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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys (1995)
National Materials Advisory Board (NMAB)

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys

High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys

Committee on High-Purity Electrolytic Chromium Metal

National Materials Advisory Board

Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems

National Research Council

NMAB-480

National Academy Press
Washington, D.C.
1995

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I

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys Committee on High-Purity Electrolytic Chromium Metal National Materials Advisory Board Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems National Research Council NMAB-480 National Academy Press Washington, D.C. 1995

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys NOTICE: The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Harold Liebowitz is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an advisor to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Harold Liebowitz are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council. The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. This study by the National Materials Advisory Board was conducted under a contract with the Defense National Stockpile Center, Defense Logistics Agency. Available in limited supply from: National Materials Advisory Board 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20418 202-334-3505 nmab@nas.edu Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys Committee on High-Purity Electrolytic Chromium Metal WILLIAM D. MANLY, Chair, Consultant, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Martin-Marietta Energy Systems, Incorporated, Oak Ridge, Tennessee JOHN S. CHIPMAN, Regents' Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis ANTHONY F. GIAMEI, Principal Scientist, United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, Connecticut JEROLD LEIBENSPERGER, Manager, Raw Materials, Carpenter Technology Corporation, Reading, Pennsylvania THOMAS J. O'KEEFE, Professor, Materials Research Center, University of Missouri, Rolla BEN F. OLIVER, Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville DAVID C. ROBERTS, Senior Technical Staff, MITRE Corporation, McLean, Virginia JOHN E. TILTON, Director, Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines, Golden LIAISON REPRESENTATIVES ROBERT J. EAGAN, Director, Defense Programs Capabilities Center, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico FRANKLIN J. RINGQUIST, Industrial Specialist, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense National Stockpile Center, U.S. Department of Defense, Arlington, Virginia LAWRENCE N. HJELM, Manager, Defense Reinvestment, Technology Transfer, Wright Laboratory, Materials Directorate, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio NMAB STAFF ROBERT M. EHRENREICH, Senior Program Manager PAT WILLIAMS, Senior Secretary

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys National Materials Advisory Board JAMES C. WILLIAMS, Chair, General Electric Company, Cincinnati, Ohio JAN D. ACHENBACH, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois BILL R. APPLETON, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee ROBERT R. BEEBE, Tucson, Arizona I. MELVIN BERNSTEIN, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts J. KEITH BRIMACOMBE, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada JOHN V. BUSCH, IBIS Associates, Inc., Wellesley, Massachusetts HARRY E. COOK, University of Illinois, Urbana ROBERT EAGAN, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico CAROLYN HANSSON, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada KRISTINA M. JOHNSON, University of Colorado, Boulder LIONEL C. KIMERLING, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge JAMES E. MCGRATH, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg RICHARD S. MULLER, University of California, Berkeley ELSA REICHMANIS, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey EDGAR A. STARKE, University of Virginia, Charlottesville JOHN STRINGER, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California KATHLEEN C. TAYLOR, General Motors Corporation, Warren, Michigan JAMES WAGNER, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland JOSEPH WIRTH, Raychem Corporation, Menlo Park, California ROBERT E. SCHAFRIK, Director

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys Acknowledgments The committee expresses its appreciation to the following individuals for their presentations to the committee: Howard J. Hart, Special Metals Corporation; John Jennings; Richard Laggett, Howmet Corporation; John Langford, General Electric Company; Stan Seagle, RMI; Alan Ewart, London and Scandinavian Metallurgical Corporation, Limited; R. James Carter, Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation; Alain Defrance and Yves Zordan, Delachaux Metals Division; Sonia Yacobian and Richard Drakkir, Niddam, Incorporated; and William A. Ferguson, Alan FitzGibbon, Gregory L. Noland, Timothy J. Chimera, Arash M. Kasaaian, and Nicholas Pyle, Elkem Metals Company. The committee also thanks Elkem Metals Company for the site visit of their facility and the American Ceramics Society for hosting a meeting of the committee in Westerville, Ohio. The committee is especially grateful for the assistance of Franklin Ringquist of the Defense Logistics Agency and John Papp of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, who obtained a great deal of information for the committee both in terms of agency reports and legislation and in presentations related to the structure, mission, and programs of their agencies. Finally, the committee acknowledges with thanks the contributions of Robert M. Ehrenreich, Senior Program Manager, and Pat Williams, Senior Secretary, to the project.

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys Abstract High-purity chromium metal is a critical alloying element of superalloys for gas-turbine engines. This report discusses the uses and specifications for high-purity chromium metal for aerospace engines; the principal features of the processes for producing chromium metal; the chromium-metal marketplace, including the recent supply and demand trends and the prospects of shortages; and several potential domestic and international scenarios that could result in shortages of high-purity chromium metal and the possible means for resolving such shortages within the framework of the report's recommendations. Overall, the chromium-metal market was found to be operating effectively. There appears to be little or no need for government intervention at this time.

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys Preface Section 3306 of the Defense Authorization Act of 1995 mandated that the National Academy of Sciences prepare a report regarding the need for a domestic source of high-purity electrolytic chromium metal. High-purity chromium metal is a critical alloying element of the superalloys used in aerospace gas-turbine engines. Congress is concerned about the availability of high-purity chromium metal since Elkem Metals Company of Marietta, Ohio, is the only domestic supplier of this material and the only remaining producer of electrolytic chromium metal in the Western world. The objectives of the study were to determine (1) the health of the domestic chromium-metal industry, (2) the capability and reliability of foreign chromium-metal suppliers, (3) projections of material needs for the future, (4) economic and security benefits that derive from having a domestic supplier base, (5) alternative methodologies (and research and development opportunities) for producing high-purity chromium metal, and (6) suggestions regarding strategies to maintain a core capability. To execute this study, the National Materials Advisory Board of the National Research Council convened an eight-member committee with expertise in metals extraction and processing, high-purity metals, aeronautical turbine engine materials, specialty materials supply, environmental considerations, and materials economics. The committee met three times between February and May 1995. The first two meetings consisted of briefing sessions to collect the data required for the study. The first meeting was held in Washington, D.C., and consisted of briefings by representatives of the materials suppliers and engine manufacturers to obtain their views on (1) the worldwide sources of high-purity electrolytic chromium metal, (2) the capability and reliability of chromium-metal suppliers, (3) the purity requirements for chromium metal in the superalloy industry, (4) the projections of material needs for the future, and (5) the economic and security benefits that derive from having a domestic supplier base. The second meeting was held in Ohio and consisted of a site visit to the Elkem Metals chromium-metal facility in Marietta, Ohio; briefings on the health of the domestic chromium-metal industry by representatives of Elkem; and

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High-Purity Chromium Metal: Supply Issues for Gas-Turbine Superalloys presentations on the health of the international chromium-metal industry and the alternative methods for producing high-purity chromium metal by representatives of London and Scandinavian Metallurgical Corporation, Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation, Delachaux Metals Division, and Niddam, Incorporated. The committee finalized its conclusions and recommendations at the third meeting, which was held in Washington, D.C. This report is the result of the committee deliberations. William D. Manly, Chair