Time-Dependent Deposition Characteristics of Fine Coal Fly Ash in a Laboratory Gas Turbine Environment

Time-dependent deposition characteristics of fine coal fly ash were measured in the Turbine Accelerated Deposition Facility (TADF) at Brigham Young University. Two samples of subbituminous coal fly ash, with mass mean diameters of 3 μm and 13 μm, were entrained in a hot gas flow with a gas temperature of 1288 °C and Mach number of 0.25. A nickel-based, superalloy metal coupon approximately 0.3 cm thick was held in a hot particle-laden gas stream to simulate deposition in a gas turbine. Tests were conducted with deposition times of 20, 40, and 60 min. Capture efficiencies and surface roughness characteristics (e.g., Ra) were obtained at different times. Capture efficiency increased exponentially with time, while Ra increased linearly with time. The increased deposition with time caused the surface temperature of the deposit to increase. The increased surface temperature caused more softening, increasing the propensity for impacting particles to stick to the surface. These data are important for improving models of deposition in turbines from syngas flows.