DOE ARPA-E, ULTIMATE—Ultrahigh Temperature Materials Program

[Astronuc]

TL;DR Summary

ULTIMATE - Ultrahigh Temperature Impervious Materials Advancing Turbine Efficiency

Ultra-High Temperature Materials Program for development of ultrahigh temperature materials for continuous operation at 1300 ºC (2372 ºF) in a stand-alone material test environment or at 1800 ºC (3272 ºF) with coatings and cooling

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy today announced $16 million in funding for 17 projects as part of Phase 1 of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) Ultrahigh Temperature Impervious Materials Advancing Turbine Efficiency (ULTIMATE) program. ULTIMATE teams will develop ultrahigh temperature materials for gas turbine use in the aviation and power generation industries.
https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-...nounces-16-million-funding-phase-1-ultra-high

Project Descriptions - https://arpa-e.energy.gov/sites/def...files/ULTIMATE Project Descriptions_FINAL.pdf

I see some interesting comments/statements in the descriptions. Usually light is not used in reference to refractory alloys. Density of Nb is 8.57g/cm³, Mo 10.2 g/cm³ and Ta 16.6 g/cm³. For comparison, SS316 has a density about 8 g/cm³, Inconel X750 ~8.28 g/cm³, and CMSX-4 ~8.7 g/cm³.

Cannon-Muskegon has develop some high strength alloys for gas combustion turbines, which are used in aircraft engines and aero-derivative gas-fired power turbines. Other groups have developed their own proprietary alloys.

 

[anorlunda]

Thanks for sharing. That could eventually lead to a significant jump in combustion turbine efficiency. That, in turn could shift the competitive balance of using natural gas compared to wind/solar.

No matter what our opinions are about good sources versus bad, economics are still tremendously important.