High temperature materials increase efficiency

Even modern, fossil fuel fired power stations blow around half of the primary energy into the atmosphere. To make this much more efficient, scientists headed by Professor Dr. Lorenz Singheiser from the Institute of Energy Research at the Forschungszentrum Jülich are developing new materials that can with stand higher operating temperatures and extreme loads without changing their inner structures through aging.

“There can hardly be any more demanding scenarios for materials to with stand than steam turbines that have to operate trouble free over decades without signs of fatigue,”says Singheiser. Together with ThyssenKrupp VDM, he developed a new high performance steel by adding titanium and manganese to stabilise the basic structures of chromium and iron, thereby raising the heat resistance.

The materials built on this basis, which material experts are now working on, withstand temperatures of up to 650° Celsius. This operating temperature would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around a quarter compared to present-day values. Further improvements are on the horizon. Singheiser and his team are also studying nickel-based super alloys that can withstand temperatures of up to around 750° Celsius over long periods of time.

The first E.ON steam driven power station, working at temperatures of up to 720° Celsius, is scheduled to go online as early as in 2014 with the help of the results from Jülich. Injust under 20 years, estimates Singheiser, the efficiency of coal-fired power stations could be increased to 55 per cent. It currently lies at 45 per cent. In the case of gas and steam driven power stations, efficiency rates of 65 per cent are conceivable.