Evaluation of CFCC liners with EBC after field testing in a gas turbine

Under the Ceramic Stationary Gas Turbine (CSGT) Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), a team led by Solar Turbines Incorporated has successfully designed engines, utilizing silicon carbide/silicon carbide (SiC/SiC) continuous fiber-reinforced ceramic composite (CFCC) combustor liners. Their potential for low NO_x and CO emissions was demonstrated in eight field-engine tests for a total duration of more than 35,000 h. In the first four field tests, the durability of the liners was limited primarily by the long-term stability of SiC in the high steam environment of the gas turbine combustor. Consequently, the need for an environmental barrier coating (EBC) to meet the 30,000-h life goal was recognized. An EBC developed under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration high speed civil transport, enabling propulsion materials program was improved and optimized under the CSGT program and applied on the SiC/SiC liners by United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) from the fifth field test onwards. The evaluation of the EBC on SiC/SiC liners after the fifth field test with 13,937-h at Texaco, Bakersfield, CA, USA is presented in this paper.