Steam Turbine

(Theory and Questions& Answers)

Upper casing removed. As prime mover pumps.
STEAM TURBINES
1. INTRODUCTION
Of all heat engines and prime movers the steam turbine is nearest
to the ideal and it is widely used in power plants and in all
industries where power and/or heat is needed for processes. These
include: pulp mills, refineries, petro-chemical plants, food
processing plants, desalination plants, refuse incinerating and
district heating plants.
Advantages include:
Ability to utilize high pressure and high temperature steam.
High efficiency.
High rotational speed.
High capacity/weight ratio.
Smooth, nearly vibration-free operation.
No internal lubrication.
Oilfree exhaust steam.
Can be built in small or very large units (up to 1200 MW).
Disadvantages are:
For slow speed application reduction gears are required.
The steam turbine cannot be made reversible.
The efficiency of small simple steam turbines is poor.
OPERATION PRINCIPLES
1. Impulse Turbine
In principle the impulse steam turbine consists of a casing
containing stationary steam nozzles and a rotor with moving or
rotating buckets.
The steam passes through the stationary nozzles and is directed at
high velocity against the rotor buckets causing the rotor to rotate at
high speed.
The following events take place in the nozzles:
The steam pressure decreases.
The enthalpy of the steam decreases.
The steam velocity increases
The volume of the steam increases.
There is a conversion of heat energy to kinetic energy as the heat
energy from the decrease in steam enthalpy is converted into
kinetic energy by the increased steam velocity.
The nozzles may be convergent nozzles or they may be convergent-
divergent nozzles . Convergent nozzles are used for smaller
pressure drops where the minimum exit pressure is 0.577 x the
inlet pressure (the critical pressure for nozzles.)
If the exit pressure is less than 0.577 x inlet pressure, eddy-
currents are developed and the exit velocity will be less than
calculated.
The convergent-divergent nozzles prevent eddy-currents and the
calculated velocity will be obtained even at large pressure drops.
The purpose of the bucket or moving blade on the rotor is to
convert the kinetic energy of the steam into mechanical energy. If
all kinetic energy is converted the steam exit velocity will be 0 m/s.
This is not possible but it shows that the rotor blades must bring the
steam exit velocity near 0 m/s.
The Impulse Principle
1. If steam at high pressure is allowed to expand through a
stationary nozzle, the result will be a drop in the steam
pressure and an increase in steam velocity. In fact, the
steam will issue from the nozzle in the form of a high-
speed jet. If this high velocity steam is applied to a
properly shaped turbine blade, it will change in direction
due to the shape of the blade . The effect of this change in
direction of the steam flow will be to produce an impulse
force, on the blade causing it to move. If the blade is
attached to the rotor of a turbine, then the rotor will
revolve.
The force applied to the blade is developed by causing the
steam to change direction of flow (Newton's 2nd Law -
change of momentum). The change of momentum
produces the impulse force.
In an actual impulse turbine there are a number of
stationary nozzles and the moving blades are arranged
completely around the rotor periphery.
Note that the pressure drops and the velocity increases as
the steam passes through the nozzles. Then as the steam
passes through the moving blades the velocity drops but
the pressure remains the same.
The fact that the pressure does not drop across the
moving blades is the distinguishing feature of the impulse
turbine. The pressure at the inlet to the moving blades is
the same as the pressure at the outlet from the moving
blades.
If the moving blades of a turbine are shaped in such a
way that the steam expands and drops in pressure as it
passes through them, then a reaction will be produced
which gives a force to the blades. This reaction effect can
be illustrated by considering a container filled with high-
pressure steam.
If there is no escape opening or nozzle for the steam, then
the pressure will be the same on all walls of the container
and the container will remain at rest. If, however, the
container has an escape opening or nozzle, then steam
will expand through the opening and drop in pressure.
Therefore there will be an unbalanced pressure on the wall
opposite to the opening and a reaction force R will be
produced causing the container to move reaction Effect.
A reaction turbine has rows of fixed blades alternating
with rows of moving blades. The steam expands first in
the stationary or fixed blades where it gains some velocity
as it drops in pressure. It then enters the moving blades
where its direction of flow is changed thus producing an
impulse force on the moving blades. In addition, however,
the steam upon passing through the moving blades, again
expands and further drops in pressure giving a reaction
force to the blades.
This sequence is repeated as the steam passes through
additional rows of fixed and moving blades.
Note that the steam pressure drops across both the fixed
and the moving blades while the absolute velocity rises in
the fixed blades and drops in the moving blades.
The distinguishing feature of the reaction turbine is the
fact that the pressure does drop across the moving
blades. In other words there is a pressure difference
between the inlet to the moving blades and the outlet
from the moving blades.
Special Aspects of Reaction Turbines
There is a difference in pressure across the moving blades.
The steam will therefore tend to leak around the periphery
of the blades instead of passing through them. Blade
clearances therefore must be kept to a minimum.
Also, due to pressure drop across the moving blades, an
unbalanced thrust will be developed upon the rotor and
some arrangement must be made to balance this.
Impulse Turbine Staging
In order for the steam to give up all its kinetic energy to the moving
blades in an impulse turbine, it should leave the blades at zero
absolute velocity. This condition will exist if the blade velocity is
equal to one half of the steam velocity. Therefore, for good
efficiency the blade velocity should be about one half of the steam
velocity.
If the steam was expanded from admission pressure down to final
exhaust pressure in a single set of nozzles (single stage) then the
velocity of the steam leaving the nozzles might he in the order of
1100 m per second. In order to have good efficiency the blade
velocity would have 10 be about 550 m per second, which would
require excessively high rev/mm of the turbine rotor and failure due
to centrifugal force could result.
In addition to this objection, excessively high steam velocity will
cause high friction losses in nozzles and blading.
In order to reduce steam velocity and blade velocity, the following
methods may be used:
Pressure compounding.
Velocity compounding.
Pressure-velocity compounding.
Pressure Compounding.
The expansion of steam from boiler pressure to exhaust pressure is
carried out in a number of steps or stages. Each stage has a set of
nozzles and a row of moving blades. The rows of moving blades are
separated from each other by partitions or diaphragms, into which
the nozzles are set. As only a portion of the velocity available is
developed in each set of nozzles, the blade velocity is kept down to
a reasonable amount.
This type of compounding is known as the Rateau method.
In this arrangement, the pressure of the steam drops in each set of
nozzles as indicated by the pressure graph. The steam velocity is
increased by each pressure drop and then decreases again in each
row of moving blades, as the velocity graph shows.
Velocity Compounding
1. This design consists of one set of nozzles in which the
steam is expanded from initial to exhaust pressure. The
velocity of the steam resulting from this expansion is
absorbed in two or more rows of moving blades. Rows of
fixed or guide blades, attached to the casing, are set
between rows of moving blades and receive and redirect
the steam to the next row of moving blades. As the
velocity is absorbed in more than one row of moving
blades, the blade speed is less than if the velocity was all
absorbed in one row of blades.
This type of compounding is known as the Curtis method.
The pressure drops from inlet pressure to exhaust
pressure in the single set of nozzles as the pressure graph
shows. This large single pressure drop produces high
steam velocity, which is absorbed in the two rows of
moving blades. Note that there is no pressure or velocity
drop in the fixed guide blades.
2. Pressure-Velocity Compounding
This is a combination of the first two methods of compounding,
namely pressure compounding and velocity compounding.
The steam is expanded in two or more sets of nozzles in series,
each set having velocity compounded blades to receive the steam
issuing from the nozzles.
The steam pressure drops in each set of nozzles and the resulting
velocity increase in each case is absorbed by in two rows of moving
blades having a row of stationary blades between them.
The methods of reducing rotor speeds, namely, pressure
compounding, velocity compounding, and pressure-velocity
compounding have all applied to impulse turbines.
In the case of the reaction turbine, it is not necessary to make
special blade arrangements to reduce rotor speed. This is because
the pressure drops across each row of moving blades as well as
across each row of fixed blades and consequently the pressure
drops in even stages and small amounts all through the machine.
This requires, however, a large number of alternate rows of fixed
and moving blades resulting in a long machine. Therefore, in order
to reduce the number of blade rows necessary, reaction turbines
frequently have a velocity compounded impulse stage at the inlet
end of the machine.
TYPES OF TURBINES
1. Condensing Turbines With the condensing turbine, the steam
exhausts to the condenser and the latent heat of the
steam is transferred to the cooling water. The condensed
steam is returned to the boiler as feedwater
2. Condensing-Bleeder Turbines The condensing-bleeder turbine
reduces the condenser losses as steam is bled off at
several points of the turbine. The bleed-steam is used for
feedwater heating; up to 20% of the total steam flow may
be bled off.
3. Back-Pressure Turbines Back-pressure turbines are often
used in industrial plants, the turbine acts as a reducing
station between boiler and process steam header. The
process steam pressure is kept constant and the
generator output depends on the demand for process
steam.
The backpressure turbine may also have bleed points and
is then called a back-pressure-bleeder-turbine.
4. Extraction Turbines Extraction turbines are turbines where
steam is extracted at one or more points at constant
pressure.
Extraction turbines may be single or double-extraction-
condensing turbines or single-or double-extraction back-
pressure turbines. The extraction turbines may, besides
extraction points, have bleed points for feedwater heating.
5. Topping Turbines Topping turbines have been used when old
boilers are replaced with new high pressure boilers. The
turbine is a backpressure turbine exhausting to the old
boiler header still supplying steam to the old lower
pressure turbines.
6. Mixed Pressure Turbines Mixed pressure turbines are used
where excess steam from process is available for the low
pressure part of the turbine, while steam at boiler
pressure may be added to the high pressure part of the
turbine when more load is applied to the turbine.
Cross Compound Turbines
Cross compound turbines are large turbines with parallel
shafts with a generator on each shaft. The steam flows
through the high pressure turbine, then is crossed-over to
the low pressure turbine.
Tandem Compound Turbines
Tandem compound turbines are large turbines consisting of two or
more turbines in series coupled together as one shaft and applied to
one generator.
TURBINE PARTS
1. Turbine Casings Casings or cylinders are of the
horizontal split type. This is not ideal, as the heavy flanges
of the joints are slow to follow the temperature changes of
the cylinder walls. However, for assembling and inspection
purposes there is no other solution.
The casings are heavy in order to withstand the high
pressures and temperatures. It is general practice to let
the thickness of walls and flanges decrease from inlet- to
exhaust-end.
Large casings for low-pressure turbines are of welded
plate construction, while smaller L. P. casings are of cast
iron, which may be used for temperatures up to 230C.
Casings for intermediate pressures are generally of cast
carbon steel able to withstand up to 425C. The high
temperature high-pressure casings for temperatures
exceeding 550C are of cast alloy steel such as 3 Cr iMo
(3% Chromium + 1% Molybdenum.)
The reason for using different casing materials is that
materials at the given maximum temperatures and under
constant pressure continue to deform with very slowly
increasing strain of the material; this phenomenon is
called "Creep".
The casing joints are made steam tight, without the use of
gaskets, by matching the flange faces very exactly and
very smoothly. The boltholes in the flanges are drilled for
smoothly fitting bolts, but dowel pins are often added to
secure exact alignment of the flange joint. The assembled
casing is then machined off inside on a boring-mill, where
grooves are made for the diaphragms (for impulse
turbines) or for the stationary blades (reaction turbines).
Borings are also made for shaft seals and in many cases
for the bearings also.
For high-pressures the flanges of the casings must be very
heavy and will heat up much slower than the casing walls.
Flange heating, by steam through machined channels
between the flanges or holes drilled axially through the
upper and lower flanges, is often applied.
Double casings are used for very high steam pressures.
The high pressure is applied to the inner casing, which is
open at the exhaust end, letting the turbine exhaust to
the outer casings the pressure is divided between the
casings, and most important, the temperature is also
divided of the flange and is forced to flow round the bolt
by means of baffle and thermal stresses on casings and
flanges are greatly reduced. Radiation losses are also
decreased. The inner casing may be assembled with
shrink rings giving an ideal casing without flanges.
2. Turbine Rotors The design of a turbine rotor depends on
the operating principle of the turbine.
The impulse turbine with pressure drop across the
stationary blades must have seals between stationary
blades and the rotor. The smaller the sealing area, the
smaller the leakage; therefore the stationary blades are
mounted in diaphragms with labyrinth seals around the
shaft. This construction requires a disc rotor.
The reaction turbine has pressure drops across the moving
as well as across the stationary blades and the use of a
disc rotor would create a large axial thrust across each
disc. The application of a drum rotor eliminates the axial
thrust caused by the discs, but not the axial thrust caused
by the differential pressure across the moving blades,
3. Disc Rotors:
All larger disc rotors are now machined out of a solid forging of
nickelsteel; this should give the strongest rotor and a fully balanced
rotor. It is rather expensive, as the weight of the final rotor is
approximately 50% of the initial forging.Older or smaller disc rotors
have shaft and discs made in separate pieces with the discs shrunk
on the shaft. The bore of the discs is made
0.1% smaller in diameter than the shaft. The discs are then heated
until they easily are slid along the shaft and located in the correct
position on the shaft and shaft key. A small clearance between the
discs prevents thermal stress in the shaft.
2. Drum Rotors
The first reaction turbines had solid forged drum rotors. They were
strong, generally well balanced as they were machined over the
total surface. With the increasing size of turbines the solid rotors
got too heavy and the hollow drum rotor was introduced. This rotor
is made of two or more pieces. For good balance the drum must be
machined both outside and inside and the drum must be open at
one end. The second part of the rotor is the drum end cover with
shaft. The end cover is made with a shrink fit and welded .
Hollow Drum Rotor
A fairly light and rigid drum rotor may be manufactured from discs
welded together to form a drum. Before welding, the rotor is heated
by induction heating, then the welding is performed with automatic
welding machines for the "Argon-arc" process, where the arc burns
in an argon atmosphere.
Most rotors are now made of nickel alloy-steels with elastic limits of
around 300 x 10 pascals Rotors for high outputs and high
temperatures are generally made of chromium-nickel-molybdenum
steels with elastic limits of 600 - 700) x 106 pascals.
Turbine Bearings
Journal Bearings
The bearings for small turbines are often self-aligning spherical ball
or roller-bearings or they may be ring lubricated sleeve bearings
with bronze or babbitt lining .
2, Thrust Bearings
The main purposes of the thrust bearing are:
1, to keep the rotor in an exact position in the casing.
2, to absorb any axial thrust on the rotor.
From the thrust bearing the shaft must be free to expand in either
direction, thus a shaft can have only one thrust bearing. The thrust
bearing should be located at the steam inlet, where the blade
clearances are most critical. When shafts of a tandem compound
turbine are joined together with solid couplings, only one thrust
bearing can be applied. If flexible couplings take up the axial
expansion, each shaft must have a thrust bearing .
The axial thrust is very small for impulse turbines as the pressure is
equal across the rotor discs ensured by equalizing holes in the
discs. A simple thrust bearing such as a ball bearing for small
turbines and radial babbitt facing on journal bearings for larger
turbines is very common.
The pressure drop across the moving blades of reaction turbines
creates a heavy axial thrust in the direction of steam flow through
the turbine and a thrust bearing suitable for heavy axial loading is
needed. The tilting pad Kingsbury or Michel thrust bearings
operating on the same principle as the tilting pad journal bearing
are generally applied. The axial thrust in impulse turbines does not
require tilting pad thrust bearings, but due to their excellent
performance, they are the most common thrust bearing for large
impulse turbines. The axial thrust in reaction turbines can be nearly
eliminated by the use of balance or dummy pistons. With the
correct size of a dummy piston exposed to two different bleed point
pressures, the thrust is nearly equalized, There is a small leakage
across the labyrinth seal of the dummy piston as steam leaks from
the high to the lower bleed point .
The axial position of the rotor is very important and an axial
position indicator is often applied to the thrust bearing. It may be a
large dial micrometer with alarm setting for an axial movement of
0.4 millimetre and shutdown at 0.8 millimetre, An oil pressure gage
connected to an oil leak-off device may also be used as an axial
position indicator .
The oil is supplied at say 500 kPa, flows through an orifice and leaks
off through a nozzle The pressure between orifice and nozzle
depends on the distance between the nozzle and shaft thrust collar;
the larger the distance the lower the pressure. The pressure gage
can be calibrated in millimetre clearance and may have alarm and
shutdown settings.
Turbine Seals
1.Blade Seals
The efficiency of reaction turbines depends to a large extent on the
blade seals; radial as well as axial seals are often part of the shroud
with the seal clearances kept as small as possible. As protection for
the axial seals some manufacturers apply an adjustable thrust
bearing. The whole thrust block is cylindrical and fits like a piston in
the cylinder with the whole thrust block able to be axially adjusted .
During startup the thrust block is pushed against a stop in the
direction of exhaust for maximum seal clearances. When the turbine
is heated up and has been on load for a short time the thrust block
is pulled forward against a forward stop for minimum seal clearance
and maximum blade efficiency.
Shaft Seals
Shaft seals must be provided in order to prevent or at least reduce
steam leakage where the shafts extend through the casings. Also
when low pressure turbines are under vacuum the seals must
prevent air from leaking into the casing.
Ordinary soft packing may be used for shaft sealing in small
turbines. Carbon rings are also very common for small turbines.
The carbon ring is made up of three segments butting together
tightly under the pressure of a garter spring. The ring has a few
hundreds of a millimetre clearance around the shaft and is
prevented from turning by a locking pin. The ring has a slight side
clearance in the housing allowing it to move freely in radial
directions. Carbon rings are self-lubricating but have a tendency to
corrode the shaft when the turbine is shut down. The presence of
moisture accelerates the corrosion. The carbon rings are from 10 to
25 millimetres wide and may cause heating when they ride on the
shaft. They are, for that reason, limited to shafts less than 150
millimetres in diameter. For larger diameter shafts where the
surface speed is high, labyrinth seals are applied. The labyrinth seal
consists of a number of rings (a) 1 - 2 millimetres thick fixed to the
shaft, tapered at the outer periphery to nearly knife-sharp with a
clearance to the casing of a few hundreds of a millimetre. The rings
are of brass or stainless steel, the sharp edge gives better sealing
and rubs off easily without excessive heating in case of a slightly
eccentric shaft. Some labyrinth seals are very simple, others are
complicated.
Carbon Ring Seal
High pressure turbines operating at 12 090 to 15 000 kPa cause a
sealing problem, as a straight labyrinth seal for that pressure would
be extremely long or have lots of steam leaking through. The
problem is solved by a series of steam pockets between sets of
labyrinth seals. The high pressure steam leaks through 100 - 200
millimetres of labyrinth seal into the first pocket, which is connected
to the H. P exhaust, thus any steam leaking through the seal is
used in the I P. Turbine. After the first pocket the steam leaks
through the second seal 75 -150 millimetres long and into the
second pocket connected to an H.P. feedwater heater. Then steam
leaks through the third labyrinth seal to the third pocket connected
to the I P. exhaust. The steam then leaks through the fourth seal
into the fourth pocket, which is connected to the L. P shaft seals
supplying them with sealing steam. On the steam line between
pocket number 4 and the L. P. seals are two connections with
pressure control valves. One is a spill-over valve to the condenser,
which will open to the condenser if the gland st~am exceeds the set
point of a few centimetres of water above atmospheric pressure.
The other connection has a control valve to supply gland steam
when the pressure decreases to near atmospheric pressure. This
valve operates during start-ups and low loads.
Neither the carbon nor the labyrinth shaft seals prevent all leakage.
If a positive or leak-proof seal is needed, a water seal may be
installed. The water seal consists of an impeller on the turbine shaft
which rotates in a waterfilled casing and water thrown out from the
impeller forms a leak-proof water barrier . Water seals are mainly
applied to L. P glands to guard against air leakage, but they may
also be applied as the final seal for H.P. and I. P. glands.
The water seal cannot operate properly at low speed and gland
steam must be applied for sealing during start-up until the turbine
speed is approximately 2000 rev/mm. Water seals are supplied with
clean cool condensate from the extraction pump. It may be supplied
directly or via a head tank with automatic level-control
The diaphragms of impulse turbines have labyrinth seals at the
shaft. These seals are made of brass of stainless steel and are in six
segments, each segment is springloaded and kept against a stop
allowing a very small clearance between seal and shaft. In case of a
bent shaft, the shaft may push the segment back against the spring
pressure, preventing serious damage to shaft or seal.
Turbine Couplings
The purpose of couplings is to transmit power from the prime mover
to the driven piece of machinery. For heavy loads the solid flange
coupling is used . The flanges are generally integral parts of the
shafts, but they may be separate parts for smaller turbines. In this
case each coupling part has a tapered bore and keyway to fit the
tapered end of the shaft. Following the taper the shaft has a large
thread allowing the coupling to be secured tightly with a large nut.
The friction between the coupling halves and the shear force of the
bolts transmits the power. For maximum shear stress the bolts
must be fitted ( ie they must fit in the holes without clearance at
the shear point. The coupling bolts should be undercut, that is
machined off to a diameter slightly less than the bottom diameter of
the thread to avoid any strain on the thread.
In some cases the couplings must compensate for axial expansion
and contraction of the rotors and in this case a flexible coupling is
applied. The outer half has internal gears, while the inner part has
matching external gears. The coupling works like the spline on a
driveshaft for a car.
The couplings for very large shafts will need a large diameter if the
bolts are used to transmit the power. The bolts can be much smaller
if they are not allowed to trasnsmit power. In the coupling shear
pins carry the load. The area exposed to shear is the shear pin
diameter x length x number of shear pins. This design allows the
shear pins to be located at a large radius from the shaft centre The
coupling bolts are not fitted as they are exposed to tensile stress
only.
Turbine Blades
The efficiency of the turbine depends more than anything else on
the design of the turbine blades. The impulse blades must be
designed to convert the kinetic energy of the steam into mechanical
energy. The same goes for the reaction blades, which furthermore
must convert heat energy to kinetic energy. The later years'
increase in blade efficiency is due to increased aerodynamic shape
calculated by computers and the milling of blades on automatic
milling machines.
It is not always possible to give the blades the theoretically best
profile, as several other considerations must be taken. The blade
must be made strong enough to withstand high temperatures and
stresses from heavy, often pulsating steam loads. There is also the
stress due to centrifugal force ( for large L.P blades the centrifugal
force on a single blade may exceed 200 tonnes ) Vibrations and
resonant vibrations in particular must be taken into account and
finally there is erosion and corrosion.
The material that comes closest to the ideal for all mentioned
considerations is a chromium-nickel steel, for instance 17 Cr'13 Ni -
steel.
1. Stationary Blades and Nozzles
The first set of nozzles for an impulse turbine is the control set and
is divided into three to six sections with each section having a
steam control valve. For smaller turbines all sections may be
located in the upper half of the casing, while the sections for larger
turbines cover the entire circumference. All stages following the
control stage have the nozzles located in diaphragms. The
diaphragms are in halves and fitted into grooves in the casing.
Locking pieces in the upper part of the casing prevent the
diaphragm from turning. All modern diaphragms are of an all-
welded construction.
The stationary blades in reaction turbines are fitted into grooves in
the casing halves; keys as shown lock the blades in place. In some
cases, the blades have keys or serration on one side of the root and
a caulking strip on the other side of the root is used to tighten the
blades solidly in the grooves. The blades are often supplied with a
shroud band with radial and/or axial sealing strips to minimize
leakage losses.
The stationary blades for a Curtis wheel are attached to the casings,
as are the stationary blades for reaction turbines.
When a turbine is left cold and at standstill, the weight of the rotor
will tend to bend the rotor slightly. If left at standstill while the
turbine is still hot, the lower half of the rotor will cool off faster than
the upper half and the rotor will bend upwards "hog". In both cases,
the turbine would be difficult if not impossible to start up. To
overcome the problem the manufacturer supplies the larger
turbines with a turning or barring gear consisting of an electric
motor which through several sets of reducing gears turns the
turbine shaft at low speed. The first turning gears turned the shaft
at approximately 20 rev/mm, later increased to 40 and up to 60
rev/mm as proper lubrication is difficult to obtain at low speed; the
same goes for the hydrogen seals of generators. Some turning
gears, electric or hydraulic, turn the shaft 1 800 at set times over a
period of 24 hours.
Before a cold turbine is started up it should be on the barring gear
for approximately three hours. When a turbine is shut down, it
should be barring for the next 24 hours. If a hydrogen cooled
generator is involved the turbine should be kept on barring gear to
prevent excessive loss of hydrogen, All barring gears are interlocked
with a lubricating oil pressure switch and an engagement limit
switch operated by the engagement handle.
Large turbines with heavy rotors are generally equipped with a
jacking oil pump, supplying the lower part of the bearings with oil at
approximately 10 000 kPa, thereby lifting the shaft and supplying
lubricating oil.
The jacking oil is applied before start-up of the turning gears and
for slow rev/mm the oil is left on, but for high rev/mm (50 - 60
rev/mm) it is generally shut down as soon as the turning gear is up
to speed.
STEAM TURBINE GOVERNING
1. Nozzle Governing With nozzle governing a series of nozzle
valves open in sequence as the load increases. This type
of governing is most efficient and is used for impulse
turbines.
2. Throttle Governing With throttle governing a single large
control valve controls the load from 0% to 100%. For
large turbines two control valves operating in parallel
replace a large single valve.
When steam is throttled, the superheat increases and the
turbine exhaust steam is drier, reducing the turbine blade
erosion, but with the drier steam entering the condenser,
the condenser losses increase. Throttling of steam through
a valve is an isenthalpic ( constant enthalpy) process and
no heat is lost. The so-called throttling losses occur in the
condenser,
3. By-pass Governing or Overload Governing
This system is used on impulse as well as reaction turbines, An
extra set of control valves admit steam to the space behind the
Curtis wheel or for a reaction turbine to an annular space behind
the first 8 - 12 stages. By-passing part of the turbine increases the
turbine capacity (overloads the turbine) but at a reduced efficiency.
The by-pass valves are smaller than the regular governor valves, as
too much by-pass steam may starve the by-passed stages rotating
in steam at very high density and the blades may overheat.
1. Turbine Governors The two general types of governors
used are the speed sensitive governor and the pressure
sensitive governor. Speed sensitive governors are applied
to all kinds of turbines,
Pressure sensitive governors are applied to back pressure
and extraction turbines in connection with the speed
sensitive governor.
Speed Governing:
The frequency of 60 Hz is used as the set point or balance
between supply and demand of an electric network, Any
over supply of energy will increase the frequency and an
under supply will decrease the frequency. The supply must
at any time be equal to the demand in order to keep the
frequency at exactly 60 Hz.
The speed governor is a proportional-action controller,
each change in power causes a change in the turbine
speed. The governor controls the opening of the control
valves as a function of this speed change. Because of the
governor speed droop, the frequency is not constant over
the full range of load without external adjustment.
Governor speed droop is the percent change in speed
required for a load change equal to the rated capacity of
the turbine. It is the same as % proportional band for
controllers.
The speed sensitive governor may be:
a)Mechanical
b)Mechanical-hydraulic
c)Electro-hydraulic
A turbine manufacturer may use all three types depending
on the size of ~e turbine; he may furthermore use several
systems for each type. It is therefore impossible to
describe more than a single example, such as the
standard mechanical-hydraulic system applied to most
Parsons turbines.
AUXILIARY OIL
Power oil at approximately 500 kPa is supplied from pump
A, through overspeed relay B up to speed droop setting
valve F, to main stop valve oil cylinder C and up to control
valve K. The oil downstream of F is pilot oil 100 - 400 kPa)
up to governor relay G and up to pilot cylinder H.
The flyballs operate the piston in the governor relay, and
thereby controls the leak-off at the right end of the piston.
Assuming the turbine speed increases, the flyballs move
outwards and move the relay piston to the right,
increasing the leak-off and lowering the pilot oil pressure
causing the piston in pilot cylinder H to move downwards.
As the piston in cylinder J is stationary, the pilot piston in
H will via the linkage move control piston K downwards,
opening the oil drain for cylinder J and the piston in J
moves downwards, but in doing so the control piston K
will be moved upwards as the piston in H is stationary.
When K comes back to the neutral position, oil can no
longer drain out from J and the governor valve has taken
up the position corresponding to the pilot oil pressure.
Turning the handwheel L clockwise will move the relay
bushing to the right, decrease the leak-off, increase the
pilot oil pressure for further opening of the governor valve
and increasing the load. Turning L counterclockwise will
reduce the turbine load.
For smaller turbines the pilot oil may be applied directly to
cylinder J and K and H are omitted. The valve F is locked
in a set position, but if F is opened up more, the increased
oil-flow in the pilot oil system makes the system less
sensitive, ie , the speed droop is increased; closing in on F
decreases the speed droop.
It has been pointed out that nozzle governing is more
efficient than throttle governing and that is one of the
reasons for using a velocity compounded impulse wheel as
control stage for an impulse reaction turbine. The second
reason is that at high pressure the leakage losses around
the reaction blades is excessive. Somewhere in one of the
boiler lectures it was pointed out how a few extra 1~J per
kg steam could increase the pressure. When we expand
the steam through the turbine we find that at the high
pressure a few kJ per kg steam require a large pressure
drop. For instance an adiabatic expansion of steam at 12
000 kPa and 5000 C to 7000 kPa releases 170 kj/kg, but
the same type of expansion from 40 kPa to 10 kPa also
releases 170 kJ/kg, and that is the second reason for the
combination of Curtis-Parsons.
1. Overspeed Trip
The high rotational speed of steam turbines creates large
centrifugal forces, as these forces increase with the square
of the speed. Therefore an absolute reliable overspeed
protection must be provided.
The overspeed trip is mechanical-hydraulic and shows
clearly the operating principle of all overspeed trips for
turbines with hydraulic governor systems. The
springloaded tripping bolt located in the turbine shaft has
the centre of gravity slightly off the centre of the shaft in
direction of the bolt head The nut at the end of the bolt
provides a stop for the bolt in tripped position and for the
tripping speed adjustment. During normal operation the
main spring holds the relay rod against the tripping lever;
piston A has closed the oil drain and H.P. oil passes
between pistons A and B to the stop valve.
When turbine speed increases to the trip setting, usually
110% of operating speed, the centrifugal force overcomes
the bolt spring, the bolt moves to the tripping position,
strikes the tripping lever, unlatching the relay rod and the
main spring moves the relay to the tripped position in
which piston A opens the stop valve oil-port to drain, while
piston B closes off the H.P. oil inlet port.
For all hydraulic systems the overspeed trip closes off for
H.P. oil and opens the stop valve oil cylinder to drain
allowing the valve to close under spring force.
A steam turbine based power plant consists of raising high
pressure steam in a boiler from the thermal energy and expanding
the steam in a turbine to generate shaft power which in turn is
converted into electricity in the generator. Axial flow steam turbines
consist of circularly distributed stationary blades called nozzles
which direct steam on to rotating blades or buckets mounted
radially on a rotating wheel. Typically, the blades are short in
proportion to the radius of the wheel, and the nozzles are
approximately rectangular in cross section. Several stages of
expansions are obtained by using a series of nozzles and buckets,
with the exhaust from the buckets of one stage flowing directly into
the nozzles of the following stage. A compact machine can be built
economically with ten or more stages for optimum use of high
pressure steam and vacuum exhaust by mounting the wheels of a
number of stages on a single shaft, and supporting the nozzles of
all stages from a continuous housing. Large axial turbines must be
operated under such conditions that the exhaust steam does not
contain more than 10 to 13% of liquid since condensate droplets
could seriously erode the high velocity nozzles and blades. The
moisture content of the exhaust is dependent upon the inlet steam
pressure/temperature combination. Special moisture removal
stages may be incorporated in the design when the steam
superheat temperature is limited.
Steam may be utilized directly in the steam turbine without any
superheat as may be done with low pressure steam, or
superheated to increase the cycle efficiency. Reheat may also be
included to further increase the ef ficiency of converting heat to
power by superheating the steam after partial expansion and
admitting the steam thus reheated back into the turbine.


