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Increasing the efficiency of the way energy is produced in an array of facilities that dot America’s landscape is at the core of efforts to reduce the amount of fuel required to produce power, decrease harmful emissions, and eliminate waste. Increasing efficiency requires better processes and, especially, better pressure and temperature-withstanding materials for use in everything from the boilers that combust fuels to the power-making turbines that keep the nation warm in winter, cool in summer and keeps its lights on year-round.
Amid the heat, noise, and commotion in NETL’s alloy fabrication laboratory in Albany, Ore., researchers are experimenting with the design, development, manufacture, and testing of advanced heat-resistant alloys, superalloys and novel alloys such as high-entropy alloys that can meet escalating efficiency improvement challenges and help create the next generation of energy industry hardware.
In traditional approaches to alloy design, an alloy is made by melting together two or more elements. At least one element must be a metal. Examples of alloys include stainless steel, brass, bronze, white gold, 14k gold, and sterling silver. Most alloys are named for their primary or base metal.
One topic NETL is focusing on is the development of high entropy alloys (HEAs) – substances that are constructed with equal or nearly equal quantities of five or more metals, combining the strength and characteristics of the individual elements into a superior substance. HEAs have attracted research attention because they have potential to exhibit unique properties when compared to traditional alloys including increased strength, wear-resistance, and corrosion- and oxidation-resistance – properties that increase the longevity, efficiency, and effectiveness of hardware used during energy production.
At the Albany site, NETL experts are producing and testing new HEAs suitable for a variety of energy applications. The researchers rely on quantum mechanics simulations and CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) methods to develop the formation, thermodynamics, and elasticity of single-phase HEAs, examining hundreds of HEA possibilities using empirical data.
Based on the analysis they conducted on HEA possibilities, NETL researchers fashion ingots that are shaped into plates, sheets, rods or other forms. Most work done in the lab involves exposing HEAs to intense heat and pressure with equipment like a 500-ton hydraulic press and a hot rolling mill.
NETL experts characterize the properties of the newly created HEAs and assess how they can be used in real-world settings. In addition to boilers and turbines, HEAs have great promise for use as hydrogen storage tanks, radiation resistant materials, diffusion barriers for electronics, precision resistors, electromagnetic shielding materials, soft magnetic materials, functional coatings, and even anti-bacterial materials.
HEAs have not seen widespread use yet because of the costs associated with large-scale manufacturing. NETL has used it extensive alloy fabrication capability to produce some of the world’s largest (in terms of weight) HEA ingots. The Lab’s methods and scale-up gives confidence that NETL-designed and -developed alloys will readily translate into industrial manufacturing practices.. The Lab’s efforts are refining processes and techniques leading to reduced production costs and more widespread use of HEAs.
NETL’s pioneering efforts in developing HEAs for use in energy-related application typifies its mission. The Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory that produces technological solutions for America’s energy challenges. NETL research is providing breakthroughs and discoveries that support home-grown energy initiatives, stimulate a growing economy, and improve the health, safety, and security of all Americans. NETL’s work supports DOE’s mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.
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