Olivier Dedry

Materials for Advanced Power Engineering 2014

Over the last 25-30 years, the main focus for development of improved steels for power generation equipment (boilers, steam turbines, pipework systems) has been the concerted actions of COST 501, 522 and 536. These actions have been very successful. Steels were developed and have been applied to critical components such as boiler tubing, pipework and turbine castings and rotor forgings. These enabled an increase in steam parameters from 540-565oC to 600-620oC, bringing benefits in reduced fuel costs and lower emissions. A new framework for co-ordination of this effort was launched in 2012. KMM-VIN (Knowledge-based Multifunctional Materials Virtual Institute), is a legal entity established in 2007 with membership of mainly academic institutes. In 2012 it experienced significant expansion as around 40 participants, including many industrial companies from the power generation industry and its supply chain, with long history of working together within the COST Actions, joined the organisation. An Energy Materials Working Group (WG2) has been formed and has adopted a work programme for the further improvement of steels for power generation plant. One of the main goals for this work programme EMEP (Engineered Microand nanostructures for Enhanced long-term high-temperature materials Performance) is the industrial-scale demonstration of components using the advanced MARBN steel concept, steels with potential to allow increase of operating temperatures from 600-620oC to 650oC. The authors of this paper are leading work topics within this work programme. In the same way that the COST Concerted Actions provided a framework for collaboration between projects funded by many different agencies, WG2 has already fostered collaboration between projects funded by the European Commission Framework Programme, e.g MACPLUS and POEMA, projects funded by national governments, e.g the UK IMPACT project, projects funded by academic funding agencies, e.g EPSRC, and projects funded privately by WG2 industrial partners.