QUESTION SHEET
Make a blade sketch and the steam pressure and velocity graphs for
an impulse turbine with one Curtis and two Rateau stages.
Explain the following terms and list their advantages and
disadvantages:
Nozzle governing
Throttle governing
By-pass governing
a ) Explain the working principle of a Kingsbury thrust bearing.

b) Explain the operating principle of an oil pressure thrust bearing
position indicator.

4. The formula for centrifugal force is in x

where in mass in kg, V = velocity in metre/s
of the centre of gravity of blade

r radius to centre of gravity of blade

Using above formula find the centrifugal force in kilonewtons of a
turbine blade having a mass of 4.6 kg and rotating at 3600 rev/mm
when T = 1.5 metres.

5 Sketch and describe an overspeed tripping device.

6. Compare a back-pressure turbine and an extraction-condensing
turbine and list their advantages and disadvantages.

7. What is the purpose of a dummy piston and what factors enter
into its design?

8. Sketch a solid flange coupling and explain where it would be
used.


QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ON STEAM
TURBINE:
1. What is a stage in a steam turbine?
Answer:
In an impulse turbine, the stage is a set of moving blades
behind the nozzle. In a reaction turbine, each row of
blades is called a "stage." A single Curtis stage may
consist of two or more rows of moving blades.
2. What is a diaphragm?
Answer:
Partitions between pressure stages in a turbine's casing
are called diaphragms. They hold the vane-shaped nozzles
and seals between the stages. Usually labyrinth-type seals
are used. One-half of the diaphragm is fitted into the top
of the casing, the other half into the bottom.
3. What is a radial-flow turbine?
Answer:
In a radial-flow turbine, steam flows outward from the
shaft to the casing. The unit is usually a reaction unit,
having both fixed and moving blades. They are used for
special jobs and are more common to European
manufacturers, such as Sta-Laval (now ABB).
4. What are four types of turbine seals?
Answers:
1. Carbon rings fitted in segments around the shaft
and held together by garter or retainer springs.
2. Labyrinth mated with shaft serrations or shaft
seal strips.
3. Water seals where a shaft runner acts as a pump
to create a ring of water around the shaft. Use
only treated water to avoid shaft pitting.
4. Stuffing box using woven or soft packing rings
that are compressed with a gland to prevent
leakage along the shaft.
5. In which turbine is tip leakage a problem?
Answer:
Tip leakage is a problem in reaction turbines. Here, each
vane forms a nozzle; steam must flow through the moving
nozzle to the fixed nozzle. Steam escaping across the tips
of the blades represents a loss of work. Therefore, tip
seals are used prevent this.
6. What are two types of clearance in a turbine?
Answer:
1. Radial - clearance at the tips of the rotor and
casing.
2. Axial - the fore-and-aft clearance, at the sides
of the rotor and the casing.
7. What are four types of thrust hearings?
Answer:
1. Babbitt-faced collar bearings.
2. Tilting pivotal pads.
3. Tapered land bearings.
4. Rolling-contact (roller or ball) bearings.
8. What is the function of a thrust bearing?
Answer:
Thrust bearings keep the rotor in its correct axial position.
9. What is a balance piston?
Answer:
Reaction turbines have axial thrust because pressure on
the entering side is greater than pressure on the leaving
side of each stage. To counteract this force, steam is
admitted to a dummy (balance) piston chamber at the
low-pressure end of the rotor. Some designers also use a
balance piston on impulse turbines that have a high
thrust. Instead of piston, seal strips are also used to
duplicate a piston's counter force.
10. Why should a steam or moisture separator
be installed in the steam line next to a steam
turbine?
Answer:
All multistage turbines, low-pressure turbines, and
turbines operating at high pressure with saturated steam
should have a moisture separator in order to prevent rapid
blade wear from water erosion.
11. What are some conditions that may
prevent a turbine from developing full power?
Answers:
1. The machine is overloaded.
2. The initial steam pressure and temperature are
not up to design conditions.
3. The exhaust pressure is too high.
4. The governor is set too low.
5. The steam strainer is clogged.
6. Turbine nozzles are clogged with deposits.
7. Internal wear on nozzles and blades.
12. Why is it necessary to open casing drains
and drains on the steam line going to the
turbine when a turbine is to be started?
Answers:
To avoid slugging nozzles and blades inside the turbine
with condensate on start-up; this can break these
components from impact. The blades were designed to
handle steam, not water.
13. What is steam rate as applied to turbo-
generators?
Answer:
The steam rate is the pounds of steam that must be
supplied per kilowatt-hour of generator output at the
steam turbine inlet.
14. What are the two basic types of steam
turbines?
Answers:
1. Impulse type.
2. Reaction type.
15. What is the operating principle of an
impulse turbine?
Answer:
The basic idea of an impulse turbine is that a jet of steam
from a fixed nozzle pushes against the rotor blades and
impels them forward. The velocity of the steam is about
twice as fast as the velocity of the blades. Only turbines
utilizing fixed nozzles are classified as impulse turbines.
16. What is the operating principle of a
reaction turbine?
Answer:
A reaction turbine utilizes a jet of steam that flows from a
nozzle on the rotor. Actually, the steam is directed into
the moving blades by fixed blades designed to expand the
steam. The result is a small increase in velocity over that
of the moving blades. These blades form a wall of moving
nozzles that further expand the steam. The steam flow is
partially reversed by the moving blades, producing a
reaction on the blades. Since the pressure drop is small
across each row of nozzles (blades), the speed is
comparatively low. Therefore, more rows of moving blades
are needed than in an impulse turbine.
17. What are topping and superposed
turbines?
Answer:
Topping and superposed turbines arc high-pressure, non-
condensing units that can be added to an older,
moderate-pressure plant. Topping turbines receive high-
pressure steam from new high-pressure boilers. The
exhaust steam of the new turbine has the same pressure
as the old boilers and is used to supply the old turbines.
18. What is an extraction turbine?
Answer:
In an extraction turbine, steam is withdrawn from one or
more stages, at one or more pressures, for heating, plant
process, or feedwater heater needs. They are often called
"bleeder turbines."
19. What is a combination thrust and radial
bearing?
Answer:
This unit has the ends of the babbitt bearing extended
radially over the end of the shell. Collars on the rotor face
these thrust pads, and the journal is supported in the
bearing between the thrust collars.
20. What is a tapered-land thrust bearing?
Answer:
The babbitt face of a tapered-land thrust bearing has a
series of fixed pads divided by radial slots. The leading
edge of each sector is tapered, allowing an oil wedge to
build up and carry the thrust between the collar and pad.
21. What is important to remember about
radial bearings?
Answer:
A turbine rotor is supported by two radial bearings, one on
each end of the steam cylinder. These bearings must be
accurately aligned to maintain the close clearance
between the shaft and the shaft seals, and between the
rotor and the casing. If excessive bearing wear lowers the
he rotor, great harm can be done to the turbine.
22. How many governors are needed for safe
turbine operation? Why?
Answer:
Two independent governors are needed for safe turbine
operation. One is an overspeed or emergency trip that
shuts off the steam at 10 percent above running speed
(maximum speed). The second, or main governor, usually
controls speed at a constant rate; however, many
applications have variable speed control.
23. How is a flyball governor used with a
hydraulic control?
Answer:
As the turbine speeds up, the weights are moved outward
by centrifugal force, causing linkage to open a pilot valve
that admits and releases oil on either side of a piston or
on one side of a spring-loaded piston. The movement of
the piston controls the steam valves.
24. What is a multi-port governor valve? Why
is it used?
Answer:
In large turbines, a valve controls steam flow to groups of
nozzles. The number of open valves controls the number
of nozzles in use according to the load. A bar-lift or cam
arrangement operated by the governor opens and closes
these valves in sequence. Such a device is a multi-port
valve. Using nozzles at full steam pressure is more
efficient than throttling the steam.
25. What is meant by critical speed?
Answer:
It is the speed at which the machine vibrates most
violently. It is due to many causes, such as imbalance or
harmonic vibrations set up by the entire machine. To
minimize damage, the turbine should be hurried through
the known critical speed as rapidly as possible. (Caution,
be sure the vibration is caused by critical speed and not
by some other trouble).
26. How is oil pressure maintained when
starting or stopping a medium-sized turbine?
Answer:
An auxiliary pump is provided to maintain oil pressure.
Some auxiliary pumps are turned by a hand crank; others
are motor-driven. This pump is used when the integral
pump is running too slowly to provide pressure, as when
starting or securing a medium-sized turbine.
27. Besides lubrication, which are two
functions of lubricating oil in some turbines?
Answer:
In large units, lube oil cools the bearings by carrying off
heat to the oil coolers. Lube oil in some turbines also acts
as a hydraulic fluid to operate the governor speed-control
system.
28. What is meant by the water rite of a
turbine?
Answer:
29. What is the difference between partial and
full arc admission?
Answer:
In multi-valve turbine inlets, partial arc ad mission allows
the steam to enter per valve opening in a sequential
manner, so as load is increased, more valves open to
admit steam. This can cause uneven heating on the high-
pressure annulus as the valves are individually opened
with load increase. In full-arc admission, all regulating
valves open but only at a percentage of their full opening.
With load increase, they all open more fully. This provides
more uniform heating around the high-pressure part of
the turbine. Most modern controls start with full-arc and
switch to partial arc to reduce throttling losses through the
valves.
30. At what points does corrosion fatigue does
show up?
Answer:
It attacks trailing edges, near the base of the foil and also
the blade-root serrations.
31. Besides lubrication, what are two functions
of lubricating oil in some turbines?
Answer:
In larger units, lube oil cools the bearings by carrying off
heat to the oil coolers. Lube oil in some turbines also acts
as a hydraulic fluid to operate the governor speed-control
system.
32. But despite these preventive measures,
damage due to moisture impingement has
been found, in certain cases, in the shield and
beyond. Why?
Answers:
1. Shields are designed and fabricated on the basis
of predicted range of steam/water quantities
impacting the blades at specific angles.
2. Now if the operating conditions deviate
significantly from design parameters then the
erosion damage will occur. And in some cases it
may go beyond nominal erosion wear and
warrant repair.
3. Also the corrosion of casing can occur due to
blockage/clogging of water drains or extraction
thereby forcing the water back into the casing. If
this condensate water is carried over to steam
path and impacts the blade, thermal-fatigue
failure can occur within a short period.
33. By monitoring the exhaust steam
temperature, how can the blade deposition be
predicted?
Answers:
1. Immediately after the 1st commissioning, the
different values of exhaust temperature for
different steam flow rates are precisely
determined and plotted against steam flow. This
will produce the first actual graph. This is for a
clean turbine.
2. Similar graphs are to be drawn at later periods
for comparing with the initial graph.
3. A rise in exhaust steam temperature under the
same conditions refers to deposit formation.
4. An increase of exhaust steam temperature by
more than 10% in the range of 70 to l00%
steam flow, indicates inadmissible blade
depositions. Shutdown is to be taken and blades
are to be washed off deposits.
34. Do the radial axial-bore cracks occur in the
LP rotor/shaft alone?
Answer:
These are also known to occur in the HP as well as HP
rotors.
35. Do you stop cooling-water flow through a
steam condenser as soon as the turbine is
slopped?
Answer:
You should keep the cooling water circulating for about 15
mill or more so that the condenser has a chance to cool
down gradually and evenly. Be sure to have cooling water
flowing through the condenser before starting up in order
to prevent live steam from entering the condenser unless
it is cooled. Overheating can cause severe leaks and other
headaches.
36. Do you think that turbine blade failure is
the only cause of unreliability of steam
turbines? Does upgrading of turbine means
replacement of blades and/or improvement of
blade design?
Answers:
1. Like the blades, the steam-turbine rotors are
highly stressed components. They are subject to
cracking by a variety of failure mechanisms.
Rotor failures do occur. And when they occur the
result is catastrophic with the complete
destruction of the unit and the total loss of
generating capacity.
2. Therefore, special attention should be given to
rotor upgrading and repairing techniques.
37. FACTORS BLADE FAILURES
Unknown 26%
Stress-Corrosion Cracking 22%
High-Cycle Fatigue 20%
Corrosion-Fatigue Cracking 7%
Temperature Creep Rupture 6%
Low-Cycle Fatigue 5%
Corrosion 4%
Other causes 10%
TOTAL 100%
1. Besides, many damage mechanisms operate in
combination of
a. poor steam/water chemistry,
b. certain blade design factors that vary from one
turbine manufacture to other,
c. system operating parameters,
1. How can damaged tenons be repaired?
Answers:
By adopting modern welding techniques, tenons can be
rebuilt This in some cases results in extended blade life.
2. How can problems of "excessive vibration or
noise" due to piping strain be avoided on
steam turbines?
Answers:
1. The inlet as well as exhaust steam lines should
be firmly supported to avoid strains from being
imposed on the turbine.
2. Adequate allowance should be made for
expansion of steam pipes due to heat.
3. How can steam turbines be classified?
Answers:
By the action of steam:
1. Impulse.
2. Reaction.
3. Impulse and reaction combined.
The number of step reductions involved:
4. Single stage.
5. Multi-stage.
6. Whether there is one or more revolving vanes
separated by stationary reversing vanes.
The direction of steam flow:
7. Axial.
8. Radial.
9. Mixed.
10. Tangential.
11. Helical.
12. Reentry.
The inlet steam pressure:
13. High pressure.
14. Medium pressure.
15. Low pressure.
The final pressure:
16. Condensing.
17. Non-condensing.
The source of steam:
18. Extraction.
19. Accumulator.
4. How can the deposits be removed?
Answers:
1. Water soluble deposits may be washed off with
condensate or wet steam.
2. Water insoluble deposits are removed
mechanically after dismantling the turbine.
3. Experience shows that water soluble deposits
are embedded in layers of water-insoluble
deposits. And when the washing process is
carried out, water soluble parts of the deposit
dissolve away leaving a loose, friable skeleton of
water-insoluble deposits which then break loose
and wash away.
5. How can the detection of deposits in a turbine
be made during operation?
Answers:
1. Pressure monitoring.
2. Internal efficiency monitoring.
3. Monitoring exhaust steam temperature.
4. Monitoring specific steam consumption.
6. How can the disadvantages of the impulse
turbine question 7 be overcome?
Answers:
1. Velocity compounding
2. Pressure compounding
3. Pressure-Velocity compounding.
7. How can the fatigue damage on high-pressure
blades be corrected?
Answers:
Fatigue-damage on high-pressure blades arises due to
vibration induced by partial-arc admission. This can be
corrected by switching over to full arc admission
technique.
8. How can the misalignment be rectified?
Answer:
The bolts holding the flanges together are to be tightened.
The coupling is to be checked for squareness between the
bore and the face. At the same time axial clearance is to
be checked. Using gauge block and feeler gauges, the gap
between coupling faces 1800 apart is to be measured.
After rotating the coupling-half 1800, the gap at the same
points is to be measured. After this, the other coupling is
to be rotated 1800 and the gap at the same points is to be
re-measured. These measures should come within a few
thousands of an inch. Dividing the coupling faces into four
intervals, the distance between the coupling faces at this
intervals is to be measured with the aid of a gauge block
and feeler gauges. These gap measurements should come
within 0.005 inch for proper angular shaft alignment. After
proper alignment at room temperature, the two halves of
the coupling are to be connected.
9. How can the problem of excessive speed
variation due to throttle assembly friction be
overcome?
Answer:
The throttle should be dismantled. Moving parts should be
checked for free and smooth movement. Using very fine-
grained emery paper, the throttle valve seats and valve
steam should be polished.
10. How can the speed variation be reduced by
making a governor droop adjustment?
Answer:
If the internal droop setting is increased, the speed
variation will reduce.
11. How do the problems of vibration and
fatigue arise with steam turbine blades?
Answers:
1. These arise due to flow irregularities introduced
because of manufacturing defects, e.g. lack of
control over tolerances.
2. System operating parameter, e.g. low flow may
excite various modes of vibration in the blades.
