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GE Power Systems

8.
8.1

Turbine Description

Turbine Mechanical Systems Description

Horizontally split, cast alloy steel symmetrical casing design incorporates free expansion of both rotating and stationary parts in all directions. The internal parts of the turbine are supported at the horizontal centerline of the unit. This allows expansion to be evenly distributed around the center of the unit where clearances are critical with respect to the rotor. During start-ups or rapid load swings, the casings are free to expand radially and axially while diaphragms remain concentric with the shaft at all times. The casing design incorporates minimum wall thickness with liberally designed fillets to reduce stress concentrations, and expedite starting and loading.

8.1.1

Diaphragms
The diaphragm assemblies are fabricated of semicircular flat plates with nozzle airfoils inserted between the inner and outer rings. The diaphragm rings are constructed of low-alloy steel suitable for the operating temperature, and the aerodynamically shaped nozzles are made of 12-chrome steels.

8.1.2

Rotor
The forged alloy steel rotor features rows of separate wheels that are an integral part of the shaft and are designed to carry the centrifugal load of the mechanically attached impulse type buckets. This design results in smaller shaft diameters and therefore decreases the sealing area of the inter-stage packing, which reduces leakage from the steam path and increases efficiency. Integral wheel construction allows for thinner wheel thickness, which minimizes thermal stresses across the wheel and external dovetail. Fillet radii where the wheel meets the shaft are kept generous to reduce stress concentrations to the required low levels. By controlling the integral wheel thickness and shape, centrifugal stresses are kept at low levels. and starting and loading operations are expedited Diameter changes in the shaft are kept small and gradual so that bending stresses are extremely low.

8.1.3

Buckets
The buckets are resistant to corrosion and erosion by steam. They are machined from bar stock or forgings, and are dovetailed to the wheel rims by a precision machine fit. Metal shrouds are used to tie together the outer ends of the buckets. This improves efficiency and rotor dynamics. Last stage bucket data Active length 33.5 Pitch diameter 90.5 Material Alloy steel

8.1.4

Labyrinth Shaft Packings

Spring-backed metallic labyrinth packings are used on both ends of the shaft and between the stages. Tooth design assures maximum protection against steam leakage and resultant energy waste.

8.1.5

Thrust Bearing
A pivoted shoe thrust bearing is used to position the rotor axially in the casing and to absorb thrust loads generated during operation. Tilting Pad Journal Bearing (Typical)

stm 02

8.1.6

Journal Bearings
Both tilting pad and elliptical journal bearings are employed. The journal bearings contain ports through which oil is supplied to the bearing. Oil flowing through the bearing absorbs heat from the journal as the shaft carries it over the upper half of the bearing. A portion of the oil is carried between the lower half of the bearing and the journal by rotation of the shaft. This forms a hydrodynamic oil film which supports the weight of the rotor and prevents any metal-to-metal contact. Instrumentation is provided to present vibration data to the operator. The turbine rotor journal bearings are split horizontally, which allows the bearings to be removed without removing the casing upper halves.

8.1.7
8.1.7.1

Main Steam Valves

Combined Inlet Stop and Control Valve Off-chest valves are made specifically for sliding pressure combined cycle applications. They contain in a common casing two (2) poppet type valves with independent actuators. The control valve portion is normally fully open to provide minimum flow restriction. It can be used to control flow if the steam turbine is operated in a pressure control mode of operation or during start-up/shut-down transients. The valve is spring closed, and opened with a hydraulic actuator for throttling or full open positions. LVDTs, and servo valves are used for feedback and control. Closing of this valve is used as back-up protection to the stop valve. The stop valve portion of the combined stop valve/control valve (SV/CV) assembly is actuated independently of the control valve portion. It contains its own hydraulic actuator with a spring for closure. The stop valve is used to isolate the main steam inlet during emergency conditions. Provisions are made for on-line periodic testing of both valve actuators and steam freedom. A steam strainer is provided to prevent material from entering the valve/turbine. The strainer has a coarse mesh wrapper for normal running and a fine mesh (start-up) screen.

8.1.7.2

Combined Reheat Valves There are two combined reheat valves, one located on each side of the reheat turbine. Their primary purpose is to protect the unit from overspeed due to the energy stored in the reheater and reheat piping. Each combined reheat valve consists of a reheat stop valve, and intercept valve. The reheat stop and intercept valves have separate actuators and operate completely independently. As with the SV/CV, strainers are provided.

8.1.7.3

Butterfly Admission Stop and Control Valve High performance butterfly valves are supplied together with an inline steam strainer for insertion in the low pressure admission line to the turbine. The valves are controlled in the same manner as the main steam stop and control valves by the Mark V control system and hydraulically powered from the turbine hydraulic power unit.

