The Consortium for Advanced Production & Engineering of Gas Turbines (CAPE)

Goal: The Consortium for Advanced Production & Engineering (CAPE) roadmap will outline the necessary steps for developing new industrial materials, testing standards and certification parameters enabling the introduction of new materials into the manufacture of gas turbines and rotating machinery.

Lead: Energy Florida, Inc.
166 Center Street, Suite 200
Cape Canaveral, FL 32920

Award Number: 70NANB15H069

Federal Funding: $499,956

Project Duration: 24 months

CAPE is managed by Energy Florida, in partnership with the Gas Turbine Association and with Florida Turbine Technologies. The Consortium's research and development efforts will engage the gas turbine industry through the Turbine Manufacturing Leadership Council.

Technical advances for gas turbines over the next decade require the development and production of a new set of materials that will allow for higher temperatures and greater loads on the core components. Adoption and acceptance of new materials within the gas turbine manufacturing sector requires development of a methodology for standardizing the characterization of materials and standard certification processes. These steps must be taken if the U.S. turbine industry is to remain globally competitive.

CAPE will engage with its principal partners, the major turbine equipment manufacturers, small and mid-sized suppliers, and technology firms that support Florida's aerospace industry along with national partners and universities. Based from Cape Canaveral on Florida's Space Coast, the CAPE consortium and its partners across the nation will work to achieve the following goals:

• Standardizing the characterization of innovative materials.
• Creating standards for measurement and evaluation of new materials to ensure that those materials meet the necessary specifications for production of turbines and turbine components.
• Establishing standards for certifying materials used in the gas turbine sector.

Develop the foundation for a standard glossary/database of material properties for the turbine-operating environment will be one of the key objectives of this project. A database of material properties will enable identification of standard operating conditions and appropriate environments for new materials used in the manufacture of gas turbines. Establishing standards for metrology will provide consistent data on material properties, and assist in defining specifications for materials to be used in the production of turbines and turbine components.

The CAPE project will result in shared benefits to other key industrial sectors, including aviation and aerospace, leading to expanded use of new materials, applications, and processes across a broad swath of U.S. manufacturing industry and reducing timelines for the development of innovative technologies. It will create a pipeline of solutions for one of America's core manufacturing strengths: gas turbine and rotating machine technologies.

For project information: Michael L. Aller, (321) 205-4533, michael.aller [at] energyflorida.org (michael[dot]aller[at]energyflorida[dot]org)

Funded Participants:

• Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. (FTT)
• Gas Turbine Association

AMTech Project Manager: Jean-Louis Staudenmann, (301) 975-4866, jean-louis.staudenmann [at] nist.gov (jean-louis[dot]staudenmann[at]nist[dot]gov)