12. How does deposit formation on turbine
blades affect turbine efficiency?
Answer:
About 500 g of deposits distributed more or less evenly all
over the blading section can bring down turbine efficiency
by 1%.
13. How does improper governor lubrication
arise and
Answers:
1. In the event of low governor oil level or if the oil
is dirty or foamy, it will cause improper governor
lubrication.
What is the remedy to it?
2. The dirty or foamy lube oil should be drained off,
governor should be flushed and refilled with a
fresh charge of proper oil.
3. In the event of low level, the level should be
built up by make- up lube oil.
14. How does pressure monitoring ensure
detection of turbine deposits?
Answers:
1. Pressure of steam expanding in the turbine is
measured at characteristic points, i.e., at the
wheel chamber, points of pass-out, inlet/outlet
of HP, IP and LP stages of the turbine.
2. The turbine manufacturer provides the pressure
characteristics in the form of graphs.
3. At 1st commissioning, the user supplements
these theoretical curves with those derived from
actual measurements. These are actual pressure
characteristics for a clean turbine. Now these
pressure characteristics are compared with those
obtained during operation in the later period.
4. Under identical conditions, an increase in
pressure shows the formation of deposits.
5. For a steam throughput in the range 70-100%,
an increase in wheel chamber pressure of more
than 10% indicates severe blade depositions.
15. How does solid-particle erosion occur?
Answer:
Solid-particle erosion, i.e. SPE occurs in the high-pressure
blades. And it takes place when hard particles of iron
exfoliated by steam from superheater tubes, reheater
tubes, steam headers and steam leads strike on the
surface of turbine blades.
16. How does the damage to turbine-blades
tell upon the efficiency of the unit?
Answer:
The damage to blade profiles changes the geometry of
steam flow path and thereby reducing the efficiency of the
unit.
17. How does the dirty safety trip valve trip the
safety trip at normal speed?
Answers:
Dirt may find its way to the safety trip valve and get
deposited around the spring end cap end. This will block
the clearance between the safety trip valve and the spring
end cap. As a result the steam pressure in the spring cap
gets lowered allowing the valve to close.
What is the remedy to it?
The spring end cap as well as safety trip valve should be
cleaned.
18. How does the foreign-particle damage of
turbine blades arise?
Answer:
It occurs due to impact on blades by foreign particles
(debris) left in the system following outages and become
steam-borne later.
19. How does the internal efficiency
monitoring lead to the detection of turbine
deposits?
Answers:
1. Process heat drop.
2. Adiabatic heat drop.
3. The process heat drop and adiabatic heat drop
are obtained from a Mollier-Chart for the
corresponding values of steam parameters -
pressure and temperature - at initial and final
conditions.
20. How does this modification reduce the
vibration fatigue damage?
Answers:
1. Joining the blade segments together at the
shroud band increases the length of the arc-to a
maximum of 360 that alters the natural
frequency of the blade grouping from the
operating vibration mode.
2. This design has gained considerable success in
commercial service.
21. How is a flyball governor used with a
hydraulic control?
Answer:
As the turbine speeds up, the weights are moved outward
by centrifugal force, causing linkage to open a pilot valve
that admits and releases oil on either side of a piston or
on one side of a spring-loaded piston. The movement of
the piston controls the steam valves.
22. How is oil pressure maintained when
starting or stopping a medium-sized turbine?
Answer:
An auxiliary pump is provided to maintain oil pressure.
Some auxiliary pumps are turned by a hand crank; others
are motor-driven. This pump is used when the integral
pump is running too slowly to provide pressure, as when
starting or securing a medium-sized turbine.
23. How is pressure compounding
accomplished?
Answers:
1. This is accomplished by an arrangement with
alternate rows of nozzles and moving blades.
2. Steam enters the 1st row of nozzles where it
suffers a partial drop of pressure and in lieu of
that its velocity gets increased. The high velocity
steam passes on to the 1st row of moving blades
where its velocity is reduced.
3. The steam then passes into the 2nd row of
nozzles where its pressure is again partially
reduced and velocity is again increased. This
high velocity steam passes from the nozzles to
the 2nd row of blades where its velocity is again
reduced.
4. Thus pressure drop takes place in successive
stages. Since a partial pressure drop takes place
in each stage, the steam velocities will not be so
high with the effect that the turbine will run
slower.
24. How is pressure-velocity compounding
accomplished?
Answers:
1. It is a combination of pressure compounding and
velocity compounding.
2. Steam is expanded partially in a row of nozzles
whereupon its velocity gets increased. This high
velocity steam then enters a few rows of velocity
compounding whereupon its velocity gets
successively reduced.
3. The velocity of the steam is again increased in
the subsequent row of nozzles and then again it
is allowed to pass onto another set of velocity
compounding that brings about a stage-wise
reduction of velocity of the steam.
4. This system is continued.
25. How is the washing of turbine blades
carried out with the condensate?
Answers:
1. The washing is carried out with the condensate
at 100C.
2. The turbine is cooled or heated up to 100C and
filled with the condensate via a turbine drain.
3. The rotor is turned or barred by hand and the
condensate is drained after 2 to 4 hours.
4. It is then again filled with the condensate at
100C (but up to the rotor center-level), the
rotor is rotated and the condensate is drained
after sometime. This process is repeated several
times.
26. How is turbine blade washing with wet
steam carried out?
Answers:
1. Wet steam produced usually by injecting cold
condensate into the superheated steam, is
introduced to the turbine which is kept on
running at about 20% of nominal speed.
2. For backpressure turbine the exhaust steam is
let out into the open air through a gate valve.
For a condensing turbine, the vacuum pump is
kept out of service while cooling water is
running, with the effect that the entering cooling
steam is condensed. The condensate is drained
off.
3. The washing steam condition is gradually
adjusted to a final wetness of 0.9 to 0.95.
Note, it is important:
4. not to change washing steam temperature by
10C/min,
5. to keep all turbine cylinder drains open.
27. How is velocity compounding
accomplished?
Answers:
1. This is accomplished by an arrangement with
alternate rows of fixed blades and moving
blades. The mounted on the casing while the
moving blades are keyed in series on a common
shaft. The function of the fixed blades is to
correct the direction of entry of steam to the
next row of moving blades.
2. The high velocity steam leaving the nozzles
passes on to the 1st row of moving blades where
it suffers a partial velocity drop.
3. Its direction is then corrected by the next row of
fixed blades and then it enters the 2nd row of
moving blades. Here the steam velocity is again
partially reduced. Since only part of the velocity
of the steam is used up in each row of the
moving blades, a slower turbine results. This is
how velocity compounding works.
28. How many governors are needed for safe
turbine operation? Why?
Answer:
Two independent governors are needed for safe turbine
operation:
1. One is an overspeed or emergency trip that
shuts off the steam at 10 percent above running
speed (maximum speed).
2. The second, or main governor, usually controls
speed at a constant rate; however, many
applications have variable speed control.
29. How many types of particle-impact damage
occur in turbine blades?
Answers:
1. Erosion/corrosion.
2. Foreign-particle impacts.
3. Solid-particle erosion.
4. Water damage.
30. How to prevent turbine deposition?
Answers:
By upgrading the quality of steam. That is by ensuring
proper:
1. Boiler feedwater quality.
2. Steam boiler model.
3. Boiler design.
4. Boiler operation.
31. How will you detect that misalignment is
the probable cause of excessive vibration?
Answers:
1. Coupling to the driven machine is to be
disconnected.
2. The turbine is to be run alone.
3. If the turbine runs smoothly, either
misalignment, worn coupling or the driven
equipment is the cause of the trouble.
32. How would you slop a leaky tube in a
condenser that was contaminating the feed-
water?
Answer:
To stop a leaky tube from contaminating the feedwater,
shut down, remove the water-box covers, and fill the
steam space with water. By observing the tube ends you
can find the leaky tube. An alternate method is to put a
few pounds of air pressure in the steam space, flood the
water boxes to the top inspection plate, and observe any
air bubbles. Once you have found the leaky tube, drive a
tapered bronze plug (coated with white lead) into each
end of the tube to cut it out of service. This allows you to
use the condenser since the tubes need not be renewed
until about 10 percent of the tubes are plugged.
33. How would you stop air from leaking into a
condenser?
Answer:
First, find the leak by passing a flame over the suspected
part while the condenser is under vacuum. Leaks in the
flange joints or porous castings can be stopped with
asphalt paint or shellac. Tallow or heavy grease will stop
leaks around the valve stems. Small leaks around the
porous castings, flange nuts, or valve stems can always be
found by the flame test. So, you might have to put the
condenser under a few pounds of air pressure and apply
soapsuds to the suspected trouble parts.
34. In how many patterns are tie wires used?
Answers:
1. In one design, tie wire is passed through the
blade vane.
2. In another design, an integral stub is jointed by
welding/brazing.
35. In some weld-repair cases, it has been
found that the Stellite survived while the filler
material eroded away. Why?
Answers:
If Inconel is used as the filler material, it has the inferior
resistance to erosion in comparison to the Stellite insert.
So filler material erodes away underneath.
36. In steam turbines, is there any alternative
to the shrunk-on-disc design?
Answers:
Two designs are available at present:
1. Welded rotor in which each individual disc is
welded, instead of shrunk, onto the main shaft.
2. Monobloc rotor in which the entire shaft and
blade assembly is manufactured from a single
forging.
37. In which case does upgrading imply life
extension of steam turbines?
Answer:
For a capital-short electric utility plant, upgrading comes
to mean extending the life of that plant scheduled for
retirement.
38. In which cases does erosion corrosion
damage appear?
Answer:
It is commonly encountered in nuclear steam turbines and
old fossil-fuel-fired units that employ lower steam
temperatures and pressures.
39. In which cases does moisture-impingement
and washing erosion occur?
Answers:
1. These are encountered in the wet sections of the
steam turbine.
2. For nuclear power plants, these wet sections can
involve parts of high-pressure cylinder.
40. In which cases does upgrading mean up-
rating the turbine capacity?
Answer:
For an electric utility system facing uncertain load growth,
upgrading is chiefly up-rating. It is an inexpensive way to
add capacity in small increments.
41. In which part of the steam turbine does
corrosion fatigue occur?
Answer:
In the wet stages of the LP cylinder.
42. In which part of the steam turbine does
stress corrosion cracking (SCC) occur?
Answer:
In the wet stages of the low-pressure turbine.
43. In which section of the steam-turbine
rotors is the problem of rotor failure mostly
prevalent?
Answers:
Rotor failures occur mostly on the large low-pressure
rotors.
Basic causes of the problems are:
1. Normal wear.
2. Fatigue failure due to high stress.
3. Design deficiency.
4. Aggressive operating environment
44. In which turbine is this pressure
compounding used?
Answer:
In the Rateau turbine.
45. In which turbine is tip leakage a problem?
Answer:
Tip leakage is a problem in reaction turbines. Here, each
vane forms a nozzle; steam must how through the moving
nozzle to the fixed nozzle. Steam escaping across the tips
of the blades represents a loss of work. Therefore, tip
seals are used to prevent this.
46. In which turbine is velocity compounding
utilized?
Answer:
In the Curtis turbine.
47. In which turbines, is this pressure-velocity
compounding principle employed?
Answer:
In the Curtis turbine.
48. In which zone of steam turbines has
temperature-creep rupture been observed?
Answer:
Damage due to creep is encountered in high temperature
(exceeding 455C) zones. That is, it has been found to
occur in the control stages of the high-pressure and
intermediate-pressure turbines where steam temperature
sometimes exceed 540C. In the reheat stage, it has been
observed that creep has caused complete lifting of the
blade shroud bands.
49. Is there any adverse effect off full-arc
admission operation?
Answer:
At low loads, this results in a heat-rate penalty, due to
throttling over the admission valves.
50. Is there any alternative to the shrunk-on-
disc design?
Answers:
Two designs are available at present:
1. Welded rotor in which each individual discs are
welded, instead of shrunk, onto the main shaft.
2. Monobloc rotor in which the entire shaft and
blade assembly is manufactured from a single
forging.
51. Is there any factor other than corrodents
and erodents that contributes to turbine blade
failure?
Answers:
1. Turbine blade damage and failures can be
effected by vibration and fatigue.
a. These arise due to flow irregularities introduced
because of manufacturing defects, e.g. lack of
control over tolerances.
b. System operating parameter, e.g. low flow may
excite various modes of vibration in the blades.
1. Is there any other type of racking occurring in
HP/IP rotors and causing rotor failures?
Answers:
1. Blade-groove-wall cracking.
2. Rotor-surface cracking.
2. Of all the factors that contribute to the
unreliability of steam turbines, which one is
the most prominent?
Answer:
It is the problem of turbine blade failures that chiefly
contribute to the unreliability of steam turbines.
3. Rim cracking continues to be a problem of
shrunk-on-disc type rotors in utility steam
turbines. Where does it occur?
Answer:
Cracking has been located at the outer corners of tile
grooves where the blade root attaches to the rotor.
4. So can you recommend this technique as a
permanent measure?
Answer:
No, this can be recommended in extreme cases or at best
temporarily.
5. So what should be the more sound approach?
Answers:
1. The more reasonable and better approach is to
replace the damaged blades with new ones that
are stiffened by:
a. Serrating the interface surface of individual
blades so they interlock, or
b. Welding the blades together.
c. In some cases, a single monolithic block is
machined out to manufacture the blades in a
group.
d. In some other cases, blades themselves are
directly welded into the rotor.
1. Steam blowing from a turbine gland is
wasteful. Why else should it be avoided?
Answer:
It should be avoided because the steam usually blows into
the bearing, destroying the lube oil in the main bearing.
Steam blowing from a turbine gland also creates
condensate, causing undue moisture in plant equipment.
2. The consequences of turbine depositions have
three effects?
Answers:
1. Economic Effect:
a. Reduction in turbine output
b. Decrease in efficiency requiring higher steam
consumption.
1. Effect of Overloading and Decreasing Reliability
in Operation:
a. Pressure characteristic in the turbine gets
disturbed with the effect that thrust and
overloading of thrust bearing increase.
b. Blades are subjected to higher bending stresses.
c. Natural vibrations of the blading are affected.
d. Vibration due to uneven deposition on turbine
blading.
e. Valve jamming due to deposits on valve stems.
1. Corrosion Effect:
a. Fatigue corrosion.
b. Pitting corrosion.
c. Stress corrosion.
1. Usually it has been found that SCC attack
takes place particularly at keyways of shrunk-
on-disc rotors of low-pressure turbines. Why
are keyways prone to SCC attack?
Answers:
1. Keyways shrunk-fit each disc onto tile rotor
shaft. They improve the rigidity of the
connection between the disc and the central
shaft However, key ways are subjected to
abnormal centrifugal forces due to high
overspeed, that reduce the amount of shrink.
Tangential stresses tend to gravitate at the
keyway connection and steam tends to
condense.
2. It is a one-piece-construction, and thus has
inherent rigidity.
3. Advanced steel making techniques enable
building of monobloc rotors almost free from
non-metallic inclusions and gas bubbles. Even
large monobloc rotors of clean steel are being
manufactured today.
4. It exhibits lower inherent stresses.
5. The chance of disc loosening during operation is
eliminated.
6. Highly stressed keyway is eliminated.
2. What are four types of thrust bearings?
Answers:
1. babbitt-faced collar bearings
2. tilting pivotal pads
3. tapered land bearings
4. rolling-contact (roller or ball) bearings
3. What are four types of turbine seals?
Answer:
1. Carbon rings fitted in segments around the shaft
and held together by garter or retainer springs.
2. Labyrinths mated with shaft serrations or shaft
seal strips.
3. Water seals where a shaft runner acts as a pump
to create a ring of water around the shaft. Use
only treated water to avoid shaft pitting.
4. Stuffing box using woven or soft packing rings
that are compressed with a gland to prevent
leakage along the shaft.
4. What are some common troubles in surface-
condenser operation?
Answer:
The greatest headache to the operator is loss of vacuum
caused by air leaking into the surface condenser through
