I.

Introduction

Steam Turbine Diagram

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 1884.1

It has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine primarily because of its

greater thermal efficiency and higher power-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine
generates rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator –
about 80% of all electricity generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The steam
turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic
efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the expansion of the steam, which results in a
closer approach to the ideal reversible process.
 History of Steam Turbine
The first device that may be classified as a reaction steam turbine was little more than a toy, the
classic  Aeolipile, described in the 1st century by Greek mathematician  Hero of Alexandria in
Roman, Egypt. More than a thousand years later, in 1543, Spanish naval officer  Blasco de
Garay used a primitive steam machine to move a ship in the port of Barcelona. [5] In 1551, Taqi
al-Din in Ottoman Egypt described a steam turbine with the practical application of rotating
a spit. Steam turbines were also described by the Italian Giovanni Branca (1629)  and John
Wilkins in England (1648). The devices described by al-Din and Wilkins are today known
as steam jacks.

An Aeolipile

The modern steam turbine was invented in 1884 by the Englishman Sir Charles Parsons, whose
first model was connected to a dynamo that generated 7.5 kW (10 hp) of electricity. The
invention of Parson's steam turbine made cheap and plentiful electricity possible and
revolutionized marine transport and naval warfare. His patent was licensed and the turbine
scaled-up shortly after by an American, George Westinghouse. The Parson's turbine also turned
out to be easy to scale up. Parsons had the satisfaction of seeing his invention adopted for all
major world power stations, and the size of generators had increased from his first 7.5 kW set
up to units of 50,000 kW capacity. Within Parson's lifetime the generating capacity of a unit was
scaled up by about 10,000 times, and the total output from turbo-generators constructed by his
firm C. A. Parsons and Company and by their licensees, for land purposes alone, had exceeded
thirty million horse-power.
 Modern Steam Turbine

II. Draw a simplified diagram of Steam Turbine.

 Components Functions
Steam Chest and the casing contain the steam furnished to the turbine,
being connected to the higher-pressure steam
sup-ply line and the lower-pressure steam
exhaust line, respectively.
Steam Chest - The steam chest, which is
connected to the casing, houses the governor
valve and the overspeed trip valve.
The Casing - The casing contains the rotor and
the nozzles through which the steam is
expanded and directed against the rotating
buckets. 
Rotor The shaft extends beyond the casing and
through the bearing cases. One end of the
shaft is used for coupling to the driven pump.
The other end serves the speed governor and
the overspeed trip systems.
Bearing Cases The bearing cases support the rotor and the
assembled casing and steam chest. The
bearing cases contain the journal bearings and

Casing Sealing Glands  The casing sealing glands seal the casing and
Governor System  The governor system commonly consists of
Overspeed Trip System
Oil-ring Lubrication System
the rotating oil seals, which prevent out-ward
oil leakage and the entrance of water, dust,
and steam. The steam end bearing case also
contains the rotor positioning bearing and the
rotating components of the overspeed trip
system. An extension of the steam end bearing
housing encloses the rotating compo-nets of
the speed governor system.
the shaft with spring-backed segmented
carbon rings (supplemented by a spring-
backed labyrinth section for the higher
exhaust steam pressures).
spring-opposed rotating weights, a
steamvalve, and an interconnecting linkage or
servomotor system. Changes in the turbine
inlet and exhaust steam conditions, and the
power required by the pump will cause the
turbine speed to change. The change in speed
results in a repositioning of the rotating
governor weights and subsequently of the
governor valve.
The overspeed trip system usually consists of a
spring-loaded pin or weight mounted in the
turbine shaft or on a collar, a quick-closing
valve that is separate from the governor valve,
and interconnecting linkage. The centrifugal
force created by rotation of the pin in the
turbine shaft exceeds the spring loading at a
preset speed. The resultant movement of the
trip pin causes knife edges in the linkage to
separate and permit the spring-loaded trip
valve to close.
The oil-ring lubrication system employs an oil
ring(s) that rotates on the shaft with the lower
portion sub-merged in the oil contained in the
bearing case. The rotating ring(s) transfers oil
from the oil reservoir to the turbine shaft
journal bearing and rotor-locating bearing. The
oil in the bearing case reservoirs is cooled by
water flowing in cooling water chambers or
tubular heat exchangers.
 Pressure Lubrication System A pressure lubrication system consists of an oil
pump driven from the turbine shaft, an oil
reservoir, a tubular oil cooler, an oil filter, and
interconnecting piping. Oil is supplied to the
bearing cases under pressure. The oil rings
may be retained in this system to provide oil
to the bearings during startup and shutdown
when the operating speed and bearing design
permit.

