38
*STTR
Project: Nanostructured Coatings by
Pulsed Plasma Processing for Alloys Used in Coal-Fired Environments—Karta
Technologies, Inc., 5555 Northwest Parkway,
Dr.
Rao Govindaraju, Principal Investigator, rao@karta.com
Ms.
Susan Wright, Business Official, swright@karta.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-05ER86249
Amount:
$749,601
Research
Institution
Southwest
Research Institute
San
Antonio,
The
efficient and profitable operation of coal-fired power plants requires higher
steam temperatures and pressures, necessitating the use of advanced alloys. A
major concern in using these advanced materials is their poor corrosion and
oxidation resistance in fossil energy environments. Therefore,
protective coatings on the ferritic and austenitic steels used in these
coal-fired environments are needed to assure the economic and safe operation of
the power plants. This project will
develop an innovative plasma coating technology to apply durable nanostructured
coatings of iron and nickel aluminide on Fe- and Ni-based alloys. Phase
I demonstrated the feasibility of depositing nanostructured coatings of Ni3Al
and Fe3Al on substrates of 304L and P91 steels. Coated
samples were characterized by chemical, physical, structural, and microscopical
techniques. The performance of
plasma-coated samples was compared with uncoated samples in a simulated furnace
environment. Phase II will optimize
the coating chemistry and demonstrate the scalability of the process to coat
tubes upto 24” in length. The performance of coatings will be evaluated in
simulated and real coal gasification environments.
Commercial
Applications and other Benefits as
described by the awardee: The
coating technology should have a significant impact on the electrical utility
industry by saving the materials costs involved in replacing corroded tubes,
reducing downtime, increasing efficiency in power generation, and reducing the
probability of a catastrophic failure. The
technology is versatile and could be extended to materials or components used in
other industrial applications. Because
the technology is not a line-of sight process, it could be used to coat complex
shaped components. Lastly, the
process is highly energy efficient and could be automated.