Innovative coatings to protect materials from steam oxidation and fireside corrosion Much greater efficiencies of coal-fired power plants can be achieved by raising steam turbine temperatures and employing innovative combustion processes. An EU initiative developed anti-corrosion coatings to facilitate implementation and fewer emissions. Digital Economy Climate Change and Environment Industrial Technologies Energy Fundamental Research © lilly3, Thinkstock Reducing both emissions and dependence on fossil fuels is an important area of energy research. The former is easier to address in the short term until a transition to renewable energy sources becomes more cost effective. The EU-funded POEMA (Production of coatings for new efficient and clean coal power plant materials) project set out to protect materials from the corrosion that becomes more problematic in high-efficiency scenarios. Project partners developed 31 anti-corrosion coatings following various approaches related to the deposition procedure and the coating composition. They utilised eight different methods on metal alloy substrates that mainly consisted of ferritic (P92) and austenitic (HR3C) steel. The POEMA team tested the two main substrates in steam and fireside settings for temperatures up to 650 and 700 °C. It then characterised them using both standard and more specialised techniques. From the original 31 protective coatings, 7 were chosen to be applied internally and/or externally on large components such as tubes and blades for the steam and fireside scenarios. Scientists evaluated the coatings’ mechanical properties, including creep strength, fatigue and wear resistance, according to American engineering standards. They developed models to predict corrosion scales growth, interdiffusion, phase stability and coating lifetime. A life-cycle assessment was also performed for the coatings. Lastly, new electrochemical sensors for continuous corrosion monitoring during high temperature oxy-combustion as well as in the steam and fireside settings were developed for laboratory and simulated industrial environments. Thanks to the POEMA advanced protection systems, increasing the efficiency of coal-fired power plants will enable significant reductions in CO2 emissions over what is currently possible. The developed corrosion-protection coatings promise to enable long-term operation under the required operating conditions with important environmental benefits. Keywords Coal power plant, POEMA, corrosion monitoring, protective coatings, oxy-combustion, steam, high temperature