III.Discussion
1. Identify the form of energy it utilizes.
~ Steam turbines transform the thermal energy stored in steam into
mechanical work.

~The modern steam turbine is an action turbine (no reaction turbine), i.e. the steam
jet meets from a being certain nozzle the freely turning impeller. There's a high
pressure in front of the turbine, while behind it a low pressure is maintained, so
there's a pressure gradient: Steam shoots through
the turbine to the rear end. It delivers kinetic energy "Steam"
to the impeller and cools down thereby: The Steam turbines are operated
pressure sinks.  today of course no longer
Steam is produced in a steam boiler, which is heated with normal water vapour
in power stations by the burn of coal or gas or by only, but depending on the
field of application also with
atomic energy. Steam doesn't escape then, but after
other materials, e.g. with
the passage through the turbine it is condensed in a freons).
condensor and then pushed back into the steam
boiler again by a pump. This has the advantage that for example in nuclear power
stations work- and cooling water are clearly separated.
 2. Place where the exchange from Chemical Heat (Combustion
System)

3. Method by which the engine is cooled (Cooling System)

Wet-Dry Cooling System
A combination wet-dry cooling system for an axial flow steam turbine having a portion of the exhaust
steam from the turbine condensed by cooling water circulating through a condenser and through a wet
cooling tower, and having another portion of the exhaust steam condensed by liquid coolant circulated
in a finned tube heat exchanger, wherein the heat from the liquid coolant is transferred to the air, and
the liquid coolant is passed through the tubes extending through the condenser, or the liquid coolant is
sprayed directly into the condenser to provide mixing condensing, thus providing a cooling system,
which eliminates the objectionable plume associated with wet cooling towers and which is smaller than
dry cooling towers.

Open Cycle Cooling Systems

Open cycle (once through) cooling systems may be used for plants sited beside large water bodies such
as the sea, lakes or large rivers that have the ability to dissipate the waste heat from the steam cycle. In
the open system, water pumped from intakes on one side of the power plant passes through the
condensers and is discharged at a point remote from the intake (to prevent recycling of the warm water
discharge).

Open systems typically have high flow rates and relatively low temperature rises to limit the rise in
temperature in the receiving waters. A typical 350 MW unit would have a flow of some 15000 to 20000
L/s.

Open Cycle with Helper Cooling Tower

In this system, cooling towers are installed on the discharge from open systems in order to remove part
of the waste heat, so that the load on the receiving waters is contained within pre set limits. Systems
with helper cooling towers are common in Germany and France where cooling supplies are drawn from
the large rivers. The helper towers are used in the warmer summer periods to limit the temperature of
the discharged cooling water, usually to less than 30º C.

Closed Cycle Wet Cooling Systems

In closed cycle wet cooling systems, the waste energy that is rejected by the turbine is transferred to the
cooling water system via the condenser. The waste heat in the cooling water is then discharged to the
atmosphere by the cooling tower.
In the cooling tower, heat is removed from the falling water and transferred to the rising air by the
evaporative cooling process. The falling water is broken up into droplets or films by the extended
surfaces of the tower 'fill'. This 'fill' in the later Queensland towers is manufactured from plastic.

Some of the warm water, typically 1 to 1.5% of the cooling water flow, is transferred to the rising air,
and this is visible in the plume of water vapour above towers in times of high humidity. The evaporation
rates of the Queensland 350 MW cooling systems are typically 1.8 litres of water per kWh of power
generated.

The major components of a closed cycle wet cooling water system are:
Cooling towers - two types are commonly used, concrete natural draught towers and mechanical
draught towers; and 
Pumps and pipes. 

Natural Draught Towers

Concrete natural draught towers have a large concrete shell. The heat exchange 'fill' is in a layer above
the cold air inlet at the base of the shell as shown in the tower sectional view. The warm air rises up
through the shell by the 'chimney effect', creating the natural draught to provide airflow and operate
the tower. These towers therefore do not require fans and have low operating costs.
The cooling towers have two basic configurations for the directions of the flow of air in relation to the
falling water through the tower fill:

The counter-flow tower where the air travels vertically up through the fill (a diagram of this type of
tower is shown below); and 
The cross-flow tower where the air travels horizontally through the fill.  

Natural draught towers are only economic in large sizes, which justifies the cost of the large concrete
shell. Natural draught towers are the most common towers for large generating units in Europe, South
Africa and Eastern USA. They are not used in the drier areas of Western USA, as their performance is
better suited to cooler and more humid areas. This performance limitation also limits their use in
Australia.