the joints or packing glands. Another trouble spot is
cooling water leaking into the steam space through the
ends of the tubes or through tiny holes in the tubes. The
tubes may also become plugged with mud, shells, debris,
slime, or algae, thus cutting down on the cooling-water
supply, or the tubes may get coated with lube oil from the
reciprocating machinery. Corrosion and dezincification of
the tube metal are common surface-condenser troubles.
Corrosion may be uniform, or it may occur in small holes
or pits. Dezincification changes the nature of the metal
and causes it to become brittle and weak.
5. What are the advantages of steam turbines
over reciprocating steam engines?
Answers:
1. Steam turbine has higher thermal efficiency than
reciprocating steam engines.
2. The brake horsepower of steam turbines can
range from a few HP to several hundred
thousand HP in single units. Hence they are
quite suitable for large thermal power stations.
3. Unlike reciprocating engines, the turbines do not
need any flywheel, as the power delivered by the
turbine is uniform.
4. Steam turbines are perfectly balanced and hence
present minimum vibrational problem.
5. High rpm l8000 - 24000 can be developed in
steam turbines but such a high speed generation
is not possible in the case of reciprocating steam
engines.
6. Some amount of input energy of steam is lost as
the reciprocating motion of the piston is
converted to circular motion.
7. Unlike reciprocating steam engines, no internal
lubrication is required for steam turbines due to
the absence of rubbing parts.
8. Steam turbines, if well designed and properly
maintained, are more reliable and durable prime
movers than steam engines.
6. What are the advantages of velocity
compounding?
Answers:
1. The velocity compounding system is easy to
operate and operation is more reliable.
2. Only two or three stages are required.
Therefore, first cost is less.
3. Since the total pressure drop takes place only in
nozzles and not in the blades, the turbine casing
need not be heavily built. Hence the economy in
material and money.
4. Less floor space is required.
7. What are the advantages of welded rotors?
Answers:
1. Welded rotor is a composed body built up by
welding the individual segments. So the
limitations on forgings capacity do not apply.
2. Welding discs together results in a lower stress
level. Therefore, more ductile materials can be
chosen to resist SCC attack.
3. There are no keyways. So regions of high stress
concentrations are eliminated.
8. What are the basic causes of the problem of
rotor failure?
Answers:
1. Normal wear.
2. Fatigue failure due to high stress.
3. Design deficiency.
4. Aggressive operating environment
9. What are the causes of radial axial-bore
cracks on HP/IP rotors/shafts?
Answers:
1. The predominant cause is creep, which may act
with or without low cycle fatigue.
2. Also the cracks result due to poor creep ductility
due to faulty heat treatment process.
10. What are the differences between impulse
and reaction turbines?
Answers:
1. The impulse turbine is characterized by the fact
that it requires nozzles and that the pressure
drop of steam takes place in the nozzles.
2. The reaction turbine, unlike the impulse turbines
has no nozzles, as such. It consists of a row of
blades mounted on a drum. The drum blades are
separated by rows of fixed blades mounted in
the turbine casing. These fixed blades serve as
nozzles as well as the means of correcting the
direction of steam onto the moving blades.
3. In the case of reaction turbines, the pressure
drop of steam takes place over the blades. This
pressure drop produces a reaction and hence
cause the motion of the rotor.
11. What are the disadvantages of velocity
compounding?
Answers:
1. Steam velocity is too high and that is responsible
for appreciable friction losses.
2. Blade efficiency decreases with the increase of
the number of stages.
3. With the increase of the number of rows, the
power developed in successive rows of blade
decreases. For as much as, the same space and
material are required for each stage, it means,
therefore, that all stages are not economically
efficient.
12. What are the factors that contribute to
bearing failure in a steam turbine?
Answers:
1. Improper lubrication.
Only the recommended lubricant should be used.
2. Inadequate water-cooling.
a. The jacket temperature should be maintained in
the range of 37-60C
b. The flow of cooling water should be adjusted
accordingly.
1. Misalignment.
It is desirable that ball bearings should fit on the
turbine shaft with a light press fit. If the fitting is
too tight, it will cause cramping. On the other
hand, if the fitting is too loose it will cause the
inner race to turn on the shaft. Both conditions
are undesirable. They result in wear, excessive
vibration and overheating. And bearing failure
becomes the ultimate result.
2. Bearing fit.
3. Excessive thrust.
4. Unbalance.
5. Rusting of bearing.
1. What are the losses in steam turbines?
Answers:
1. Residual Velocity Loss - This is equal to the
absolute velocity of the steam at the blade exit.
2. Loss due to Friction - Friction loss occurs in
the nozzles, turbine blades and between the
steam and rotating discs. This loss is about
10%.
3. Leakage Loss.
4. Loss due to Mechanical Friction - Accounts
for the loss due to friction between the shaft and
bearing.
5. Radiation Loss - Though this loss is negligible,
as turbine casings are insulated, it occurs due to
heat leakage from turbine to ambient air which
is at a much lower temperature than the turbine.
6. Loss due to Moisture - In the lower stages of
the turbine, the steam may become wet as the
velocity of water particles is lower than that of
steam. So a part of the kinetic energy of steam
is lost to drag the water particles along with it.
2. What are the main causes of turbine
vibration?
Answer:
1. unbalanced parts
2. poor alignment of parts
3. loose parts
4. rubbing parts
5. lubrication troubles
6. steam troubles
7. foundation troubles
8. cracked or excessively worn parts
3. What are the points of SCC attack?
Answers:
1. SCC attack predominates where corrodents
deposit and build up i.e. in those blading areas
where flowing steam cannot provide a washing
effect.
2. What are these points in particular?
a. Tie wires.
b. Tie wire holes.
c. Brazings.
d. Blade covers.
e. Tenon holes.
1. At what points does corrosion fatigue does show
up?
It attacks trailing edges, near the base of the foil and also the
blade-root serrations.
1. What are the possible causes for the turbine
not running at rated speed?
Answers:
1. The possible causes are:
a. too many hand valves closed,
b. oil relay governor set too low,
c. inlet steam pressure too low or exhaust pressure
too high,
d. load higher than turbine rating,
e. throttle valve not opening fully,
f. safety trip valve not opening properly,
g. nozzles plugged,
h. steam strainer choked.
1. What are the possible causes of a governor
not operating?
Answers:
1. Restriction of throttle valve reflex.
2. Failure of governor control on start-up.
If it is found that after start-up, the speed increases
continuously and the governor is not closing the throttle
valve, it may be that the governor pump has been
installed in the wrong direction.
2. What are the possible causes of excessive
vibration or noise in a steam turbine?
Answers:
1. Misalignment.
2. Worn bearings.
3. Worn coupling to driven machine.
4. Unbalanced coupling to driven machine.
5. Unbalanced wheel.
6. Piping strain.
7. Bent shaft.
3. What are the possible causes of the speed of
the turbine rotor increasing excessively as the
load is decreased?
Answers:
1. Throttle valve not closing fully.
2. Wearing of throttle valve seats.
4. What are the stresses to which a steam
turbine rotor is subjected during its service
life?
Answers:
1. Mechanical stress - The factors that contribute
to mechanical stress in the shaft are the
centrifugal forces and torques generated due to
revolving motion of the shaft as well as bending
arising during steady-state operation.
2. Thermal stress - Transient operating phases
i.e. startup and shutdown the genesis of thermal
stress induced to the turbine shaft.
3. Electrically induced stress - They originate
due to short circuits and faulty synchronization.
5. What are these points in particular?
Answers:
1. Tie wires.
2. Tie wire holes.
3. Brazings.
4. Blade covers.
5. Tenon holes.
6. What are three types of condensers?
Answer:
1. surface (shell-and-tube)
2. jet
3. barometric.
7. What are topping and superposed turbines?
Answer:
Topping and superposed turbines are high-pressure, non-
condensing units that can be added to an older,
moderate-pressure plant. Topping turbines receive high-
pressure steam from new high-pressure boilers. The
exhaust steam of the new turbine is at the same pressure
as the old boilers and is used to supply the old turbines.
8. What are two types of clearance in a turbine?
Answers:
1. radial - the clearance at the tips of the rotor and
casing
2. axial - the fore-and-aft clearance, at the sides of
the rotor and the casing
9. What design modification is adopted to reduce
susceptibility of last low-pressure stages to
fatigue failure?
Answer:
One modification is to join the blade segments together at
the shroud band.
10. What does "upgrading" generally means in
the context of steam turbines?
Answer:
Upgrading is a most widely used tern. It encompasses a
variety of meanings verses life extension, modernization
and up-rating of steam turbines.
11. What does the term "ramp rat" mean?
Answer:
Ramp rate is used in bringing a turbine up to operating
temperature and is the degrees Fahrenheit rise per hour
that metal surfaces are exposed to when bringing a
machine to rated conditions. Manufactures specify ramp
rates for their machines in order to avoid thermal
stresses. Thermocouples are used in measuring metal
temperatures.
12. What factors are responsible for turbine-
blade failures?
Answers:
1. In the high pressure cylinder, the turbine blades
are mostly affected by:
a. solid-particle erosion (SPE),
b. high cycle fatigue,
1. Whereas in the last few stages of the low-
pressure cylinder, the blade damage is mainly
afflicted by:
a. erosion,
b. corrosion,
c. stress/fatigue damage mechanism.
d. According to EPRI (Electric Power Research
Institute, USA) data stress-corrosion cracking
and fatigue are the chief exponents for turbine-
blade failures in utility industries.
1. What factors cause excessive steam leakage
under carbon rings?
Answers:
1. Dirt under rings. - steam borne scale or dirt foul
up the rings if steam is leaking under the carbon
rings.
2. Shaft scored.
3. Worn or broken carbon rings.
These should be replaced with a new set of carbon rings.
The complete ring is to be replaced.
2. What factors contribute to excessive speed
variation of the turbine?
Answers:
1. Improper governor droop adjustment.
2. Improper governor lubrication.
3. Throttle assembly friction.
4. Friction in stuffing box.
5. High inlet steam pressure and light load.
6. Rapidly varying load.
3. What is a balance piston?
Answer:
Reaction turbines have axial thrust because pressure on
the entering side is greater than pressure on the leaving
side of each stage. To counteract this force, steam is
admitted to a dummy (balance) piston chamber at the
low-pressure end of the rotor. Some designers also use a
balance piston on impulse turbines that have a high
thrust. Instead of pistons, seal strips are also used to
duplicate a piston's counter force.
4. What is a combination thrust and radial
bearing?
Answer:
This unit has the ends of the babbitt bearing extended
radially over the end of the shell. Collars on the rotor face
these thrust pads, and the journal is supported in the
bearing between the thrust collars.
5. What is a diaphragm (turbine)?
Answer:
Partitions between pressure stages in a turbine's casing
are called diaphragms. They hold the vane-shaped nozzles
and seals between the stages. Usually labyrinth-type seals
are used. One-half of the diaphragms are fitted into the
top of the casing, the other half into the bottom.
6. What is a multiport governor valve? Why is it
used?
Answer:
In large turbines, a valve controls steam flow to groups of
nozzles. The number of open valves controls the number
of nozzles in use according to the load. A bar-lift or cam
arrangement operated by the governor, opens and close
the valves in sequence. Such a device is a multiport valve.
Using nozzles at full steam pressure is more efficient than
throttling the steam.
7. What is a radial-flow turbine?
Answer:
In a radial-flow turbine, steam flows outward from the
shaft to the casing. The unit is usually a reaction unit,
having both fixed and moving blades. They are used for
special jobs and are more common to European
manufacturers.
8. What is a shrunk-on-disc rotor?
Answer:
These are built by heat expanding the discs, so that upon
cooling they shrink on the main rotor forging.
9. What is a stage in a steam turbine?
Answer:
In an impulse turbine, the stage is a set of moving blades
behind the nozzle. In a reaction turbine, each row of
blades is called a "stage." A single Curtis stage may
consist of two or more rows of moving blades.
10. What is a tapered-land thrust bearing?
Answer:
The babbitt face of a tapered-land thrust bearing has a
series of fixed pads divided by radial slots. The leading
edge of each sector is tapered, allowing an oil wedge to
build up and carry the thrust between the collar and pad.
11. What is an air ejector?
Answer:
An air ejector is a steam siphon that removes non-
condensable gases from the condenser.
12. What is an extraction turbine?
Answer:
In an extraction turbine, steam is withdrawn from one or
more stages, at one or more pressures, for heating, plant
process, or feedwater heater needs. They are often called
"bleeder turbines."
13. What is combined-cycle cogeneration?
Answer:
A combined cycle using a gas turbine or diesel, usually
driving a generator in which the exhaust gases are
directed to a waste heat-recovery boiler or heat-recovery
steam generator (HRSG). The steam from the HRSG is
then directed to a steam turbo-generator for additional
electric power production. The use of the exhaust heat
from a gas turbine improves the overall thermal efficiency.
In cogeneration, electric power is produced, but part of
the steam from the HRSG or from extraction from the
steam turbine is used for process heat, hence the term
cogeneration-the simultaneous production of electric
power and process heat steam.
14. What is done when cracks due to SCC or
corrosion-fatigue are found?
Answer:
The damaged blade is usually replaced, as repairing is
difficult.
15. What is gland-sealing steam?
Answer:
Low-pressure steam is led to a sealing gland. The steam
seals the gland, which may be a carbon ring or of the
labyrinth type, against air at the vacuum end of the shaft.
16. What is important to remember about
radial bearings?
Answer:
A turbine rotor is supported by two radial bearings, one on
each end of the steam cylinder. These bearings must be
accurately aligned to maintain the close clearances
between the shaft and the shaft seals, and between the
rotor and the casing. lf excessive bearing wear lowers the
rotor, great harm can be done to the turbine.
17. What is meant by critical speed?
Answer:
It is the speed at, which the machine vibrates most
violently. It is due to many causes, such as imbalance or
harmonic vibrations set up by the entire machine. To
minimize damage, the turbine should be hurried through
the known critical speed as rapidly as possible.
Caution: Be sure the vibration is caused by critical speed
and not by some other trouble.
18. What is meant by the water rate of a
turbine?
Answer:
It is the amount of water (steam) used by the turbine in
pounds per horsepower per hour or kilowatts per hour.
19. What is the cause of axial-bore cracks?
Answer:
Inadequate toughness of rotor steel and transient thermal
stresses.
20. What is the cause of circumferential
cracking?
Answer:
High cycle fatigue with or without corrosion.
21. What is the cause of turbine deposits?
Answers:
The turbine deposits are steam-born foreign matters
settled on turbine blades. Substances dissolved in the
BFW transfer partly from the water to steam, during the
process of evaporation. They get dissolved in the steam
and are carried into the steam turbine.
22. What is the definition of a steam turbine?
Answers:
A steam turbine is a prime mover that derives its energy
of rotation due to conversion of the heat energy of steam
into kinetic energy as it expands through a series of
nozzles mounted on the casing or produced by the fixed
blades.
1. Neilson defines it: The turbine is a machine in
which a rotary motion is obtained by the gradual
change of the momentum of the fluid.
2. Graham's definition: The turbine is a prime
mover in which a rotary motion is obtained by
the centrifugal force brought into action by
changing the direction of a jet of a fluid (steam)
escaping from the nozzle at high velocity.
23. What is the difference between partial and
full arc admission?
Answer:
In multi-valve turbine inlets, partial arc admission allows
the steam to enter per valve opening in a sequential
manner, so as load is increased, more valves open to
admit steam. This can cause uneven heating on the high-
pressure annulus as the valves are individually opened
with load increase. In full-arc admission, all regulating
valves open but only at a percentage of their full opening.
With load increase, they all open more fully. This provides
more uniform heating around the high-pressure part of
the turbine. Most modern controls start with full-arc and
switch to partial arc to reduce throttling losses through the
valves.
24. What is the essential distinguishing feature
between a steam turbine and reciprocating
steam engine?
Answers:
1. In a steam turbine, the heat energy of steam is
converted into kinetic energy by allowing it to
expand through a series of nozzles and this
kinetic energy of steam is then imparted to the