8.1.8

Shaft Seal System

A shaft sealing system is required to keep high pressure steam inside the turbine from leaking into the turbine room, as well as keep air from leaking into the vacuum and sub atmospheric areas inside the turbine. The shaft sealing system is comprised of shaft packings, all the necessary valves, valve operators, controllers, instruments and protective devices to allow fully automatic operation of the system with a minimum of attention. The interconnecting piping is typically provided by others. The system operates automatically at all turbine loads, back pressures, and all contract specified steam supply pressures. Manual control can also be exercised when needed to override the automatic control. The basic system is comprised of three elements: shaft packings, steam seal system, and gland exhaust system.

8.1.8.1

Shaft Packings The rotating turbine shaft does not contact the stationary components at anytime during normal operation. There are no soft packings or contacting seals. A series of metal packing rings each containing a set of annular teeth are positioned close to the turbine rotor surface and provide a labyrinth type seal to throttle the steam moving along the shaft. The number of rings at each shaft locations depends on the pressure drop required to throttle the steam and achieve a manageable flow.

Of greatest interest to the steam seal system are the three outboard rings of packing at each area where the shaft exits the steam path. The annulus between the two outboard rings is maintained at a slight negative pressure (nominally 10 water vacuum) and connects to the gland exhaust system. The annulus between the second and third packing rings is maintained at a small positive pressure (nominally 4 psig) and connects to the steam seal system. By maintaining the two annulus pressures as described above, there will be a small steam flow at all times from the steam seal annulus to the gland exhaust annulus. At the same time there will also be a flow of air from outside the turbine into the gland exhaust annulus. The flow between the steam seal annulus and the inside of the machine will vary depending on the internal pressure of the turbine. Low pressure packings (sealing against condenser vacuum) will always have a flow from the steam seal annulus to the condenser. The HP and IP packings behave differently. Prior to start up and after steam seals and vacuum are established, the entire turbine is at condenser pressure, and all packings (including the HP and IP packings) will have a steam flow from the steam seal annulus into the turbine. When the turbine is synchronized and loaded, the pressure inside the HP and IP sections increases and the flow reverses and feeds steam into the HP and IP packings. As load (and pressure inside the turbine) increases there is a point where the flow to the HP and IP seals becomes greater than the flow out of the LP seals and the unit is said to be self sealing. 8.1.8.2 Steam Seal System The steam seal system is provided to maintain a 4 psig nominal pressure in the header that connects each of the steam packings as discussed above. At the time the unit rolls off turning gear, the entire turbine is under vacuum. A steam seal feed valve (SSFV) is provided which controls the pressure in the header by passing steam from the main steam header (or another designated source) to maintain the nominal 4 psig to the seals. As pressure inside the turbine increases with increasing load, the flow from the header to the HP and IP packings diminishes and the SSFV closes to maintain the header pressure. When the unit becomes self sealing, the SSFV is fully closed. Additional load and steam flow from the packings will tend to increase the header pressure. A steam seal dump valve (SSDV) is provided to pass excess steam to the condenser (or in some plant designs, to a low pressure feedwater heater) and maintain the nominal header pressure. Both the SSFV and SSDV operate fully automatically with a pneumatic controller interfacing with the Mark V system. A simplified diagram of the system is shown as follows:

Steam Seal System for Condensing Turbines (Typical)

INLET VALVES

VALVE STEM PACKING LEAKOFF LOW PRESSURE PACKING TURBINE

HIGH PRESSURE PACKING

REENTRY EXHAUST MAKE-UP STEAM PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE STEAM SEAL HEADER STEAM SEAL REGULATOR TO GLAND EXHAUSTER SYSTEM (VACUUM) DUMP PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE

VENT PIPING stm 03

8.1.8.3

Gland Exhaust System The gland exhaust system is provided to dispose of the steam-air mixture coming from the packings. The leak offs are piped to the shell side of the GE supplied gland condenser heat exchanger where the steam is condensed from the mixture and the condensed water returned to the main unit condenser. The heat exchanger is cooled by condensate which returns the heat from the condensed steam to the cycle. A motor driven gland exhaust blower is mounted on the outlet of the gland condenser. The blower provides a negative pressure to the gland exhaust system and pushes the residual saturated air to an outdoor vent. GE provides butterfly valves to set the blower condition and provides a complete set of instruments for monitoring the unit.

