The Steam Turbine

STEAM TURBINE
1. INTRODUCTION
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal
energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its
modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.

Definitions of steam turbine:

• turbine in which steam strikes blades and makes them turn

• A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from

pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was
invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.

• A system of angled and shaped blades arranged on a rotor through which steam
is passed to generate rotational energy. Today, normally used in power stations

• A device for converting energy of high-pressure steam (produced in a boiler) into

mechanical power which can then be used to generate electricity.

• Equipment unit flown through by steam, used to convert the energy of the steam
into rotational energy.

A machine for generating mechanical power in rotary motion from the

energy of steam at temperature and pressure above that of an available
sink. By far the most widely used and most powerful turbines are those
driven by steam. Until the 1960s essentially all steam used in turbine cycles
was raised in boilers burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) or, in minor
quantities, certain waste products. However, modern turbine technology
includes nuclear steam plants as well as production of steam supplies from
other sources.
The illustration shows a small, simple mechanical-drive turbine of a
few horsepower. It illustrates the essential parts for all steam turbines
regardless of rating or complexity: (1) a casing, or shell, usually divided at
the horizontal center line, with the halves bolted together for ease of
assembly and disassembly; it contains the stationary blade system; (2) a
rotor carrying the moving buckets (blades or vanes) either on wheels or
drums, with bearing journals on the ends of the rotor; (3) a set of bearings
attached to the casing to support the shaft; (4) a governor and valve system
for regulating the speed and power of the turbine by controlling the steam
flow, and an oil system for lubrication of the bearings and, on all but the
smallest machines, for operating the control valves by a relay system
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connected with the governor; (5) a coupling to connect with the driven
machine; and (6) pipe connections to the steam supply at the inlet and to
an exhaust system at the outlet of the casing or shell.
Steam turbines are ideal prime movers for driving machines requiring
rotational mechanical input power. They can deliver constant or variable
speed and are capable of close speed control. Drive applications
include centrifugal pumps, compressors, ship propellers, and, most
important, electric generators.

Steam Turbines Basics

Though "Steam Turbines" might sound like a technical term, most of
the things we do everyday would be impossible to do without this wonderful
technology in power generation. Nature does not have sockets from where
power plants pull out electricity to run your laptop or charge your iPod!
Energy needs to be converted to electricity or electrical energy, from its
natural occurrences. Steam Turbines are devices that help in the production
of electricity, by converting mechanical energy into useful electrical energy!
The Steam Turbine was invented by Parson, more than a century ago, and it
has gone through numerous changes to become an effective power
generator in today's power plants.
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2. THE MODERN STEAM TURBINE

The steam turbine continues to be a major factor in electric power
generation throughout the world. Even nuclear plants use the heat from a
controlled nuclear chain reaction to produce needed steam. In the United States,
more than 88 percent of all electricity is produced by steam turbines

Steam is no remnant of the Industrial Revolution. Even nuclear power plants employ steam
technology.

As mentioned earlier, there are basically three stages of matter: Solid, liquid
and gas. Each stage is held together by a different level of molecular force.
With water, gaseous steam takes up space due to its molecules being furthest
apart. However, when enough pressure is applied to steam, an amazing thing
happens. The molecules are forced together to the point that the water becomes
more like a liquid again, while retaining the properties of a gas. It is at this point
that it becomes a supercritical fluid.

Many of today's power plants use supercritical steam, with pressure and
temperature at the critical point. This means supercritical steam power plants
operate at much higher temperatures and pressures than plants using subcritical
steam. Water is actually heated to such a high pressure that boiling does not even
occur.

The resulting high-pressure fluid of supercritical steam provides excellent

energy efficiency. With the aid of high pressure, supercritical steam turbines can
be driven to much higher speeds for the same amount of heat energy as
traditional steam power. They also release less CO2 exhaust into the atmosphere.
Additionally, new high-pressure boilers built with rocket technology are being
developed to further control the levels of CO2 emitted. Some boilers will even cool
the steam back into a liquid and channel it into the ground to capture emissions.
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3. Principle of Operation and Design

In reciprocating steam engine, the pressure of energy of steam is
used to overcome external resistance and dynamic action of the steam
is negligibly small. Steam engine may be return by using the full
pressure without any expansion or drop of pressure in the cylinder.

How Does A Steam Turbine Work?

