About this Abstract |
Meeting |
Materials Science & Technology 2020
|
Symposium
|
Ceramic Matrix Composites
|
Presentation Title |
Mechanically-robust, Oxidation-resistant, Thermally-cyclable Oxide/Metal Composites for Concentrated Solar Power |
Author(s) |
Camilla K McCormack, Mario Caccia, Thuan Dinh Nguyen, Gregory D Scofield, Grigorios Itskos, Michael D Sangid, Kenneth H. Sandhage |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Camilla K McCormack |
Abstract Scope |
A concentrated solar power (CSP) plant transfers heat from focused sunlight to a high-pressure working fluid, such as supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2), that is then used to drive a turbine to generate electricity. The cost of CSP-derived electricity may be significantly reduced by increasing the temperature of the working fluid entering into the turbine. However, compact stainless-steel-based heat exchangers (HEXs) used to transfer heat to the working fluid have been limited to operational temperatures ≥550oC, owing to significant reductions in the maximum stresses allowed for stainless steels at higher temperatures. In this talk, the use of ceramic/metal composites (cermets), such as Al2O3/Cr cermets, as attractive alternative HEX materials will be discussed. At 750oC, Al2O3/Cr cermets are stiff, possess relatively high failure strengths (>300 MPa), are resistant to oxidation, and are thermally cyclable (owing to similar thermal expansions of Al2O3 and Cr). The fabrication of Al2O3/Cr-based HEXs will also be discussed. |