Upon the request of Yeniköy Elektrik Üretim A.Ş. (YEAŞ), TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM) produced steam turbine blades to be used in Yeniköy and Yatağan Thermal Power Plants. The turbine blades were delivered at a ceremony held at Yeniköy Thermal Power Plant on June 19, 2014.
At the Handover Ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Makaracı, Vice President of TÜBİTAK MAM, stated that the project was a first in Turkey and that TÜBİTAK and its stakeholders, upon the request of YEAŞ, undertook a serious research process and succeeded in producing imported steam turbine blades in Turkey with a study lasting approximately 2 years.
TÜBİTAK MAM Materials Institute Critical Metallic Materials Group Leader Assoc. Prof. Dr. Havva Kazdal Zeytin pointed out that Turkey will be able to produce its own engines in the near future thanks to the project, and stated that the technology produced can be considered as the infrastructure of aviation and energy turbines.
Serdar Toprak, Deputy General Manager of YEAŞ, stated that they are the first thermal power plant in Turkey to use domestic technology. Stating that they started working on energy production with domestic technology in their power plants with TÜBİTAK in 2011, Toprak said that with this project, they will pioneer the use of domestic technology in other power plants.
After the delivery ceremony, the steam turbine blades were integrated into the system.
With the project "Investigation of Manufacturing Methods and Trial Manufacturing of Materials for Yeniköy and Yatağan Power Plants", steam turbine blades, which are produced for the first time in our country and require advanced technology, were realized under the leadership of TÜBİTAK MAM by using the R&D activities of TÜBİTAK MAM Materials Institute and the technological infrastructure and know-how of OMTAŞ FÖVME, CNK HAVACILIK and TERMOİNDÜKSİYON companies.
While the unit cost of the 3rd and 4th Stage Steam Turbine Blades used in Yeniköy Thermal Power Plant was approximately EUR 4,350 when procured from abroad, the unit cost was EUR 2,063 with the contributions of the TÜBİTAK MAM Materials Institute and the local industry. The turbine blade material is 1,4021 grade stainless steel, but since there is no stainless steel production in Turkey, stainless steel raw material had to be imported from abroad. Within the scope of this project, the stellite part, which was coated on the original blades by welding method, was improved by induction hardening, which is an up-to-date process. Since the project required one-to-one production, the original 4th Stage Steam Turbine Blades were first procured from abroad and their metallurgical properties and dimensions were determined by reverse engineering. In the production of steam turbine blades, stainless steel is shaped by forging method, followed by the treatment process and machining. In the final stage, surface hardening is applied to increase the resistance of the blade tips against abrasion, erosion and corrosion. Initially, the production information of steam turbine blades, of which we did not even have a technical picture, was shared with the industry and the feasibility of their production with domestic facilities was discussed. As a result of the examinations and researches carried out, it was decided that these blades could be produced with the existing technological infrastructure in our country and studies were started.
With the technological know-how and courage gained through the production of such a critical part, the TÜBİTAK MAM Materials Institute has initiated a project for the "Production of Gas Turbine Blades" and expanded its R&D infrastructure by directing it to this critical area. These projects will pave the way for our country to have a say in critical technologies in the fields of energy and aviation.