turbine blades mounted on a shaft free to rotate
to drive this prime mover.
2. In a reciprocating steam engine, the pressure
energy of steam is directly utilized to overcome
the external resistance. Here, the utilization of
the KE of input steam is negligibly small.
25. What is the function of a gland drain?
Answer:
The function of a gland drain is to draw off water from
sealing-gland cavities created by the condensation of the
sealing steam. Drains are led to either the condenser air-
ejector tube nest or the feedwater heaters. Often, gland
drains are led to a low-pressure stage of the turbine to
extract more work from the gland-sealing steam.
26. What is the function of a thrust bearing?
Answer:
Thrust bearings keep the rotor in its correct axial position.
27. What is the harm if the rotor is oversped?
Answer:
Overspeed rotor grows radially causing heavy rub in the
casing and the seal system. As a result, considerable
amount of shroud-band and tenon-rivet head damage
occurs.
28. What is the nature of circumferential
cracking in shrunk-on-disc rotors in steam
turbines?
Answer:
Regions of high stress concentration give birth to this type
of cracking. It begins in corrosion pits and propagates
towards the bore by high-cycle fatigue. It may culminate
in a catastrophe, if it penetrates the bore (happily this
usually does not occur).
29. What is the nature of rotor surface cracks
in steam turbines?
Answer:
They are shallow in depth and have been located in heat
grooves and other small radii at labyrinth-seal areas along
the rotor.
30. What is the operating principle of a
reaction turbine?
Answer:
A reaction turbine utilizes a jet of steam that flows from a
nozzle on the rotor. Actually, the steam is directed into
the moving blades by fixed blades designed to expand the
steam. The result is a small increase in velocity over that
of the moving blades. These blades form a wall of moving
nozzles that further expand the steam. The steam flow is
partially reversed by the moving blades, producing a
reaction on the blades. Since the pressure drop is small
across each row of nozzles (blades), the speed is
comparatively low. Therefore, more rows of moving blades
are needed than in an impulse turbine.
31. What is the possible cause of slow start up
of a steam turbine?
Answer:
This may be due to high starting torque required by the
driven equipment.
32. What is the potential problem of shrunk-
on-disc type rotor?
Answers:
1. It is the failure due to circumferential cracks,
which are not limited to old rotors of early
models (1960), but they also take place on
present-day rotors.
2. As a result corrodent impurities like chlorides
concentrate at key ways. This factor coupled
with high stress concentration lead to SCC attack
on keyway areas.
33. What is the principle of a steam turbine?
Answers:
1. If high-velocity steam is allowed to blow on to a
curved blade, the steam will suffer a change in
direction as it passes across the blade, and
leaves it as shown.
2. As a result of its change in direction across the
blade, the steam will impart a force to the blade.
This force will act in the direction shown.
3. Now if the blade were free in the direction of
force as depicted. if, therefore, a number of
blades were fixed on the circumference of a disc
which is free to rotate on a shaft, then steam
blown across the blades in the way described,
would cause the disc to rotate. This is the
working principle of a steam turbine.
34. What is the purpose of a turning gear?
Answer:
Heat must be prevented from warping the rotors of large
turbines or high-temperature turbines of 400C or more.
When the turbine is being shut down, a motor-driven
turning gear is engaged to the turbine to rotate the
spindle and allow uniform cooling.
35. What is the remedy for a bent steam
turbine shaft causing excessive vibration?
Answers:
1. The run-out of the shaft near the center as well
as the shaft extension should be checked.
2. If the run-out is excessive, the shaft is to be
replaced.
36. What is the remedy for rotor-surface
cracking?
Answer:
Current rotor/shaft should be machined off (skin-peeling).
37. What is the remedy of the damage to blade
profiles?
Answers:
1. Upgrading the turbine and depending on the
extent of damage, upgrading may involve:
a. weld repair of affected zones of the blade,
b. replacement of damaged blades by new ones
and of new design,
c. replacement of base material,
d. application of protective coatings to guard
against corrosion and erosion damage.
1. What are the remedies to this failure?
Answers:
2. For existing rotor, weld repair may be a choice;
otherwise retire it.
3. For new rotors, materials with improved pitting
resistance should be used.
1. What is the safe maximum tripping speed of a
turbine operating at 2500 rpm?
Answer:
The rule is to trip at 10 percent overspeed. Therefore,
2500 x 1.10 = 2750 rpm.
2. What is the solution to the problem of
SCC/corrosion fatigue of steam turbine
blades?
Answer:
It involves changing the blade material as well as
minimizing the presence of corrodents in steam to a
permissible level.
3. What is to be done for erosion-induced
damage on high-and low-pressure stage
blading?
Answers:
1. In such cases welding repair can be a good
solution and this can be carried out during a
normal maintenance outage without removing
the blade. Using oxyacetylene torch, Stellite is
generally deposited onto the damaged site.
Following this, the weld is subjected to stress-
relieving and re-profiling.
2. In case of erosion penetrating the erosion shield
and extending to the base material, a filler
material of consistent or identical composition of
blade material is used.
3. In some cases use is made of Inconel alloy to
build up the metal base. Therefore, using
welding or brazing technique, a new shield can
be attached to the blade. If brazing technique is
followed, the rebuilt section is stress-relieved
prior to the attachment of shield to it. If, on the
other hand, the shield is attached by welding,
then they are stress-relieved together.
4. What is to be done in case of cracks
originating at the lacing-wire holes?
Answers:
1. These are to be weld-repaired. However the
following factors must be considered:
a. The length of the crack that appears on the
pressure and/or suction face.
b. Whether the cracks propagate towards inlet end,
discharge end and or both.
1. What maybe the possible causes for the safety
trip to trip at normal speed?
Answers:
1. Excessive vibration.
2. Leakage in the pilot valve.
3. Deposition of dirt in the safety trip valve.
2. What maybe the possible causes for the safety
trip tripping during load variation?
Answers:
1. Light load and high inlet steam pressure.
2. Safety trip set very close to the operating speed
of turbine.
3. What other parts of the steam turbine blades
suffer from damage?
Answers:
1. Blade roots.
2. Shroud band.
4. What provisions in the layout of a combined-
cycle should be considered?
Answer:
It is important to consider the use of a bypass stack that
will permit operating the gas turbo-generator in case of a
forced outage on the HRSG or steam turbo-generator.
However, in certain states, such as California, also to be
considered are NO limits that require steam injection and
loading to limit the exhaust temperature coming out of the
simple-cycle gas turbine so that they do not exceed
jurisdictional limits.
5. What remedial measures you can suggest to
cope with radial axial-bore cracks?
Answer:
For new rotors, modified heat treatment process is
recommended while for existing rotors de-rating the
turbine or replacement of the rotor may be a solution.
6. What should be done if excessive vibration is
due to an unbalanced turbine wheel?
Answers:
1. The turbine wheel is to be checked if it became
unbalanced due to overspeeding.
2. The turbine wheel must be re-balanced or
replaced.
3. What should be the remedial action?
Answers:
4. For new rotors, control cleanliness of the steel.
5. i.e. inclusion and segregates free and more
homogeneous steel shaft is required.
6. For current rotors, replace the rotor, grind and
overbore.
7. What should be the remedial actions for
blade-groove-wall cracking?
Answers:
1. Modified heat treatment of new rotors is a sound
and lasting remedy.
2. For current rotors, cracks should be machined
off and lighter blades should be installed. Better,
retire the cracked shaft.
8. What should you do if you lost vacuum while
operating a condensing turbine plant?
Answer:
If vacuum is lost shut down immediately. The condenser
cannot stand steam pressure; the condenser tubes may
leak from excessive temperature. Excessive pressure will
also damage the shell, the exhaust, and the low-pressure
parts of the turbine.
9. What steps are taken to minimize damage
from moisture on steam turbine blades?
Answers:
The following measures are employed at the design
stage:
1. Stellite inserts.
2. Hardening of the base metal.
3. Moisture-removal devices to combat
impingement corrosion due to moisture.
10. What steps are taken to minimize damage
from moisture?
Answers:
1. Stellite inserts.
2. Hardening of the base metal.
3. Moisture-removal devices to combat
impingement corrosion due to moisture.
11. What steps/modifications should be
implemented to curtail the damage from
moisture impingement on steam turbine
blades?
Answers:
1. The drainage system should be redesigned.
Larger drains are to be provided.
2. More effective water-catchers are to be in-
stalled.
3. Radial seals are to be eliminated to remove
water before it can chance upon the blades.
4. Nozzle trailing edges are to be thinned to
promote the formation of smaller and less
harmful droplets.
12. What steps/modifications should be
implemented to curtail the damage from
moisture impingement?
Answers:
1. The drainage system should be redesigned.
Larger drains are to be provided.
2. More effective water-catchers are to be in-
stalled.
3. Radial seals are to be eliminated to remove
water before it can chance upon the blades.
4. Nozzle trailing edges are to be thinned to
promote the formation of smaller and less
harmful droplets.
13. What type of deposits are formed on steam
turbine blading?
Answers:
1. Water-soluble deposits.
a.
NaCl, Na
2
SO
4
, NaOH and Na
3
PO
4
1. Water-insoluble deposits.
a. SiO
2
(mainly).
1. What types of cracking occur in the LP rotor
shaft?
Answers:
1. Radial axial-bore cracks.
2. Circumferential cracks.
2. When "stall flutter" occurs?
Answers:
This problem is encountered when operating limits are
exceeded i.e., when turbine exhaust pressure exceeds the
value what the manufacturer has recommended. Stall
flutter induces stress in the blades
3. When does SPE damage usually occur on
steam turbine blades?
Answer:
It occurs usually during startup or abrupt load change.
4. When does SPE damage usually occur?
Answer:
It occurs usually during startup or abrupt load change.
5. When does upgrading mean modernization of
utility industry?
Answer:
Upgrading is really modernization to all those units other
than those facing uncertain load growth and low-capital
utility system. It involves replacement of damaged
parts/components by state-of-the-art components without
scrapping the entire machine.
6. Where are velocity compounded steam
turbines mostly employed?
Answers:
1. They are chiefly used as the prime mover for:
a. Centrifugal pumps.
b. Centrifugal compressors.
c. Low capacity turbo-generators.
d. Feed pumps of high capacity power plants.
1. Where do water-soluble deposits prevail?
Answer:
In the high-and intermediate-pressure sections of steam
turbines.
2. Where is pitting corrosion mostly prevalent?
Answer:
Upstream of LP stages as well as wet stages of LP
cylinder.
3. Where would you look for a fault if the air
ejector did not raise enough vacuum?
Answer:
In this case, the trouble is usually in the nozzle. You will
probably find that:
1. the nozzle is eroded
2. the strainer protecting the nozzle is clogged
3. the steam pressure to the nozzle is too low
4. Which factors affect the extent of an
upgrading program?
Answers:
1. Age of the unit.
2. How it has been operated.
Note: Turbines less than quarter of a century old can
simply be upgraded to their original design conditions.
5. Why are free-standing blades in the last low-
pressure stage favored more, in some cases,
than those that are coupled and shrouded
together?
Answers:
1. These free-standing blades are known to provide
good and adequate protection against stresses
and aggressive environment.
2. They eliminate all areas viz. shroud/tenon
interface and tie-wire/hole area where
corrodents can collect
6. Why are simple impulse turbines not so
common?
Answers:
1. Since the whole pressure drop from boiler to
condenser pressure takes place in a single row
of nozzles, the velocity of the steam entering the
turbine is very high. If some of this velocity is
used up in a single row of turbine blading, as in
the de Laval turbine, the speed of the rotation of
the wheel will be too high to be blades are be
useful for practical purposes, as there is the
danger of structural failures due to excessive
centrifugal stresses.
2. Steam exits from the turbine with a sufficiently
high velocity, meaning a considerable loss of
kinetic energy.
7. Why are some groups of steam turbine blades,
particularly the first or control stages more
prone to fatigue failures than others?
Answer:
Blades in the first or control stages are under partial-arc
admission that forces the blades to move into and out of
the steam flow causing alternating high-and low-impact
forces. This periodic change of impact forces imparts
fatigue stress that makes such groups of blades
susceptible to fatigue failure.
8. Why could a turbine wheel become
unbalanced?
Answer:
If the turbine is kept idle for a long spell without complete
drainage of exhaust casing, the solid matter can deposit in
the lower half of the wheel causing unbalance.
9. Why do blade roots suffer from damage?
Answers:
1. Fatigue is the common cause to the effect of
blade root damage. Also a generic type of fault
often assists this factor in design or
manufacturer.
2. Moreover, the root-fillet radii are subjected to a
high degree of stress concentration with the
effect that they crack relatively easily.
10. Why do electrically induced stresses occur
in steam turbine rotors occur?
Answer:
They originate due to short circuits and faulty
synchronization.
11. Why do shroud bands suffer from damage?
Answer:
Steam borne solid particles and moisture strike the shroud
band continually and in that process they remove material
from rivet heads until the rivet becomes too weak to
exercise its clamping effect whereupon it fails to hold the
band in place.
12. Why do thermal stress occur in the steam
turbine rotors?
Answer:
Transient operating phases i.e. startup and shutdown the
genesis of thermal stress induced to the turbine shaft.
13. Why do these two types of cracking take
place?
Answers:
1. The cause to the effect of blade-groove-wall
cracking is creep with or without low cycle
fatigue.
2. Faulty heat treatment procedure results in poor
creep ductility that may also contribute to this
type of faults.
3. Whereas thermal fatigue have been identified as
the single cause to rotor-surface cracking.
14. Why does mechanical stress occur in
turbine rotors?
Answer:
The factors that contribute to mechanical stress in the
shaft are the centrifugal forces and torques generated
due to revolving motion of the shaft as well as bending
arising during steady-state operation.
15. Why does SCC occur at the intermediate
pressure stage in the steam turbine?
Answer:
Steam turbines of nuclear power plants usually operate on
wetter steam, than those of thermal power plants. So
even at the intermediate pressure stage, steam becomes
wet and it precipitates the impurities i.e. corrodents
dissolved in it These corrodents deposit and build up on
rotor shaft causing stress-corrosion-cracking.
16. Why is it poor practice to allow turbine oil
to become too cool?
Answer:
If the turbine oil is allowed to become too cool,
condensation of atmospheric moisture takes place in the
oil and starts rust on the polished surfaces of the journals
and bearings. Condensed moisture may also interfere with
lubrication.
17. Why is there a relief valve on a turbine
casing?
Answer:
The turbine casing is fitted with spring-loaded relief valves
to prevent damage by excessive steam pressure at the
low-pressure end if the exhaust valve is closed
accidentally. Some casings on smaller turbines are fitted
with a sentinel valve, which serves only to warn the
operator of overpressure on the exhaust end. A spring-
loaded relief valve is needed to relieve high pressure.
18. Why must condensate be subjected to
salinity tests where brackish cooling water is
used?
Answer:
Condensate may leak from the cooling-water side to the
steam side of the condenser and contaminate the
feedwater, thus causing scale to form in the boilers. Or
brackish cooling water may leak into the steam space
from cracked or porous lubes or from around the joints at
the end of the tube ends, etc. By taking salinity readings
of the condensate, leaks may be found before they can do
any harm.
19. Why must steam turbines be warmed up
gradually?
Answer:
Although it is probable that a turbine can, if its shaft is
straight, be started from a cold condition without warming
up, such operation does not contribute to continued
successful operation of the unit. The temperature strains
set up in the casings and rotors by such rapid heating
have a harmful effect. The turbine, in larger units
especially, should be warmed slowly by recommended
warm-up ramp rates because of close clearances.
20. Why were cracks at the bore common for
high-pressure and intermediate-pressure
rotors of the early sixties in steam turbines?
Answers:
1. These rotors were manufactured from forgings
which were not "clean" steel and that's why
cracks were initiated at the sites of inclusions,
and
2. Segregation bands in the steel. This coupled with
low inherent toughness of rotor materials
resulted in bore cracks.

