Award

In preparation for the widespread implementation of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) for hot gas path applications within hydrogen turbines, the Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management seeks to encourage the development of process intelligence for CMCs operating at surface temperatures in excess of 1500ºC, for extended periods of time in hydrogen-rich environments. CMCs represent a new class of engineered materials for extreme environments that hold the promise of significant increases in energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions. Not only are CMCs a new class of composite materials, but their application in hydrogen turbines is sure to raise new technical challenges that have, so far, not been of concern to other domains where CMCs are considered. To address anticipated shortcomings with hydrogen powered gas turbines, research is needed to design, model and test alternative interphase coatings and Environmental Barrier Coatings for the intended conditions. To this end, Free Form Fibers (FFF) intends to team up with Materials Research and Design (MR&D) to implement a combined CIME-experimental approach leading to a CMC engineered for hydrogen turbines. FFF has unique capabilities to produce micro-composite samples with custom-made interphase coatings while MR&D has a proven history of modeling material behavior. The combined effort is expected to advance the state of the art for CMCs and build a predictive modeling capability to elicit the long-term behavior of such structures.