The Impact of Oxidation-Induced Degradation On Materials Used in Hydrogen-Fired Microturbines

Hydrogen-fueled microturbines are being considered as part of the future green microgrid. However, the use of hydrogen as a fuel presents new challenges for selection and development of suitable high temperature materials for hydrogen combustion. The burning of hydrogen is expected to result in higher operating temperatures and higher than typically observed water vapor contents in exhaust gases versus burning natural gas. In this work, foil specimens of various Fe- and Ni-based alloys were oxidized in air + 10% H2O and air + 60% H2O for up to 5000 h at 700 °C to simulate the exhaust atmosphere of natural gas and hydrogen-fueled microturbines. The impact of alloy composition and water vapor content on the oxidation/volatilization induced loss of wall thickness was experimentally evaluated. Enhanced external oxidation and volatilization of Cr2O3 and Ti-doped Cr2O3 scales were observed in air + 60% H2O compared to air + 10% H2O. No significant impact of the higher water vapor content was observed on Al2O3 scales formed on Fe-based alumina-forming austenitic alloys. Lifetime modeling was employed to predict the combined effects of water vapor content, gas flow rates, temperature, and alloy composition on the oxidation-induced lifetime of the investigated materials.