Steam Turbine Materials and Corrosion

Ultra-supercritical (USC) power plants offer the promise of higher efficiencies and lower emissions. Current goals of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Power Systems Initiatives include coal generation at 60% efficiency, which would require steam temperatures of up to 760 °C. In prior years this project examined the steamside oxidation of alloys for use in high- and intermediate-pressure USC turbines. This steamside oxidation research is continuing and progress is presented, with emphasis on chromia evaporation