DOE announces $4.5M funding for turbine efficiency research
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced would provide $4.5 million for research into ways to increase efficiency and performance in turbines.
The $4.5 million grant from DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and its National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will go to Pennsylvania State University and its Steady Thermal Aero Research Turbine (START) labor – a unique test facility capable of simulating realist gas turbine operating conditions – as well as its National Experimental Turbine testing platform. Officials said the research will support President Joe Biden’s administration and its goals for sustainable aviation fuels and hydrogen for power production.
The funding would be used to expand the START infrastructure by adding two new compressor systems that will provide higher flow and pressure capabilities than the facility currently has. The project team hopes to increase turbine efficiency through advanced materials like ceramic matrix composites that allow for higher working temperatures. The team will also assess combustor efficiency through simulations of fuels from natural gas to hydrogen to hydrogen blends.
By leveraging efforts from other government agencies, as well as multiple industry partners, the project hopes to show how advancing gas turbine technologies can meet the U.S. needs in reducing the carbon footprint in the power generation and aviation sectors, officials said.
FECM funds projects that seek to decarbonize power generation and industrial production, as well as to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate fossil fuel production impacts. NETL is a DOE national laboratory driving innovation and delivering technological solutions for sustainability by leveraging talent and research facilities.