Mechanical Draught Cooling Towers

In mechanical draught cooling towers, large axial flow fans provide the airflow. While fans have the
disadvantage of requiring auxiliary power, typically 1.5 to 2.0 MW for a 420 MW unit, fans have the
advantage of being able to provide lower water temperatures than natural draught towers, particularly
on hot dry days.

Mechanical draught towers are used exclusively in central and western USA as their climate can vary
from freezing to hot with low humidity, and the mechanical towers can provide a more controlled
performance over this wide range of conditions.

The most common materials used in large mechanical draught cooling towers are timber for the framing
and plastic for the cladding and internals.

Pumps and Pipes in a Cooling Water System

Circulating water pumps supply cooling water at the required flow rate and pressure to the power plant
condenser and the plant auxiliary cooling water heat exchangers. These pumps are required to operate
economically and reliably over the life of the plant.
The three types of pumps commonly used for circulating water service are 'vertical wet pit', 'horizontal
dry pit' and 'vertical dry pit'. For once through systems, vertical wet pit pumps are in common usage. For
re-circulating cooling systems, vertical wet pit and horizontal dry pit are used about equally, with
occasional use of vertical dry pit pumps.

Circulating water piping carries the cooling water from the circulating water pumps to the condenser
and returns the water to the cooling tower or discharge structure. The large flow rates associated with
circulating water systems typically require the use of large diameter piping in the range 900 mm to 2400
mm diameter.

The design of the pipework must consider the environment internal to the pipe as well as the external
environment. Pipe materials used include steel, fibre reinforced plastic and reinforced concrete. The
large water requirement generally makes it uneconomical to use high quality water sources. The source
of water for the plant generally depends on the plant's location. Coastal sites generally use seawater or
brackish water as the circulating water source, either by pumping directly from the sea or extracting the
water from the local bores.

Water from many sources can contain high concentrations of corrosive contaminants. Any pipe
materials considered must include measures to protect the pipe for the service life of the plant. For
example, carbon steel pipes in seawater service require either an internal coating, or a cathodic
protection system, or both. Concrete pipes may require a dense concrete mix to withstand chloride
attack. These protective measures significantly increase the capital cost of an installation such that it can
be as economical to install fibre reinforced plastic pipe to obtain the same service life. As existing water
sources become strained and new water sources more scarce and expensive to develop, the quality of
circulating water in future power plants is expected to decline further. This will increase the trend
towards corrosion resistant piping materials.

Closed Cycle Dry Cooling Systems

Dry cooling systems are used where there is insufficient water, or where the water is too expensive to
be used in an evaporative system. Dry cooling systems are the least used systems as they have a much
higher capital cost, higher operating temperatures, and lower efficiency than wet cooling systems.

In the dry cooling system, heat transfer is by air to finned tubes. The minimum temperature that can be
theoretically provided is that of the dry air, which can be regularly over 30º C and up to 40º C on typical
summer afternoons in Queensland. Compare this to wet cooling towers, which cool towards the wet
bulb temperature, which is typically 20º C on summer afternoons. The steam condensing pressures and
temperatures of a dry cooled unit are significantly higher than a wet cooled unit, due to the low transfer
rates of dry cooling and operation at the dry bulb temperature.

There are two basic types of dry cooling systems:

1. The direct dry cooling system; and 

2. The indirect dry cooling system. 
Variations on the full dry and full wet systems are hybrid systems, which may be wet with some dry or
dry with part wet.

Direct Dry Cooling System

In the direct dry system, the turbine exhaust steam is piped directly to the air-cooled, finned tube,
condenser. The finned tubes are usually arranged in the form of an 'A' frame or delta over a forced
draught fan to reduce the land area. The steam trunk main has a large diameter and is as short as
possible to reduce pressure losses, so that the cooling banks are usually as close as possible to the
turbine.

The direct system is the most commonly used as it has the lowest capital cost, but significantly higher
operating costs. The power required to operate the fans of this system is several times that required for
wet towers, being typically 4 to 5 MW for a 420 MW unit.

Indirect Dry Cooling System

Indirect dry cooling systems have a condenser and turbine exhaust system as for wet systems, with the
circulating water being passed through finned tubes in a natural draught cooling tower. The water
pipework allows the towers to be sited away from the station.

A variation on this type of indirect system is the system that uses a direct contact condenser in place of
the traditional tube type condenser. In the spray condenser, the water from the cooling cycle mixes with
the boiler water. The maintenance of the water quality to suit all circuits is critical to the successful
operation of the system.

Hybrid Systems

There are two common hybrid systems, which have been developed to overcome some of the
disadvantages of the full wet and full dry systems.

4. Position of the cylinder of an engine.