Chapter one
Introduction of steam turbine
1.1 principle of steam turbine
1.2 type of steam turbine
1.3 construction of steam turbine
Steam turbines are made in a variety of sizes ranging from small 0.75 kW units used as
mechanical drives for pumps, compressors and other shaft driven equipment, to
1,500,000kW turbines used to generate electricity. Steam turbines are widely used for
marine applications for vessel propulsion systems. In recent times gas turbines , as
developed for aerospace applications, are being used more and more in the field of
power generation once dominated by steam turbines.
The steam must strike the blades at a specific angle that will maximize
the useful work of the steam's high pressure. This is where nozzles come
into play. Stationary rings of nozzles are placed between blade wheels to
"turn" the steam at the optimal angle for striking the blades. A thrust
bearing is mounted at one end of the main shaft to maintain its axial
position and keep the moving parts from colliding with stationary parts.
The journal bearing supports the main shaft and restricts it from
springing out of its casing at high speeds.
The exhaust hood guides steam from the last stage of the turbine, and it
is designed to minimize pressure loss, which would decrease the thermal
efficiency of the turbine. After the steam leaves the exhaust section of
the turbine, it enters a condenser, where it is cooled to its liquid state.
The process of condensing the steam creates a vacuum, which then
brings in more steam from the turbine. The water is returned to the
boiler, reheated, and used again.
The governor is a device that controls the speed of the turbine. Modern
turbines have an electronic governor that uses a sensor to monitor the
turbine speed by "looking" at the rotor teeth. The Ventilator Valve (VV)
also aids in controlling the turbine's speed. The VV is normally closed,
but in an overspeed situation, it drains steam. This steam comes from the
reheat section, which is forcing steam back through the turbine, and is
used to cool the high-pressure section.
On large output turbines the duty too large for one turbine and a number
of turbine casing/rotor units are combined to achieve the duty. These are
generally arranged on a common centre line (tandem mounted) but
parallel systems can be used called cross compound systems.