Computation Modeling and Assessment of Nanocoatings for Ultra Supercritical Boilers

Abstract

Forced outages and boiler unavailability of coal-fired fossil plants is most often caused by fire-side corrosion of boiler waterwalls and tubing. Reliable coatings are required for Ultrasupercritical (USC) application to mitigate corrosion since these boilers will operate at a much higher temperatures and pressures than in supercritical (565 C {at} 24 MPa) boilers. Computational modeling efforts have been undertaken to design and assess potential Fe-Cr-Ni-Al systems to produce stable nanocrystalline coatings that form a protective, continuous scale of either Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} or Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The computational modeling results identified a new series of Fe-25Cr-40Ni with or without 10 wt.% Al nanocrystalline coatings that maintain long-term stability by forming a diffusion barrier layer at the coating/substrate interface. The computational modeling predictions of microstructure, formation of continuous Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} scale, inward Al diffusion, grain growth, and sintering behavior were validated with experimental results. Advanced coatings, such as MCrAl (where M is Fe, Ni, or Co) nanocrystalline coatings, have been processed using different magnetron sputtering deposition techniques. Several coating trials were performed and among the processing methods evaluated, the DC pulsed magnetron sputtering technique produced the best quality coating with a minimum number of shallow defects and the results of multiple deposition trials showed that the process is repeatable. scale, inward Al diffusion, grain growth, and sintering behavior were validated with experimental results. The cyclic oxidation test results revealed that the nanocrystalline coatings offer better oxidation resistance, in terms of weight loss, localized oxidation, and formation of mixed oxides in the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} scale, than widely used MCrAlY coatings. However, the ultra-fine grain structure in these coatings, consistent with the computational model predictions, resulted in accelerated Al diffusion from the coating into the substrate. An effective diffusion barrier interlayer coating was developed to prevent inward Al diffusion. The fire-side corrosion test results showed that the nanocrystalline coatings with a minimum number of defects have a great potential in providing corrosion protection. The coating tested in the most aggressive environment showed no evidence of coating spallation and/or corrosion attack after 1050 hours exposure. In contrast, evidence of coating spallation in isolated areas and corrosion attack of the base metal in the spalled areas were observed after 500 hours. These contrasting results after 500 and 1050 hours exposure suggest that the premature coating spallation in isolated areas may be related to the variation of defects in the coating between the samples. It is suspected that the cauliflower-type defects in the coating were presumably responsible for coating spallation in isolated areas. Thus, a defect free good quality coating is the key for the long-term durability of nanocrystalline coatings in corrosive environments. Thus, additional process optimization work is required to produce defect-free coatings prior to development of a coating application method for production parts.