Research could help improve performance of gas turbines

Gas turbines consist sequentially of compressor, combustor and turbine sections.

Incoming air is compressed to a high-pressure state in the compressor section and heated to high temperature via the combustion of fuel in the combustor section. The high-temperature, high-pressure gas is then expanded through a series of rotor-mounted airfoils in the turbine section, converting the gas’s energy into mechanical work.

Improved airfoils — the focus of Mikro Systems’ FE-funded research — can tolerate higher gas temperatures and/or use less cooling, resulting in improved energy efficiency.

Mikro Systems received a Small Business Innovation Research grant to apply its patented Tomo-Lithographic Molding (TOMO) technology to gas turbine airfoils.

TOMO is a manufacturing platform that enables the rapid development and production of high-performance products made from metals, ceramics, polymers and composite material systems. Applied to gas turbines, it is said to enable more sophisticated airfoil designs with improved cooling characteristics, which leads to higher operating temperatures and improved efficiency.