STEAM TURBINES AUXILLARIES:
1. Where is an evaporative condenser used in
practice?
Answer:
In those cases where the shortage of cooling water is
acute.
2. What should be the basic criteria for an
efficient steam condenser?
Answers:
1. Maximum amount of steam condensed per unit
area of available heat transfer surface.
2. Minimum quantity of circulating coolant required.
3. Minimum heat transfer surface required per kW
capacity
4. Minimum power drawn by the auxiliaries.
3. Why must a vacuum be maintained in the
steam condenser?
Answers:
1. By maintaining a vacuum in the steam
condenser, the efficiency of the steam-power
plant can be increased as greater the vacuum in
the system, greater will be the enthalpy drop of
steam. Therefore, more work will be available
per kg of steam condensing.
2. Secondly, the non-condensate (air) can be
removed from the condensate-steam circuit by
pulling and maintaining a vacuum in the steam
side. Therefore, the condensate can be used as
boiler feed.
4. What are the limitations of a surface
condenser?
Answers:
1. It is very bulky and as such requires more floor
space.
2. Its manufacturing, running and maintenance
costs are high.
5. What should be the requirements of an ideal
surface condenser used for steam power
plants?
Answers:
1. Uniform distribution of exhaust steam
throughout the heat transfer surface of the
condenser.
2. Absence of condensate subcooling.
3. There should not be any leakage of air into the
condenser.
4. There should not be any tube leakage.
5. The heat transfer surface in contact with cooling
water must be free from any deposit as scaling
reduces the efficiency of heat exchangers.
6. What do you mean by vacuum?
Answer:
Vacuum means any pressure below atmospheric pressure.
7. How is vacuum in a condenser usually
measured?
Answer:
It is measured by means of a Bourdon pressure gauge,
which is calibrated to read the pressure in mm of mercury
below atmospheric pressure.
8. On what factors does the degree of vacuum in
a condenser depend?
Answers:
It depends on the partial pressure of steam and the partial
pressure of air in the condenser.
9. What is the vacuum efficiency of a condenser?
Answers:
It is the ratio of the actual vacuum at the steam inlet to
the maximum obtainable vacuum in a perfect condensing
plant, i.e., it is the ratio of actual vacuum to ideal vacuum.
10. What are the effects of air leakage in the
condenser?
Answers:
1. It increases the back pressure on the turbine
with the effect that there is less heat drop and
low thermal efficiency of the plant
2. The pressure of air in the condenser lowers the
partial pressure of steam, which means steam,
will condense at a lower temperature and that
will require greater amount of cooling water.
3. It reduces the rate of condensation of steam,
because air having poor thermal conductivity
impairs the overall heat transfer from the steam-
air mixture.
11. What is a steam condenser?
Answers:
1. It is a heat exchanger wherein steam is
condensed either in direct contact with cooling
water or indirect contact with cooling water
through a heat transfer medium separating
them.
2. That is, a steam condenser is either a direct
contact or indirect contact heat exchanger.
12. How many types of steam condensers are
known?
Answers:
1. Jet Condensers - direct contact heat
exchanger.
2. Surface Condensers - indirect contact heat
exchanger.
13. What is a surface condenser?
Answer:
It is a shell-and-tube heat exchanger in which steam is
condensed on the shell-side while cooling water flows
through the tubes. The condensate and cooling water
leave the system separately.
14. How does the down-flow type surface
condenser act?
Answer:
Exhaust steam is admitted to the top of the condenser,
which is a tube-and-shell type crossflow heat exchanger.
Cooling water flows through the tubes and extracts heat
from the steam, which is on the shell-side. Mter having
been condensed on the surface of the water tubes, steam
is converted into condensate which is discharged from the
condenser bottom.
15. How does the central flow type surface
condenser work?
Answer:
It is also a shell-and-tube type crossflow heat exchanger
at the center of which is located the suction of an air
extraction pump, so that the entire steam moves radially
inward and comes in better contact with the outer surface
of the nest of tubes through which the cooling water flows.
The steam condensate is extracted from the bottom by
the condensate-extraction pump.
16. How does the inverted type surface
condenser work?
Answer:
In this type of condenser, steam is admitted at the bottom
and flows upwards in cross-flow with the cooling water
flowing in the tubes. The air extraction pump draws its
suction from the top of the condenser, maintaining a
steady upward current of steam, which after having been
condensed on the outer surface of water tubes is removed
by the condensate extraction pump.
17. How does the evaporative condenser
function?
Answer:
Exhaust steam from the turbine is condensed inside the
finned tubes as cooling water rains down from the top
through the nozzles. A part of the cooling water in contact
with the tube surface evaporates by drawing enthalpy
from the steam, which upon losing its latent heat
condenses and discharges out as condensate.
18. What are the primary functions of a
condenser?
Answers:
There are two important functions of a condenser:
1. It reduces the back pressure upon the turbine by
a considerable degree and therefore, the work
done per kg of steam during expansion is
increased
2. The exhaust steam condensate can be recycled
as boiler feedwater
19. Why else is steam from an HRSG used?
Answer:
For steam injection into the gas turbine for NO
x
control.
20. What gas is used in the SCR method of
controlling NO
x
?
Answer:
Air-diluted ammonia vapor is injected into the flue gas
stream before it enters the catalyst units consisting of
honeycomb-shaped ceramic material. These cells, with the
ammonia vapor, convert nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and
water vapor for discharge into the atmosphere.
21. What is a steam condenser?
Answers:
1. It is a heat exchanger wherein steam is
condensed either in direct contact with cooling
water or indirect contact with cooling water
through a heat transfer medium separating
them.
2. That is, a steam condenser is either a direct
contact or indirect contact heat exchanger.
22. How many types of steam condenser are
known?
Answers:
1. Jet Condensers - direct contact heat
exchanger.
2. Surface Condensers - indirect contact heat
exchanger using water.
3. Air Condensers - direct contact heat
exchangers using air.
23. What is a jet condenser?
Answers:
1. It is a direct contact heat exchanger in which
steam to be condensed comes into direct contact
with the cooling water (cold condensate) which
is usually introduced in the form of a spray from
a jet.
2. Upon contact with the cooling water, the steam
gives up its enthalpy and gets cooled and
ultimately settles as condensate.
24. What is a surface condenser?
Answer:
It is a shell-and-tube heat exchanger in which steam is
condensed on the shell-side while cooling water flows
through the tubes. The condensate and cooling water
leave the system separately.
25. How many types of jet condensers are
known?
Answers:
1. Parallel flow jet type condenser - It is a kind
of jet condenser in which both exhaust steam
and cooling water enter the condenser at the
top, both flow downward and the steam
condensate discharges out from the bottom of
the condenser.
2. Contra flow type jet condenser - The cooling
fluid (cold condensate) and exhaust steam flow
in a counter-current direction - steam goes up
and cold condensate rains down.