A steam turbine, as we see from its name, uses steam to rotate
its blades. The rotary motion of the blades is used to rotate the
armature of the generator, and the movement of the armature in a
magnetic field results in the production of a current (electricity) in the
armature! The steam turbine has come a long way from its initial
design: there is the single flow steam turbine, the multiple flow steam
turbines, the reaction steam turbine, the impulse-reaction steam
turbine, and the impulse turbine. It has been the object of research and
interest of many engineers and scientists like De Laval, Parson, and
Curtis. Heat energy from a coal thermal power plant or a nuclear power
plant is used to boil waiter, and convert it into steam at high pressure.
This high pressure steam is directed to the turbine blade thus causing
the blade to rotate!
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4. Steam Turbine Parts – Know Your

Turbine!
Steam turbines are machines that are used to generate
mechanical (rotational motion) power from the pressure energy of
steam. Steam turbines are the most popular power generating devices
used in the power plant industry primarily because of the high
availability of water, moderate boiling point, cheap nature and mild
reacting properties. The most widely used and powerful turbines of
today are those that run on steam. From nuclear reactors to thermal
power plants, the role of the steam turbine is both pivotal and result
determining.
What Goes Into The Construction Of Steam Turbines?
A steam turbine basically has a mechanical side, and an electrical
side to it. The mechanical components include the moving parts
(mechanical), such as the rotor, the moving blades, the fixed blades,
and stop valves, while the electrical side consists of the generator and
other electrical components to actually convert the energy into a
usable, easily transferable form.

Blades:

For starters, a simple turbine works just like a windmill. Only, in the steam
turbines of today, rather than striking the blades directly, the blades are
designed in such a way as to produce maximum rotational energy by directing
the flow of the steam along its surface. So the primary component that goes into
a steam turbine is its blades. The blades of a steam turbine are designed to
behave like nozzles, thus effectively tapping both the impulse and reaction force
of the steam for higher efficiency. Nozzle design itself is a complex process, and
the nozzle shaped blade of the turbine is probably one of the most important
parts in its construction. The blades are made at specific angles in order to
incorporate the net flow of steam over it in its favor. The blades may be of
stationary or fixed and rotary or moving or types.
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Shafts:

The shaft is a power transmitting device and is used to transmit the

rotational movement of the blades connected to it at one end via the
rotor to the coupling, speed reducer or gear at the other end.

Outer Casing:

The steam turbine is surrounded by housing or an outer casing

which contains the turbine and protects the device components from
external influence and damage. It may also support the bearings on
which the shafts rest to provide rigidity to the shaft. Usually split at the
center horizontally, the casing parts are often bolted together for easy
opening, checking and steam turbine maintenance, and are extremely
sturdy and strong.

Governor:

The governor is a device used to regulate and control or govern

the output of the steam turbine. This is done by means of control
valves which control the steam flow into the turbine in the first place.

Oil System:

A steam turbine has thousands of moving parts and all these

parts not only have to move in high velocities, but also need to be
protected from wear and tear over the years. This is done by effective
lubrication by the oil system, which governs the pressure, flow and
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temperature of the turbine oil, the bearing oil and lubrication of other
moving parts.

Pipes:

The pipe is an all important steam turbine component that brings

the steam from the boiler to the turbine. This has to be done without
an appreciable loss in pressure, and at the same time, must be able to
withstand all these pressures safely. The pipes should be easy to clean
and are prone to deposits on their inner surfaces. Deposits on the inner
surface of the steam pipe reduce the net steam flow area, throwing
forth a negative effect on the efficiency.
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5. How are Steam Turbines Classified?

The first steam turbine, at its time indeed did spark off the
industrial revolution through out the west. However, the turbine at that
time was still an inefficient piece of heavy weighing high maintenance
machine. The power to weight ratio of the first reciprocating steam
turbine was extremely low, and this led to a great focus improving the
design, efficiency and usability of the basic steam turbine, the result of
which are the power horses that currently produce more than 80% of
today’s electricity at power plants!

How are Steam Turbines Classified?