Gland Exhauster System with Surface Condenser and Motor Driven Air Blower (Typical)
PACKING GLANDS

PRESSURE GUAGE STRAINER VENT WATER IN C (NORMALLY CLOSED)

F FILL CONNECTION (OPEN) OPTIONAL DESUPERHEATER (WATER SPRAY NOT REQUIRED FOR NORMAL OPERATION)

AIR BLOWER

DRAIN DRAIN LOOP SEAL

DRAIN TO SEWER OR OPEN HOTWELL

WATER INLET A A

WATER OUTLET

BYPASS VALVE (NORMALLY CLOSED)

FILL CONNECTION (OPEN) A C F M GATE VALVES GLOBE VALVES BUTTERFLY VALVE MANOMETER CONNECTIONS OPEN DRAIN LOOP SEAL

TO MAIN CONDENSER THRU TRAP OR TO ATMOSPHERIC TANK THRU LOOP SEAL

stm 04

8.1.9

Cascading Bypass System

The steam turbine is configured to operate with a cascading (sometimes referred to as European style) bypass system which includes features that permit reverse cooling flow in the HP section during start up. The reverse flow feature is unique to GE steam turbines and is described with the following diagram. Steam Turbine with Cascading Bypass System (Typical)
REVERSE FLOW DISCHARGE VALVE (VENTILATOR VALVE) VV REVERSE FLOW VALVE TO CONDENSER SUPERHEATER CONTROL VALVE RFV CHECK VALVE CV CHV IV REHEATER INTERCEPT VALVE

HP HIGH PRESSURE BYPASS VALVE HPBPV HPBWCV HIGH PRESSURE BYPASS WATER CONTROL VALVE

IP/LP LOW PRESSURE BYPASS VALVE LPBPV LPBWCV

GENERATOR

TO CONDENSER LOW PRESSURE BYPASS WATER CONTROL VALVE

stm 01

The steam turbine equipment includes the reverse flow valve, the reverse flow discharge valve, modified intercept valves to allow throttling during bypass start up with equalizer valves to open against full reheat pressure, and a modified turbine control system to start the turbine from bypass mode and interface with the plant bypass control system. The plant will provide the actual bypass system including bypass valves, desuperheaters, controls, and interconnecting piping including the non return valve in the cold reheat line. Turbine start up from bypass mode is made by accelerating the rotor train to synchronous speed by throttling steam to the IP and LP sections with the reheat intercept valves (IVs). During IV throttling the main steam inlet valves are closed and the HP turbine is protected from windage heating by passing cold reheat steam through the reverse flow valve, backward through the HP turbine stages and discharging to the condenser through the reverse flow discharge valve.

The turbine generator is synchronized and initially loaded while still under IV control and with reverse cooling flow to the HP section. The turbine will be transferred to forward flow in the HP section at a point where the boiler steam conditions and turbine metal temperatures are properly matched to minimize the thermal gradients and the cyclic life expenditure of the turbine components. The turbine control system monitors the conditions and inputs the transfer process. After transfer to forward flow in the HP, the load is escalated by continued opening of the IVs until they are fully opened, after which the turbine generator load is controlled by the main steam inlet valves. Additional load increase is accommodated by additional opening of the main inlet valves. Once the inlet valves are fully opened, the unit is in the normal sliding pressure operation.

8.1.10

Steam Turbine Lubrication Oil and Hydraulic Fluid Systems

The lubrication oil system and hydraulic fluid systems operate independently of one another, with mineral base lubricating oil, and fire resistant phosphate ester hydraulic fluid. Based on size, some systems are co-located on a common skid, while others employ separate skids. Both systems incorporate extensive instrumentation. The oil system incorporates two 100% redundant ac motor driven pumps, full flow filters, and coolers, as well as a dc motor driven emergency oil pump, a vapor extractor/mist eliminator, and a water removal system. The hydraulic fluid system incorporates two 100% redundant ac motor driven pumps, and full flow filters, as well as a fluid heating/cooling system, a fluid conditioning system, and an on-line testable redundant trip system. The systems are designed with the capability to perform all mandatory maintenance during normal turbine generator operation. All pumps are provided with on-line test capability. The systems are fully factory assembled, tested, and flushed, prior to shipment. Special features are provided to meet specific customer requirements and those features are identified elsewhere in this proposal.

8.1.10.1

Oil Reservoir A welded steel oil storage tank of sufficient capacity is provided to store all of the oil required by the pumping system including the flowback. The tank is located at an elevation below the turbine operating floor so the oil drainage from the main bearings is by gravity. The oil level in the tank provides adequate submergence of all pumps, which extend vertically down into the oil, and in addition results in a low recirculation rate. The low recirculation rate and minimum turbulence permit the returned oil to detrain air before being picked up by pump suction. An ac motor-driven vapor extractor is provided to create negative pressure in the oil tank. This will eliminate leakage of oil mist into the turbine hall through the oil deflectors.