3. Ejector type jet condenser - It is one kind of
jet condenser in which the mixing of cooling
water and steam takes place in a series of
combining cones and the kinetic energy of the
steam is expended to drain off the condensate
and cooling water from the condenser. Cooling
water is forced through a series of cones and
gets mixed with steam coming through ports. As
the cooling water flows through the series of
nozzles, it suffers more and more pressure drop
and at the same time its velocity gradually
increases. Due to this pressure drop, more and
more steam is drawn through the ports, gets
intimately mixed with the cooling water jet and
condenses thereafter.
26. What is the principle of operation of a high-
level-parallel-flow jet condenser?
Answer:
This condenser, also called barometric condenser,
works as follows - The condenser is mounted on a long
pipe (at least 10.34 m) called barometric leg which acts in
a way identical to a barometer. Now if water is used in a
barometer then the barometric height would be 10.34 m.
If some vacuum exists in the condenser, the height of
water column (h) will be less than 10.34 in. Now it is
possible, by using this condenser leg, to drain away the
condensate from the condenser.
27. How many types of surface condensers are
known?
Answers:
1. Down flow type - Exhaust steam is admitted to
the top of the condenser, which is a tube-and-
shell type cross flow heat exchanger. Cooling
water flows through the tubes and extracts heat
from the steam which is on the shell-side. After
having been condensed on the surface of the
water tubes, steam is converted into
condensate, which is discharged from the
condenser bottom.
2. Central flow type - It is also a shell-and-tube
type cross flow heat exchanger at the center of
which is located the suction of an air extraction
pump so that the entire steam moves radially
inward and comes in better contact with the
outer surface of the nest of tubes through which
the cooling water flows. The steam condensate is
extracted from the bottom by the condensate-
extraction pump.
3. Inverted flow type - In this type of condenser,
steam is admitted at the bottom and flows
upwards in cross-flow with the cooling water
flowing in the tubes. The air extraction pump
draws its suction from the top of the condenser,
maintaining a steady upward current of steam,
which after having been condensed on the outer
surface of water tubes is removed by the
condensate extraction pump.
4. Evaporative condenser type - Exhaust steam
from the turbine is condensed inside the finned
tubes as cooling water rains down from the top
through the nozzles. A part of the cooling water
in contact with the tube surface evaporates by
drawing enthalpy from the steam, which upon
losing its latent heat condenses and discharges
out as condensate.
28. Where is the evaporative condenser used
in practice?
Answers:
In those cases where the shortage of cooling water is
acute.
29. What are the two prime functions of a
condenser?
Answers:
1. It reduces the backpressure upon the turbine by
a considerable degree and therefore, the work
done per kg of steam during expansion is
increased.
2. The exhaust steam condensate can be recycled
as boiler feedwater.
30. What are the auxiliary equipment required
for operating a steam condenser?
Answers:
1. Cooling water (which may be cold condensate)
circulation pump. Generally, it is a centrifugal
one.
2. Arrangement for cooling the condensate (i.e., a
heat exchanger) in case the condensate is
recycled to extract heat from the exhaust steam.
3. An air pump or steam ejector to remove air and
other non-condensing gases from the condenser.
4. An extraction pump (usually centrifugal) to
remove the condensate from the condenser.
31. What should be the basic criteria for an
efficient steam condenser?
Answer:
1. Maximum amount of steam condensed per unit
area of available heat transfer surface.
2. Minimum quantity of circulating coolant required.
3. Minimum heat transfer surface required per kW
capacity.
4. Minimum power drawn by the auxiliaries.
32. Why is vacuum maintained in the steam
condenser?
Answers:
1. By maintaining a vacuum in the steam
condenser, the efficiency of the steam-power
plant can be increased as greater the vacuum in
the system, greater will be the enthalpy drop of
steam. Therefore, more work will be available
per kg of steam condensing.
2. Secondly, the non-condensate (air) can be
removed from the condensate-steam circuit by
pulling and maintaining a vacuum in the steam
side. Therefore, the condensate can be used as
boiler feed.
33. What are the advantages of a jet condenser
over a surface condenser?
Answers:
1. Simplicity in design.
2. Lower in manufacturing cost.
3. Lower maintenance cost.
4. Occupies lesser floor space.
5. Requires lesser amount of cooling water.
34. What are the advantages of a surface
condenser over a jet condenser?
Answers:
1. It imparts to power generation plant a higher
thermal efficiency.
2. The condensate can be reused as boiler
feedwater.
3. Auxiliary power requirement is less than that of
a jet condenser.
4. Less amount of air is carried to the boiler.
35. What are the limitations of a surface
condenser?
Answers:
1. It is very bulky and as such requires more floor
space.
2. Its manufacturing, running and maintenance
costs are high.
36. What should be the requirements of an
ideal surface condenser used for steam power
plants?
Answers:
1. Uniform distribution of exhaust steam
throughout the heat transfer surface of the
condenser.
2. Absence of condensate subcooling.
3. There should not be any leakage of air into the
condenser.
4. There should not be any tube leakage.
5. The heat transfer surface in contact with cooling
water must be free from any deposit as scaling
reduces the efficiency of heat exchangers.
37. What do you mean by vacuum?
Answer:
Vacuum means any pressure below atmospheric pressure.
38. How is vacuum in a condenser usually
measured?
Answers:
It is measured by means of a Bourdon pressure gauge,
which is calibrated to read the pressure in mm of mercury
below atmospheric pressure.
39. If the gauge pressure of a condenser is 630
mm of Hg, what will be the absolute pressure
in the condenser?
Answer:
It means the pressure in the condenser is 630 mm below
atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure is 760
mm of Hg, the absolute pressure in the condenser.
40. On what factors does the degree of vacuum
in a condenser depend?
Answer:
It depends on the partial pressure of steam and the partial
pressure of air in the condenser.
41. How could air enter the condenser?
Answers:
1. With the boiler feedwater as dissolved gases.
2. Flange leakage.
3. Cooling water (for jet condenser) containing a
certain amount of dissolved air in it.
42. What are the effects of air leakage in the
condenser?
Answers:
1. It increases the backpressure on the turbine with
the effect that there is less heat drop and low
thermal efficiency of the plant.
2. The pressure of air in the condenser lowers the
partial pressure of steam, which means steam,
will condense at a lower temperature and that
will require greater amount of cooling water.
3. It reduces the rate of condensation of steam,
because air having poor thermal conductivity
impairs the overall heat transfer from the steam-
air mixture.
43. What basic governor troubles are apt to
occur?
Answers:
1. Hunting-alternate speeding and slowing of the
engine, which means that the governor is too
sensitive to load changes.
2. Sticking-failure to control speed, allowing the
engine to run away or slow down-which means
that the governor is not sensitive to load
changes or parts are binding or worn.
44. What is a governor safety stop?
Answers:
On throttling-type governors, the safety stop is a weighted
arm that needs the support of a governor belt. If the belt
breaks, the idler arm drops and shuts the steam supply
valve to the engine. On Corliss units, the flyballs fall to the
lowest position and knock off the safety cams; the cams
disengage the catch blocks on the steam intake valves so
that no steam is admitted to the engine.
45. Why is condensation or excessive
carryover dangerous to reciprocating engines?
Answer:
Because water is non-compressible. If an excessive
amount of water gets into the cylinder, it will wreck the
engine.
46. Why should a steam or moisture separator
be installed in the steam line next to a steam
turbine?
Answer:
All multistage turbines, low-pressure turbines, and
turbines operating at high pressure with saturated steam
should have a moisture separator in order to prevent rapid
blade wear from water erosion.
47. Under what conditions may a relief valve
not be required on the exhaust end of a
turbine?
Answer:
If the manufacturer has provided that the turbine shells
are constructed for full-inlet steam pressure for the entire
length of the shell. It is absolutely essential to have a
relief valve to protect the shell in the event an exhaust
valve is closed and high-pressure steam is admitted to the
shell on the front end of the machine. Explosions have
occurred when this happened.
48. What are some conditions that may
prevent a turbine from developing full power?
Answers:
1. The machine is overloaded.
2. The initial steam pressure and temperature are
not up to design conditions.
3. The exhaust pressure is too high.
4. The governor is set too low.
5. The steam strainer is clogged.
6. Turbine nozzles are clogged with deposits.
7. Internal wear on nozzles and blades.
49. Why is it necessary to open casing drains
and drains on the steam line going to the
turbine when a turbine is to be started?.
Answers:
To avoid slugging nozzles and blades inside the turbine
with condensate on start-up; this can break these
components from impact. The blades were designed to
handle steam, not water.
50. What three methods are used to restore
casing surfaces that are excessively eroded?
Answers:
1. Metal-spraying.
2. Welding.
3. Insertion of filler strips or patch plates. The
manufacturer should be consulted on the
metallurgy involved so that the best method can
be selected.
51. What is steam rate as applied to turbo-
generators?
Answer:
The steam rate is the pounds of steam that must be
supplied per kilowatt-hour of generator output at the
steam turbine inlet.
52. What is the most prevalent source of water
induction into a steam turbo-generator?
Answer:
Leaking water tubes in feedwater heaters, which have
steam on the shell side supplied from turbine extraction
lines. The water at higher pressure can flow back into the
turbine because the extraction steam is at a lower
pressure. Check valves are needed on the steam
extraction line to prevent the back-flow of water into the
turbine.
53. What is a regenerative cycle?
Answer:
In the regenerative cycle, feedwater is passed through a
series of feed-water heaters and is heated by steam
extracted from stages of a steam turbine. This raises the
feedwater to near the temperature of boiler water, thus
increasing the thermal efficiency of the cycle.
54. What is the re-heating cycle?
Answer:
In the re-heating cycle, superheated steam is expanded in
a high-pressure turbine and then returned to the boiler's
re-heater to raise the temperature of the steam to the
inlet temperature, usually to around 537C; it is then
returned to the turbine to be expanded through
intermediate-pressure turbines. In some cases, the steam
is again returned for re-heating in the boiler and then
expanded in the lower-pressure sections of the turbine.
The main purpose of re-heating the steam on large turbo-
generators is to avoid condensation in the lower-pressure
sections of the turbine, which can rapidly cause blade
erosion problems from wet steam.
55. What does the Willans line show?
Answer:
The Willians line is a plot of throttle flow versus the load,
usually expressed in kilowatts; generally it is a straight
line except for low and high loads. The Willians line is used
to show steam rates at different loads on the turbine.
56. What are the two basic types of turbines?
Answer:
1. Impulse type.
2. Reaction type.
57. What is the operating principle of an
impulse turbine?
Answer:
The basic idea of an impulse turbine is that a jet of steam
from a fixed nozzle pushes against the rotor blades and
impels them forward. The velocity of the steam is about
twice as fast as the velocity of the blades. Only turbines
utilizing fixed nozzles are classified as impulse turbines.
58. What is the operating principle of a
reaction turbine?
Answer:
A reaction turbine utilizes a jet of steam that flows from a
nozzle on the rotor. Actually, the steam is directed into
the moving blades by fixed blades designed to expand the
steam. The result is a small increase in velocity over that
of the moving blades. These blades form a wall of moving
nozzles that further expand the steam. The steam flow is
partially reversed by the moving blades, producing a
reaction on the blades. Since the pressure drop is small
across each row of nozzles (blades), the speed is
comparatively low. Therefore, more rows of moving blades
are needed than in an impulse turbine.
59. What are topping and superposed
turbines?
Answer:
Topping and superposed turbines arc high-pressure, non-
condensing units that can be added to an older,
moderate-pressure plant. Topping turbines receive high-
pressure steam from new high-pressure boilers. The
exhaust steam of the new turbine has the same pressure
as the old boilers and is used to supply the old turbines.
60. What is an extraction turbine?
Answer:
In an extraction turbine, steam is withdrawn from one or
more stages, at one or more pressures, for heating, plant
process, or feedwater heater needs. They are often called
"bleeder turbines."
61. What is a radial-flow turbine?
Answer:
In a radial-flow turbine, steam flows outward from the
shaft to the casing. The unit is usually a reaction unit,
having both fixed and moving blades. They are used for
special jobs and are more common to European
manufacturers, such as Sta-Laval (now ABB).
62. What is a stage in a steam turbine?
Answer:
In an impulse turbine, the stage is a set of moving blades
behind the nozzle. In a reaction turbine, each row of
blades is called a "stage." A single Curtis stage may
consist of two or more rows of moving blades.
63. What is a diaphragm?
Answer:
Partitions between pressure stages in a turbine's casing
are called diaphragms. They hold the vane-shaped nozzles
and seals between the stages. Usually labyrinth-type seals
are used. One-half of the diaphragm is fitted into the top
of the casing, the other half into the bottom.
64. What are four types of turbine seals?
Answers:
1. Carbon rings fitted in segments around the shaft
and held together by garter or retainer springs.
2. Labyrinth mated with shaft serrations or shaft
seal strips.
3. Water seals where a shaft runner acts as a pump
to create a ring of water around the shaft. Use
only treated water to avoid shaft pitting.
4. Stuffing box using woven or soft packing rings
that are compressed with a gland to prevent
leakage along the shaft.
65. In which turbine is tip leakage a problem?
Answer:
Tip leakage is a problem in reaction turbines. Here, each
vane forms a nozzle; steam must flow through the moving
nozzle to the fixed nozzle. Steam escaping across the tips
of the blades represents a loss of work. Therefore, tip
seals are used prevent this.
66. What are two types of clearance in a
turbine?
Answer:
1. Radial - clearance at the tips of the rotor and
casing.
2. Axial - the fore-and-aft clearance, at the sides
of the rotor and the casing.
67. What are four types of thrust hearings?
Answer:
1. Babbitt-faced collar bearings.
2. Tilting pivotal pads.
3. Tapered land bearings.
4. Rolling-contact (roller or ball) bearings.
68. What is the function of a thrust bearing?
Answer:
Thrust bearings keep the rotor in its correct axial position.
69. What is a balance piston?
Answer:
Reaction turbines have axial thrust because pressure on
the entering side is greater than pressure on the leaving
side of each stage. To counteract this force, steam is
admitted to a dummy (balance) piston chamber at the
low-pressure end of the rotor. Some designers also use a
balance piston on impulse turbines that have a high
thrust. Instead of piston, seal strips are also used to
duplicate a piston's counter force.
70. What is a combination thrust and radial
bearing?
Answer:
This unit has the ends of the babbitt bearing extended
radially over the end of the shell. Collars on the rotor face
these thrust pads, and the journal is supported in the
bearing between the thrust collars.
71. What is a tapered-land thrust bearing?
Answer:
The babbitt face of a tapered-land thrust bearing has a
series of fixed pads divided by radial slots. The leading
edge of each sector is tapered, allowing an oil wedge to
build up and carry the thrust between the collar and pad.
72. What is important to remember about
radial bearings?
Answer:
A turbine rotor is supported by two radial bearings, one on
each end of the steam cylinder. These bearings must be
accurately aligned to maintain the close clearance
between the shaft and the shaft seals, and between the
rotor and the casing. If excessive bearing wear lowers the
he rotor, great harm can be done to the turbine.
73. What is gland-sealing steam?
Answer:
It is the low-pressure steam that is led to a sealing gland.
The steam seals the gland, which may be either a carbon
ring or labyrinth type against air at the vacuum end of the
shaft.
74. What is the function of a gland drain?
Answer:
The function of a gland drain is to draw of water from
sealing-gland cavities created by the condensation of
sealing steam.
75. What is an air ejector?
Answer:
An air ejector is a steam siphon that removes non-
condensable gases from the condenser.
76. How many governors are needed for safe
turbine operation? Why?
Answer:
Two independent governors are needed for safe turbine
operation. One is an overspeed or emergency trip that
shuts off the steam at 10 percent above running speed
(maximum speed). The second, or main governor, usually
controls speed at a constant rate; however, many
applications have variable speed control.
77. How is a flyball governor used with a
hydraulic control?
Answer:
As the turbine speeds up, the weights are moved outward
by centrifugal force, causing linkage to open a pilot valve
that admits and releases oil on either side of a piston or
on one side of a spring-loaded piston. The movement of
the piston controls the steam valves.
78. What is a multi-port governor valve? Why
is it used?
Answer:
In large turbines, a valve controls steam flow to groups of
nozzles. The number of open valves controls the number
of nozzles in use according to the load. A bar-lift or cam
arrangement operated by the governor opens and closes
these valves in sequence. Such a device is a multi-port
valve. Using nozzles at full steam pressure is more
efficient than throttling the steam.
79. What is meant by critical speed?
Answer:
It is the speed at which the machine vibrates most
violently. It is due to many causes, such as imbalance or
harmonic vibrations set up by the entire machine. To
minimize damage, the turbine should be hurried through
the known critical speed as rapidly as possible. (Caution,
be sure the vibration is caused by critical speed and not
by some other trouble).
80. How is oil pressure maintained when
starting or stopping a medium-sized turbine?
Answer:
An auxiliary pump is provided to maintain oil pressure.
Some auxiliary pumps are turned by a hand crank; others
are motor-driven. This pump is used when the integral
pump is running too slowly to provide pressure, as when
starting or securing a medium-sized turbine.
81. Why is it poor practice to allow turbine oil
to become too cool?
Answer:
If a turbine oil is allowed to become too cold,
condensation of atmospheric moisture takes place in the
oil and starts rust on the polished surfaces of the journal
bearings. Condensed moisture my interfere with
lubrication.
82. Steam blowing from a turbine gland is
wasteful. Why else should it be avoided?
Answer:
It should be avoided because the steam usually blows into
the bearing, destroying the lubrication oil in the main
bearing. Steam blowing from a turbine gland also creates
condensate, causing undue moisture in plant equipment.
83. Besides lubrication, which are two
functions of lubricating oil in some turbines?
Answer:
In large units, lube oil cools the bearings by carrying off
heat to the oil coolers. Lube oil in some turbines also acts
as a hydraulic fluid to operate the governor speed-control
system.
84. What is meant by the water rite of a
turbine?
Answer:
85. It is the amount of water (steam) used by
the turbine in pounds per horsepower per
hour or kilowatts per hour.
86. What are five types of condensers?
Answer:
1. Surface (shell-and-tube).
2. Jet condenser.
3. Barometric condenser.
4. Air-cooled condenser.
5. Evaporative condenser.