Steam Turbines can be classified on the basis of a number of

factors. Some of the important methods of steam turbine classification
are enunciated below:
 On the basis of Stage Design:
Steam turbines use different stages to achieve their ultimate power
conversion goal. Depending on the stages used by a particular turbine,
it is classified as Impulse Turbine, or Reaction type.
 On the Basis of the Arrangement of its Main Shaft:
Depending on the shaft arrangement of the steam turbine, they
may be classified as Single housing (casing), tandem compound (two
or more housings, with shafts that are coupled in line with each other)
and Cross compound turbines (the shafts here are not in line).
 On the Basis of Supply of Steam and Steam Exhaust
Condition:
They may be classified as Condensing, Non Condensing,
Controlled or Automatic extraction type, Reheat (the steam is
bypassed at an intermediate level, reheated and sent again) and Mixed
pressure steam turbines (they have more than one source of steam at
different pressures).
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 On the basis of Direction of Steam Flow:

They may be axial, radial or tangential flow steam turbines.
 On the Basis of Steam Supply:
Superheated steam turbine or saturated steam turbine.
6. Basic types of turbine
The two most basic and fundamental types of steam turbines are
the impulse turbine and the impulse reaction turbine.
6.1 The Impulse Turbine:
The impulse turbine consists of a set of stationary blades
followed by a set of rotor blades which rotate to produce the rotary
power. The high pressure steam flows through the fixed blades, which
are nothing but nozzles, and undergo a decrease in pressure energy,
which is converted to kinetic energy to give the steam high velocity
levels. This high velocity steam strikes the moving blades or rotor and
causes them to rotate. The fixed blades do not completely convert all
the pressure energy of the steam to kinetic energy, hence there is
some residual pressure energy associated with the steam on exit.
Therefore the efficiency of this turbine is very limited as compared to
the next turbine we are going to review- the reaction turbine or
impulse reaction turbine.
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How Does An Impulse Turbine Work?

The impulse turbine was one of the basic steam turbines. It
involved striking of the blades by a stream or a jet of high pressure
steam, which caused the blades of the turbine to rotate. The direction
of the jet was perpendicular to the axis of the blade. It was realized
that the impulse turbine was not very efficient and required high
pressures, which is also quite difficult to maintain. The impulse turbine
has nozzles that are fixed to convert the steam to high pressure steam
before letting it strike the blades.

Impulse turbine mechanism

Impulse turbine Mechanism deals with the Impulse force action-
reaction.
As we all know the Newton 3rd law of motion," Every action has
equal and opposite reaction", the same is work on this.
As the water fall on the blade of the rotor it generate the impact
force on the blade surface, The blade tends to give the same reaction
to the fluid, but the rotor is attached to the rotating assembly, it
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absorb the force impact and give the reaction in the direction of the
fluid flow. Thus the whole turbine rotates.
The rotation speed of the turbine depends on the fluid velocity, more
the fluid velocity, greater the rotation speed, and greater the speed means
more power generation.

6.2 The Reaction Turbine

The reaction turbine is a turbine that makes use of both the impulse
and the reaction of the steam to produce the rotary effect on the rotors. The
moving blades or the rotors here are also nozzle shaped (They are
aerodynamically designed for this) and hence there is a drop in pressure
while moving through the rotor as well. Therefore in this turbine the pressure
drops occur not only in the fixed blades, but a further pressure drop occurs in
the rotor stage as well. This is the reason why this turbine is more efficient
The Steam Turbine

as the exit pressure of the steam is lesser, and the conversion is more. The
velocity drop between the fixed blades and moving blades is almost zero,
and the main velocity drop occurs only in the rotor stage.

How REACTION TURBINE works?

Reaction Turbines

In the reaction turbine, the rotor blades themselves are arranged to form
convergent nozzle Reaction Turbines

In the reaction turbine, the rotor blades themselves are arranged

to form convergent nozzles. This type of turbine makes use of the
reaction force produced as the steam accelerates through the nozzles
formed by the rotor. Steam is directed onto the rotor by the fixed
vanes of the stator. It leaves the stator as a jet that fills the entire
circumference of the rotor. The steam then changes direction and
increases its speed relative to the speed of the blades. A pressure drop
occurs across both the stator and the rotor, with steam accelerating
through the stator and decelerating through the rotor, with no net
change in steam velocity across the stage but with a decrease in both
pressure and temperature, reflecting the work performed in the driving
of the rotor.
This type of turbine makes use of the reaction force produced as
the steam accelerates through the nozzles formed by the rotor. Steam
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is directed onto the rotor by the fixed vanes of the stator. It leaves the
stator as a jet that fills the entire circumference of the rotor. The steam
then changes direction and increases its speed relative to the speed of
the blades. A pressure drop occurs across both the stator and the
rotor, with steam accelerating through the stator and decelerating
through the rotor, with no net change in steam velocity across the
stage but with a decrease in both pressure and temperature, reflecting
the work performed in the driving of the rotor.

Difference between impulse turbine & reaction turbine?

