THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A NEW CLASS OF ALUMINUM-CONTAINING, HIGH-ENTROPY ALLOY COATINGS, WITH AND WITHOUT A THERMAL BARRIER LAYER, THAT WILL PROTECT CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN HYDROGEN COMBUSTION SYSTEMS FOR CLEAN ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION. THE COATINGS WILL FORM AN ALUMINA SCALE LAYER THAT WILL EXTEND THE LIFE OF CRITICAL TURBINE COMPONENTS IN THE HARSHER, HIGHER TEMPERATURE, MORE CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENT EXPECTED IN HYDROGEN COMBUSTION SYSTEMS. THE NEW COATINGS IN HYDROGEN COMBUSTION ENVIRONMENTS WILL PERFORM THE SAME AS, OR BETTER THAN, COATINGS USED TODAY TO PROTECT TURBINE COMPONENTS IN NATURAL GAS COMBUSTION POWER GENERATION SYSTEMS. RESEARCHERS WILL EMPLOY HIGH THROUGHPUT (HT) COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN AND HT EXPERIMENTAL TESTING TO RATIONALLY IDENTIFY COMPOSITIONS THAT ARE LIKELIEST TO MEET PERFORMANCE TARGETS. CANDIDATE MATERIAL WILL BE EXPERIMENTALLY TESTED, AND THE RESULTS WILL BE USED TO REFINE AND VALIDATE THE COMPUTATIONAL MODELS. ONCE THE BEST CANDIDATE MATERIAL COMPOSITIONS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED, THE TEAM SELECT FROM AMONG THREE THERMAL SPRAY TECHNIQUES TO IDENTIFY A MANUFACTURING METHOD THAT WILL ALLOW THE COATING TO MOVE FROM THE LAB TO COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION. THE COATINGS WILL BE SUBJECTED TO JET ENGINE THERMAL SHOCK, OR JETS, AND BURNER RIG TESTING TO EVALUATE THE COATINGS’ DURABILITY IN A TURBINE-LIKE ENVIRONMENT. JETS IS THE STANDARD FOR THERMAL BARRIER COATING SYSTEM QUALIFICATION; ANY NEW MATERIALS TO BE USED IN INDUSTRIAL TURBINES MUST PASS THIS TEST. MATERIALS WILL BE TESTED THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT FOR OXIDATION, SPALLATION, CORROSION, STRENGTH, AND STRAIN, AND WILL BE CHARACTERIZED BY A VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES INCLUDING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE AND DENSITY OF THE COATINGS. A TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO VERIFY THAT THE COST OF THE NEW MATERIALS WILL OFFER A REASONABLE RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT OF THE NEW COATINGS FOR NEW AND EXISTING TURBINES. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL BE LED BY WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, XINGBO LIU, WHO HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN HIGH TEMPERATURE MATERIALS & COATINGS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL BE JOINED BY EXPERTS FROM THE NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY WHO HAVE DEVELOPED UNIQUE CAPABILITIES FOR MODELING AND TESTING SUCH MATERIALS AND PRAXAIR SURFACE TECHNOLOGIES, A LINDE COMPANY, FOR MANUFACTURING THE COATINGS. PRAXAIR IS A MAJOR TIER 1 SUPPLIER OF COATINGS TO TURBINE OEMS AND ELECTRIC UTILITIES. THE PROJECT’S SUCCESS WOULD ACCELERATE THE ADOPTION OF HYDROGEN AS A CLEAN-BURNING FUEL WITHOUT HARMFUL CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS THAT COULD ENABLE THE CURRENT FLEET OF NATURAL GAS FUELED ELECTRIC GENERATORS TO MEET AGGRESSIVE DECARBONIZATION GOALS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE.