THE EFFECT OF BIOFUEL IMPURITIES ON THE HOT CORROSION OF YTTRIA-STABILIZED ZIRCONIA THERMAL BARRIER COATINGS

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) provide thermal and environmental protection to superalloy components operating within the combustor and high pressure sections of a gas turbine. However, calcium-magnesium-aluminum silicate (CMAS) deposits originated from particulate matter ingested through the air intake degrade YSZ TBCs, ultimately decreasing the overall efficiency of the engines. With the introduction of biofuels into gas turbines, a new list of impurities with no precedent in jet engines may interact with TBCs, arising the possibility to form CMAS deposits without flying in a particular environment and to exacerbate CMAS negative effect through the addition of other contaminants.

In this work, a cyclic thermal gradient rig was developed to test TBCs in similar conditions as in a gas turbine. The heat flux and non-contact surface temperature measurements were validated with a thermal transient model. The effect of biofuel impurities on YSZ TBCs was evaluated by spraying the coatings with impurity cocktails, solutions containing the impurities of interest, and subsequently testing their lifetimes in the ablation rig.

Detailed microstructure analysis revealed that APS and EB-PVD TBCs fail in different ways when exposed to equal concentrations of CMAS. When contaminating APS TBCs with varying combinations of CMAS constituents (e.g., S, C-S, C-A, C-A-S, C-M-S, and C-M-A-S), it was possible to identify that coatings delaminated at different rates depending on the combination of CMAS constituents. Finally, the effect of CMAS in combination with contaminants exclusive of biofuels was analyzed on YSZ TBCs. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and micrographs revealed that glass modifiers (e.g., K₂O and ZnO) accelerated the degradation of YSZ TBCs.