PhD studentship - Hot corrosion, oxidation and protection of gas turbine components in advanced power systems. £15,600+fees*

School of Applied Sciences

Cranfield University

Supported by EPSRC and industrial sponsorship, a studentship of up to £15,600 p.a. plus fees* is available

This PhD studentship is aimed at supporting the use of gas turbines in advanced power generation systems. The successful student will investigate several different aspects of hot corrosion and oxidation of gas turbine blade/vane materials (with appropriate protective coatings), including: hot corrosion of materials when using fuels with higher levels of contaminants; oxidation/thermal cycling of materials systems (including thermal barrier coatings) during high temperature exposures. Exposure tests will be carried out in range of specialised controlled atmosphere laboratory furnaces and thermal cycling test rigs. The performance of the materials will be determined using advanced analytical facilities including: optical microscopy/image analysis, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray analysis, x-ray diffraction, etc. It is anticipated that the student will become involved in the development of models for the lives of the gas turbine materials based on their oxidation and hot corrosion performance, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of current protective coating systems.

This PhD project forms one part of the EPSRC SUPERGEN initiative that is focused on ‘Powering The Future’. Cranfield University was one of four UK university research groups that were selected to take part in the SUPERGEN consortium on ‘Conventional Power Plant Lifetime Extension’ that started in July 2004 and is supported by a group of industrial companies including Alstom Power, Siemens, Doosan Babcock, Rolls Royce, E.ON and RWE npower. The consortium has recently had its funding renewed for a further four year programme of work that will start in July 2008 and will be focused towards ‘Lifing of High Efficiency, Low CO2 Emission Power Plant’. Cranfield’s activities within this consortium are related to the high temperature oxidation, corrosion and protection of components, including heat exchangers and gas turbines.

The student will work within the growing multi-disciplinary teams of Cranfield University’s ‘Energy Technology Centre’ and ‘Surface Engineering Centre’. The Energy Technology Centre is active in researching materials selection and performance, gas cleaning processes and the use of solid fuels (including renewable and waste fuels) in advanced power processes. The Surface Engineering Centre is active in developing and evaluating new protective coatings for specific components in a wide range of industrial processes. These groups work together evaluating high temperature oxidation, corrosion and developing component life models.