In an impulse turbine, the water (or steam) hits the blades and
continues almost straight through as in a jet engine. In a reaction
turbine, the water hits a semicircular cup and is completely reversed in
path, normally dropping down the center with little or no momentum
left. These are rarely used with gases because of having to get the
output out of the way, but they work especially well with water at
lower pressure as when the dam supplying the water is not very
high. Both kinds are used in various situations.

What are the advantages of impulse cum reaction turbine over pure
impulse and pure reaction turbine?

The difference between impulse and reaction turbine goes

here......

1) In case of an impulse turbine the pressure remains same in the

rotor or runners, but in case of reaction turbine the pressure decreases
in runners as well as stators also.

2) In case of impulse turbine the pressure drop happens only in

the nozzle part by means of its kinetic energy. In case of Reaction one
the stators those are fixed to the diaphragm act as a nozzle.
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7. How Can A Steam Turbine Be

Improved?

A steam turbine has thousands of miniature components. From

the gigantic blades that drive the rotor, to the bearings and nuts that
keep the machine in place, the steam turbine has tremendous scope
for improvement and effective design of every part plays a significant
role in improving the turbine’s overall efficiency. Some of the areas
where a lot of research goes into are those such as nozzle design,
aerodynamic blade design, lubrication engineering, heat transfer
mechanisms, part cooling, fabrication and part machining, pipe flow
mechanisms, metallurgy etc.

Design of steam turbine machine parts such as nozzles and

blades to make them aerodynamic using computational fluid dynamics
has gained a lot of steam as a field in itself! A small advancement in
the blade design could help in increasing efficiency tremendously.
Blade design with Computational Fluid Dynamics or CFD focuses on
reducing the local profile oriented loss on a Quasi 3 Dimensional (Q3D)
basis. The design of proper inlet ducts from the turbines based on their
operating time, economic considerations, size of the network and size
of the turbine is also equally important. In this case, since the flow is
highly unsteady and complex, the effects and degree of non uniformity
in the flow has to be controlled to a large extent or predicted and
taken care of suitably. Choosing proper materials for the different
steam turbine components and parts is also an important aspect of
design. The use of different lightweight yet strong and thermally
resistant alloys to make steam turbine blades and moving parts is of
very high importance. This also brings about the issue that the
material should be as free from erosion as possible and should not
succumb to rust and other chemical changes while under operation.
Technologies such as anti erosion blade shields bear testimony to this.
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8. Steam Turbine Applications

The Steam turbines of today are mostly used in the power
production field. Steam turbines are used to efficiently produce electricity
from solar, coal and nuclear power plants owing to the harmlessness of its
working fluid, water/steam, and its wide availability. Modern steam
turbines have come a long way in increasing efficiency in performance
and more and more efforts are being made to try and reach the ideal
steam turbine conditions, though this is physically impossible! Almost
every power plant in the world, other than hydro electric power plants,
that use turbines that run on water (the Francis, Pelton turbines also have
the influence of steam turbines) , use steam turbines for power
conversion. With all the scientific advancement in power generation being
attributed to them, steam turbines really have changed the way the world
moves!

Steam turbines are devices which convert the energy stored in

steam into rotational mechanical energy. These machines are widely used
for the generation of electricity in a number of different cycles, such as:

• Rankin cycle

• Reheat cycle

• Regenerative cycle

• Combined cycle

Utility Steam Turbine Applications

Applications for utility Steam Turbines are applied for control of
straight condensing, reheat and non-reheat steam turbines up to 300MW.
These upgrades may include integrated generator control for generator
protection and excitation/ AVR upgrades, utilizing the latest commonly
available industry-standard digital equipment.

Industrial application of steam turbine

Applications of Industrial Steam Turbines cover all straight
condensing, non-condensing, and automatic extraction steam turbines.
Specific design features are incorporated to address control issues often
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unique to process plants including paper mills, oil refineries, chemical

plants, and other industrial applications, generator and mechanical drive.

Some of the world’s largest turbines manufacturing companies that

are seeing the rewards of research and steam turbine advances are
coming together to develop highly efficient turbines. The collaboration of
Mitsubishi Heavy Machinery and General Electric Energy (GE Energy) for
the conceptualization and design of a highly efficient “next- generation”
steam turbine for its inception in combined cycle gas turbine power plants
recently has further proved that there is still a lot to be achieved in steam
turbine related research and development, and that the scope for
improvement can be much higher.
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9. Velocit diagram of steam at entrence & exit of

blade of steam turbine