Steam Turbine

A machine which develops mechanical motion using natural force is called a prime
mover, all heat engines are prime movers, as are steam turbines.

 Principal Parts

1. rotor – this is the main element of a turbine.

2. casing- this is the principal stationary element, often called the cylinder; it surrounds
the rotor and is shaped to become the mainframe and support of the assembled
turbine.
Note : routing the steam flow through two or more cylinders is compounding.
3. bearings- there are two main bearings for a single – cylinder turbine which are
placed outboard of the shaft seal.
Note: most journals run in plain babbitted bearings
4. shaft seals
in case the shaft emerges from the casing it needs sealing to prevent steam
outflow at the high – pressure end and air in inflow at the vacuum end.
Note: on small non- condensing turbines, employ mechanical sealing rings; on
large turbines where shaft diameter is large, use labyrinth glands with steam leak –
off at the high pressure end and steam or water sealing at the condenser.
5. Steam control
Where the power is used for electric power generation, steam flow needs to be
regulated so as to produce constant rotative speed in the presence of variable power
demand.
6. oil system
an integral oil pump driven from he main shaft provides the pressure for oil
relays and governor valve – operating cylinders; the same oil lubricates the bearings
when reduced in pressure.

 Classifications of steam turbines:

1. by size and application

1.1. auxiliary service, direct – connected, small capacity.
1.2 mechanical drive, geared and direct = connected; 10,1515hp
1.3 industrial power, usually impulse turbines with gear drive
1.4 central station power

2. by steam flow
2.1 impulse, impulse – reaction, and reaction- blading
2.2 single stage (smaller capacities) and multi stage
2.3 re- entry (partial multi – stage advantages without added mechanical
complication
2.4 subdivided steam flow in multiple cylinders in parallel or in tandem
 3. by degree of expansion

3.1 straight expansion, condensing and non- condensing

3.2 back pressure
3.3 bleeder; steam is extracted for feedwater heating
3.4 automatic extraction
3.5 low pressure
3.6 superposed

source: power plant engineering by morse, p 376

 Power rating
Mechanical drive turbines are rated in horsepower (hp); turbine generator units in
kilowatts (kW)

1. nominal - it is declared power capacity expected to the maximum load

2. Capability – it is the manufacturer’s guaranteed maximum continuous output for a clean

turbine, operating under specified throttle and exhaust conditions

3. overload capacity - it is the difference between capability and nominal rating

 Willan’s line
The steam rate of a turbine decrease with increasing load to the point of maximum
efficiency, after which it increases because of excessive incomplete expansion losses;
steam consumption rises with an increase in load; this characteristic generally plots against
load as straight line with y-intercept which as Willan’s line.

Steam consumption y = mx + b
ms, kg/hr

b Load, kW
O Full load

Problem:
A 5-MW steam turbine generator power plant has a full-load steam rate of 6.0
. Assuming that no-load steam consumption as 10% of full-load steam
consumption, compute for the hourly steam consumption at 60% load, in .

Solution:
At full-load:
Steam consumption,

At no-load:
 Steam consumption,

Using two-point form:

Where:

Thus,

At 60% load, L = 0.6