Spin doctor
A newly-developed metal-based coating should offer gas turbine blades better protection from the elements as well as extending their life. Stuart Nathan reports.
Gas turbine blades could run hotter, for longer, and with less maintenance thanks to the development of a high-temperature coating.
Developed by
, whose joint venture with Westinghouse is one of the world's largest producers of gas turbines, the metal-based coating provides an extra layer of protection for the blades, which operate in an extremely hostile atmosphere.
It's tough for turbine blades. At normal operating conditions, they spin at 3,600rpm, with the tips reaching speeds of 800mph. They are subject to forces equivalent to around 15
. And amid all this, they are constantly bathed with a mixture of gases resulting from the combustion of methane which, at 1,300°C, are also corrosive.
Although the blades are made from extremely strong and durable materials — typically a crystalline form of nickel, which has very few weak points — they need all the help they can get if they are to survive intact for the lifetime of the turbine.
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