National Energy Technology Laboratory experimenting with high-entropy alloys to increase energy efficiency

National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) researchers are currently experimenting with the design, development, manufacture, and testing of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) to improve efficiency in energy industry hardware.

NETL is also working on advanced heat-resistant alloys, superalloys and other novel alloys.

HEAs are made with equal or nearly equal quantities of five or more metals. They may have unique properties as compared to traditional alloys such as increased strength, wear-resistance, and corrosion- and oxidation-resistance, which could increase the durability, efficiency, and effectiveness of hardware used during energy production.

HEAs have potential use for hydrogen storage tanks, radiation resistant materials, diffusion barriers for electronics, precision resistors, electromagnetic shielding materials, soft magnetic materials, functional coatings and anti-bacterial materials.

These materials have not yet seen widespread use due to the costs of large-scale manufacturing.

NETL has produced some of the world’s heaviest HEA ingots at its alloy fabrication laboratory in Albany, Oregon.

“The Lab’s methods and scale-up gives confidence that NETL-designed and -developed alloys will readily translate into industrial manufacturing practices,” NETL said in a press release. “The Lab’s efforts are refining processes and techniques leading to reduced production costs and more widespread use of HEAs.”