltd. (Mitsubishi Power) started rated operation of the world’s first 1650°CClass JAC gas turbine in 2020. This gas turbine successfully achieves a higher turbine inlet
temperature by further increasing the thickness of the highly reliable Thermal Barrier Coating(TBC) utilized for the 1600°C-Class J-Series gas turbine in order to improve the thermal barriercapability. After confirming the high spalling resistance of this advanced TBC in element tests anda sufficient amount of validation work with an actual J-Series turbine, we started the validation
process with the JAC-Series, which has so far operated for about 2,000 hours and demonstrated
excellent results.

|1. Introduction
The Energy Transition movement, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero, hasbeen accelerating both in Japan and overseas(1). In order to achieve this, it is essential to spread theuse of renewable energy. However, there is a disadvantage in renewable energy in that it issusceptible to various different factors including the weather, which causes load changes. To
compensate for this weakness, there are rising expectations for Gas Turbine Combined Cycle(GTCC) power generation, which is capable of quick starts and high thermal efficiency.
In order to improve thermal efficiency of the GTCC power generation, MHI Group has beenpart of the “1,700°C-Class Ultrahigh-Temperature Gas Turbine Component TechnologyDevelopment” national project since 2004. The advanced TBC developed in the project has beenutilized for 1600°C-Class J-Series gas turbine since 2011, which has already operated for a running
total of over 1 million hours and successfully demonstrated a high level of reliability. Furthermore,
in January 2020, Mitsubishi Power started commissioning of the next-generation high-efficiency gas
turbine “JAC (J-series Air-Cooled)”(2) which achieved the world’s highest turbine inlet temperatureof 1650°C by utilizing the forced-air cooling system for the combustor, a high-pressure ratio
compressor and an advanced TBC with increased thickness (Figure 1). This turbine was based on
the J-Series, which has a proven technology and long-term field operation. This report will describe
the advanced TBC technology that is essential to the completion of JAC.

*1

Research Manager, Manufacturing Technology Research Department, Research & Innovation Center, Mitsubishi Heavy*2

Chief Staff Manager, Large Frame Gas Turbine Engineering Department, Gas Turbine Technology & Products Integration*3Manager, Large Frame Gas Turbine Engineering Department, Gas Turbine Technology & Products Integration Division,Industries, Ltd.
Division, Mitsubishi Power. Ltd.
Mitsubishi Power. Ltd.

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Figure 1

JAC gas turbine concept and TBC|2. Development of the advanced TBC
With respect to the selection of candidate materials, the material calculation system based onelectronic structures developed by MHI (Figure 2(a)) was used to choose a material composition
that exhibits excellent high-temperature stability with low thermal conduction. MHI produced asintered body experimentally with the selected material composition, and according to the evaluationresults of its thermal conductivity and other factors, we successfully discovered a new candidate
material which has lower thermal conductivity than Yttria partially Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ), theconventional material(3) (Figure 2(b)).

Figure 2 Selection of ceramic material and sintered body evaluation

TBC is applied by Atmospheric Plasma Spray, through which the coating is formed with alower thermal conductivity than a sintered body by including porosity in the coating. However,excess pores would likely cause erosion or early spallation in the actual turbine operating
environment. Therefore, it is very important to set the appropriate conditions for the thermal spraycoating. Accordingly, MHI acquired the diagnostic information, including the temperature andvelocity distribution of the sprayed particles (Figure 3), as well as the correspondence with themicrostructure and coating properties after the coating is completed prior to the adjustment of theconditions for the thermal spray coating.

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Figure 3 In-flight particles diagnostics for adjusting conditions of thermal spray coating|3. Actual turbine validation of the extra-thick advanced TBC
The TBC is generally known to spall off easily when it is thick(4). However, the advanced TBC
has extremely high spalling resistance compared with the conventional one. Therefore, it is possible
to enhance the thermal barrier performance with the advanced TBC by further increasing its
thickness. According to the bending adhesion test conducted with the conventional and advanced
TBCs, the conventional TBC demonstrated a significant drop in the critical debonding strain when
the thickness exceeds the standard level, whereas the advanced TBC with the same level of increasein the thickness exhibited a degree of adhesion either equaling or surpassing that of the conventional
TBC with the standard thickness(5) (Figure 4(a)). The same tendency was observed in the CO2 laser
thermal cycle test conducted separately (Figure 4(b)), thereby a high level of adhesion strength andthermal cycle life of the thick advanced TBC was confirmed.

Figure 4 Adhesion strength and thermal cycle life before and after increasing thickness ofTBC

After confirming the reliability of the advanced TBC with increased thickness through element
tests, we refined the thermal spray programming by conducting observation of the microstructure, aswell as a thermal cycle test with additional test pieces, as part of the validation process prior to thepractical application to actual turbine components. This thick advanced TBC has been used in thelong-term reliability validation of the row 1 vane of the M501J combined cycle power plant
validation facility located in Mitsubishi Power’s Takasago Work since 2014. M501J had beenrunning up until 2018 while undergoing regular external observations multiple times without
showing any failure, even after approximately 18,000 hours of operation, thereby successfully
confirming the integrity of the TBC (Figure 5). Similarly, the thick advanced TBC was applied to acombustor, turbine rotor blade and ring segment for which long-term reliability validation wasconducted, and integrity conditions were confirmed (Figure 6).

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Figure 5

Validation of thick advanced TBC on turbine’s first-stage stator blade

Figure 6 Actual machine validation of thick advanced TBC withindividual components of M501J gas turbine

Having demonstrated a sufficient level of reliability in element tests and the validation with
the M501J gas turbine, the thick advanced TBC was applied to multiple portions of the 1650°C-Class
M501JAC gas turbine, for which a test run started in January 2020 at the newly-built T-Point 2
combined cycle power plant validation facility. The total number of operation hours reachedapproximately 2,000 hours by October 2020, and integrity was confirmed so far, without any notabledamage such as spallation or erosion in the advanced TBC (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Actual machine validation at T-Point 2 combined cycle power plant validation
facilityMitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 1 (March 2021)
5|4. Conclusion
It is extremely important to increase the turbine inlet temperature to achieve higher efficiencyof the GTCC. Therefore, MHI Group has participated in “1,700°C-Class Ultrahigh-Temperature Gas
Turbine Component Technology Development” since 2004.
Taking advantage of the high adhesion and durability, which are the major features of theadvanced TBC developed in this project, and after ensuring the reliability of the thicker coating inelement tests and actual turbine validation, we applied the thick advanced TBC to the 1650°C-Class
JAC gas turbine, achieving the world’s highest turbine inlet temperature. The JAC gas turbine has
been running for more than half a year so far and the coating integrity has been confirmed to besatisfactory. We will continue to monitor the long-term reliability of the thick advanced TBC at TPoint 2 combined cycle power plant validation facility.

|Acknowledgement
The successful outcomes described above were obtained in a project (JPNP16002) subsidized
by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). We would liketo express our sincere gratitude to NEDO and everyone involved.

References
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(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol.56 No.3 (2019)
Oguma et al., Development of Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies for High-efficiency
Gas Turbines, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol.52 No.4 (2015)
Bose, S. et al., Thermal Barrier Coating Experience in Gas Turbine Engines at Pratt & Whitney, Journal of
Thermal Spray Technology, Vol.6(1), 1997, p.99-104
Okajima et al., Development of Advanced Thermal Barrier Coatings for Next Generation 1650°C ClassJAC Gas Turbine, 48th Technical papers of annual meeting 2020 A-7, Gas Turbine Society of Japan