The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) of the US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $4 million in funding to promote the development of ceramic-based materials to increase the efficiency of hydrogen-fueled turbines that might one day be utilized in clean power plants.
Clean hydrogen electricity, whether generated from renewable resources or fossil or carbon-based waste resources, combined with pre-combustion carbon capture and permanent storage, will assist the Biden-Harris Administration to achieve its objective of a zero-carbon US power industry by 2035.
The research and development (R&D) of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components, which allow hydrogen turbines to run at higher operating temperatures and hence improve cycle efficiency, will be the subject of potential projects selected under this financing opportunity announcement (FOA).
This research will enable operating at 150 degrees Celsius (°C) higher than current CMC technology and 450 degrees Celsius (°C) higher than existing nickel-based materials while minimizing the quantity of cooling air required. As clean hydrogen replaces natural gas as the turbine fuel, these advancements will result in higher turbine efficiency and cheaper energy prices, as well as decreased greenhouse gas emissions.
Projects will be chosen based on two criteria:
- CMC Performance Benchmarking Using Predictive Modeling
- CMC Materials’ Temperature Performance Is Improving
