Development of Ultra-High Temperature-Resistant Materials for Energy Applications

QuesTek Innovations LLC announced today that it has received USD 1.2 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy. The funding will be used to design and develop a new materials solution for next-generation turbine blade alloys and compatible coating systems. QuesTek will design a system consisting of functionally graded niobium-based alloys that are suitable for additive manufacturing and can improve fuel efficiency by maintaining operation at elevated temperatures. Dr. Dana Frankel, Director of Design and Product Development at QuesTek, stated: "Designing a new turbine material with significantly better performance than current nickel-based superalloys is one of the greatest challenges facing the materials science field today."

"We are excited about this opportunity to apply our proven computational materials design approach to develop a new refractory turbine alloy, paving the way for incremental changes in turbine engine performance and efficiency."

  QuesTek will apply its Integrated Computational Materials Engineering-based models and extensive experience in designing superalloys, refractory alloys, high entropy alloys and coatings to design a printable niobium-based multi-material alloy system. To accelerate adoption of the designed materials in next-generation engines, concurrent materials and component design will be conducted in collaboration with leading turbine engine OEM Pratt & Whitney to define aerospace requirements, perform component design and direct testing and qualification. Additionally, the project team includes NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for additive manufacturing process development and the University of Minnesota for coating development. QuesTek received this competitive award from ARPA-E's ULtrahigh Temperature Impermeable Materials Advanced Turbine Efficiency (ULTIMATE) program to develop and demonstrate ultra-high temperature materials capable of operating in high-temperature and high-stress environments of a gas turbine blade. This effort directly addresses the need to improve gas turbine efficiency for aerospace and energy applications (such as land-based industrial gas turbines) that are critical to increasing fuel economy and reducing carbon emissions. Engine efficiency is fundamentally determined by maximum cycle temperature and therefore scales directly with operating temperature. However, current state-of-the-art superalloys have limited high-temperature stability.