Evaluation of the High Temperature Performance of the Co-Cr-C Coated P92 Steel
Student:
Thomas Hoey
Project title:
Evaluation of the High Temperature Performance of the Co-Cr-C Coated P92 Steel
Academic supervisors:
Industrial sponsor:
BF2RA
Direct collaboration with:
Jeremy Mansfield, Doosan Babcock and Praxair Surface Technologies
The EFET Centre has provided me with a solid foundation in the energy industry which I hope to build upon for many years.
I am a physics graduate and began my materials engineering research project in 2012 within the EFET DTC, entitled ‘Evaluation of the High Temperature Performance of the Co-Cr-C Coated P92 Steel’. Academic supervision was provided by Professor Wei Sun and Professor Graham McCartney. Meanwhile industrial sponsorship was provided by BF2RA. This project involved direct collaboration with Doosan Babcock and Praxair Surface Technologies. Industrial supervision was provided by Jeremy Mansfield (Doosan). Industry involvement has been key to the success of this project with both Doosan and Praxair taking very active roles in the research from the beginning, providing resources and also valuable technical report. The thesis was submitted in September 2016 and the viva examination held in December 2016 (pass – subject to minor corrections, graduation summer 2017).
This research project served as a detailed feasibility study for Co-Cr-C coated P92 steel. The coating is oxidation resistant and when applied to P92 is designed to prevent oxidation damage of the substrate – thus allowing fossil fuel power plant to operate at higher temperatures and therefore higher efficiency. The findings of this work are that Co-Cr-C coated P92 is a viable system, both when considering oxidation and also mechanical properties. It is shown to consistently perform better than the current best-in-class aluminide type coatings, thus being of real future interest to industry sponsors. This project provides the detailed basis for further work to be conducted by industrial sponsors before potential future commercialisation.
Started:
2012
Finished:
September 2016
Viva:
December 2016
Graduation:
Summer 2017
Thomas Hoey
Research summary
Throughout the research project the findings were disseminated in the form of poster presentations, oral presentations and journal publications, to both academic and industry audiences. Indeed, the EFET Centre actively encouraged presentation of work to academia and industry. The academic and industry peer review throughout the project was invaluable and I believe made the project very successful. Several further journal papers are considered for the future, as is attendance at an international conference. I also received several awards for oral presentation and poster presentations throughout my work.
The EFET Centre has been crucial to the success of this project. The first-class training programme, during years 1 and 2, provided all the technical knowledge required for the project to be completed. This was especially important as I came from a pure physics background rather than materials science or engineering. The extended training programme also provided broader skills, such as business, economics and sociology – all of which have been incredibly useful in my current position in the energy industry. For me the unique element of this centre is the world class industrial supervision which has motivated my research at all stages and also allowed many networking opportunities around the world.
What's next?
Following completion of my research in September 2016, I started working as a power plant metallurgist at RWE npower based in Swindon. The EFET Centre not only provided me with the detailed metallurgy knowledge needed for the job but also a much more general understanding of the energy industry and its wider considerations. I have found this incredibly useful as my day-to-day job considers a much wider field of power plant engineering than simply the area that my research focused on. Because the EFET Centre recruits and conducts research in a range of different disciplines (i.e. materials, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, etc.) this has prepared me very well for working within a multidisciplinary team in industry. The high level of industry supervision was also a huge advantage for me when applying for the position. More generally the Centre and supervisors have been very encouraging when seeking employment, and the contacts I made during my research were crucial in helping me to be successful in my job search. The EFET Centre strived to create a community of researchers within energy who I have no doubt will work together in the future.