8.1.10.2

Oil Pumps Two (2) ac motor-driven, centrifugal-type oil pumps are arranged in parallel. If the operating pump fails, a drop in oil pressure will be sensed by a pressure switch that will provide a signal to start the alternate pump. A single, dc motor-driven pump provides both emergency bearing oil and emergency seal oil in the event that both of the ac motor-driven pumps fail. A pressure switch signals the emergency dc pump to start if the oil pressure drops to a lower level. In some cases separate dc motor-driven emergency bearing oil and seal oil pumps are required due to oil system flow requirements and physical limitation on the tank top. The project specific drawings issued for this unit will reflect the required configuration. All pumps are serviceable without draining the oil reservoir.

8.1.10.3

Oil Coolers Two (2) 100%-capacity oil-to-water coolers are mounted at the end of the main oil tank to cool the oil before it is supplied to the turbine bearings. The coolers are ASME code stamped. One (1) cooler is in use, with the second in reserve. This permits the removal of one cooler from service for repair or replacement without having to shut down the turbine.

Local pump test system (for all motor-driven pumps) including: Instrument panel, with 4-1/2 inch gauges, mounted on reservoir Test valves Pump discharge pressure gauges Shut-off valves for gauges Electrical enclosure including: Terminal strips, for Owners connections Low oil level trip switch (DPDT) Low bearing pressure pre-alarm switch Low bearing pressure trip switch Low bearing pressure alarm switch Pump running pressure switches

8.1.10.4
8.1.10.4.1

Lube Oil Conditioning System

General Description

The turbine lube oil system is provided with a pressure/coalescence type oil conditioning system. The system is an off-line continuously operating module. The system is provided to remove up to 99.5% of free and emulsified water and 98.7% of solid contaminants when used in conjunction with the full-flow filters. The system provides flow rate selectable operation and monitor from a load status control panel.

8.1.11

Hydraulic Power Unit

The hydraulic power unit supplies triaryl-phosphate ester fire resistant fluid, under pressure, directly to the servovalves that serve as power actuators for the valve gear. The valve gear opens and closes the steam valves, and indirectly, the stop valve through a series of trip devices. Stainless steel components are utilized wherever possible.

8.1.11.1

Hydraulic Fluid Reservoir The fluid reservoir is constructed entirely of stainless steel. Cover plates provide access to the reservoir for cleaning.

A desiccant-type air dryer on top of the reservoir removes moisture from air inside the reservoir as well as air drawn into the reservoir as the fluid level changes. Air is drawn through a filter and circulated through bags of desiccant in a perforated cannister. A fully automatic, self-contained heating/cooling circulating system is maintains the desired fluid temperature. The system operates automatically by a preset temperature controller that senses reservoir temperature. Accumulators under the reservoir provide an immediate source of hydraulic fluid to satisfy large transient demands of valve actuators. The accumulators are pre-charged with nitrogen. 8.1.11.2 Pumping System Two (2) ac motor-driven, variable displacement pumps with pressure compensators are used to operate the hydraulic power unit. The pressure compensator maintains the preset pressure throughout the delivery flow range. A relief valve on the pump discharge protects the system by bypassing pump output back to the reservoir. A filter is provided downstream of pump discharge to assure system cleanliness. 8.1.11.3 Fluid Conditioning Unit A fluid conditioning unit is provided to treat reservoir fluid by circulating the fluid from the reservoir, in a bypass loop through a conditioning filter and cartridge type polishing filter. This system utilizes an ac motor-driven fixed displacement pump, and incorporates connections for filling and draining the unit.

8.1.12

Motors
TEFC enclosures are provided for integral HP motors where available. TENV enclosures are provided for fractional HP motors, and for integral HP motors if TEFC is not available. Class F insulation with Class B rises for ac motors Class F insulation for dc motors Dual voltage integral HP ac motors

DC motors Oversize connection boxes Motor drain plugs (where available) Severe duty motors with 1.15 service factor Fungus resistant insulation

8.1.13

Turning Gear
A turning gear is provided to rotate the turbine-generator shaft slowly (approximately 3-5 rpm) during shutdown periods and in preparation for startup. When a turbine is shut down, its internal elements continue to cool for many hours. To eliminate distortion that would be caused by allowing the rotor to remain stationary during the cool down period, the turning gear keeps the turbine and generator rotors revolving continuously until temperature change has stopped and the casing has become cool. Additionally, the turning gear can be used as a jacking device to turn the rotor small amounts for inspection. The turning gear is driven by an ac motor, and power is transmitted to the turbine shaft through a reducing gear train. Lubrication for the turning gear is provided from the main lube oil system directly from the main bearing header. Valves are provided to admit oil to the turning gear. A pressure switch senses oil pressure within the turning gear and interlocks the turning gear motor starter circuit to prevent operation without adequate lube oil supply.