87. Why is there a relief valve on a turbine
casing?
Answer:
The turbine casing is fitted with spring-loaded relief valves
to prevent damage by excessive steam pressure at the
low-pressure end if the exhaust valve is closed
accidentally. Some casings on smaller turbines are fitted
with a sentinel valve, which serves only to warn the
operator of over-pressure of the exhaust end. A spring-
loaded relic valve is needed to relieve high pressure.
88. Why must steam turbines be warmed up
gradually?
Answer:
Although it is probable that a turbine can, if its shaft is
straight, be started from a cold condition without warming
up, such operation does not contribute to continued
successful operation of the unit. The temperature strains
set up in the casings and rotors by such rapid heating
have a harmful effect. The turbine, in larger units
especially should be warmed slowly by recommended
warm-up ramp rates because of close clearances.
89. What should you lost vacuum while
operating a condensing turbine plant?
Answer:
If vacuum is lost shut down immediately. The condenser
cannot stand steam pressure, the condenser tubes may
leak from excessive temperature. Excessive pressure will
also damage the shell, the exhaust and the low-pressure
parts of the turbine.
90. What are the main causes of turbine
vibration?
Answers:
1. Unbalanced parts.
2. Poor alignment of parts.
3. Loose parts.
4. Rubbing parts.
5. Lubrication troubles.
6. steam troubles.
7. Foundation troubles.
8. Cracked or excessively worn parts.
91. What is the purpose of a turning gear?
Answer:
Heat must be prevented from warping the rotors of large
turbines or high-temperature turbines of 400C or more.
When the turbine is being shut down, a motor-driven
turning gear is engaged to the turbine to rotate the
spindle and allow uniform cooling.
92. What does he term "ramp" rate mean?
Answer:
Ramp rate is used in bringing a turbine up to operating
temperature and is the degrees Celsius rise per hour that
metal surfaces are exposed to when bringing a machine to
rated conditions. Manufacturers specify ramp rates or their
machines in order to avoid thermal stresses.
Thermocouples are used in measuring metal
temperatures.
93. What is the difference between partial and
full arc admission?
Answer:
In multi-valve turbine inlets, partial arc ad mission allows
the steam to enter per valve opening in a sequential
manner, so as load is increased, more valves open to
admit steam. This can cause uneven heating on the high-
pressure annulus as the valves are individually opened
with load increase. In full-arc admission, all regulating
valves open but only at a percentage of their full opening.
With load increase, they all open more fully. This provides
more uniform heating around the high-pressure part of
the turbine. Most modern controls start with full-arc and
switch to partial arc to reduce throttling losses through the
valves.
94. What are some common troubles in surface-
condenser operation?
Answer:
The greatest headache to the operator is loss of vacuum
caused by air leaking into the surface condenser through
the joints or packing glands. Another trouble spot is
cooling water leaking into the steam space through the
ends of the tubes or through tiny holes in the tubes. The
tubes may also become plugged with mud, shells, debris,
slime or algae, thus cutting down on the cooling water
supply. Corrosion may be uniform, or it may occur in small
holes or pits.
95. Where would you look for a fault if the air
ejector didn't raise enough vacuum?
Answers:
1. In this case, the trouble is usually in the nozzle.
You will probably find that the nozzle is eroded.
2. The strainer protecting the nozzle is clogged.
3. The steam pressure to the nozzle is too low.
96. How would you stop air from leaking into a
condenser?
Answer:
First find the leak by passing a flame over the suspected
part while the condenser is under vacuum. Leaks in the
flange joints or porous castings can be stopped with
asphalt paint or shellac.
97. Do you stop cooling water flow through a
steam condenser as soon as the turbine is
stopped?
Answer:
You should keep the cooling water circulating for about 15
minutes (also see the manufacturers recommendation) or
more so that the condenser has a chance to cool down
gradually and evenly. Be sure to have cooling water
flowing through the condenser before starting up in order
to prevent steam from entering the condenser unless it is
cooled. Overheating cause severe leaks and other
headaches.
98. How would you stop a leaky tube in a
condenser that was contaminating the feed
water?
Answer:
To stop leaky tube from contaminating the feedwater,
shut down, remove the water-box covers, and fill the
steam space with water. By observing tube ends, you can
find the leaky tube. An alternate method is to pressurize
(30 kPa) the steam space with air. Then flood the water
boxes to the top inspection plate and observe any air
bubbles. Once you have found the leaky tube or tubes,
drive a tape bronze plug (well-coated with white lead) into
each end of the tube to cut it out service. This allows you
to use the condenser since the tubes need not be renewed
until about 10 percent of the tubes are plugged.
99. Why must condensate be subjected to
salinity tests where brackish cooling water
used?
Answer:
Condensate may leak from the cooling-water side to the steam side
of condenser and contaminate the feedwater, thus causing scale to
form in the boilers, brackish cooling water may leak into the steam
space from cracked or porous tubes or ruin around the joints at the
end of the tube ends, etc. By taking salinity readings of the
condensate, leaks may be found before they can do any harm.