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WrittenbyNorrie
Wednesday,13January201010:06
ArticleIndex

IntroductiontoTurbines&SteamTurbines
SteamTurbines
SteamControltoaTurbine
TypesofSteamTurbines
RemovalofNonCondensibles
TurbineSealSteamSystem
AllPages
Page6of6

TURBINESEALSTEAMSYSTEM(Figure.12)
Whenacondensingsteamturbineisfirststartedupandinalowloadcondition,steamfromtheinlet(H.P.)end
willleakfromtheoutboardglandeventhoughcarbonringsealsandlabyrinthsealsareinstalledtominimisethe
leakage.Superheatedsteamisinvisibleand,duetoitshightemperature,isverydangerous.Leakageofsteamis
alsoawasteandisnotdesirable.Conversely,underthesamelowloadconditions,theL.Pendoftheturbinewill
beunderthevacuumofthesurfacecondenser.Thevacuumwilltendtopullincoldatmosphericairthroughthe
sealsalongtheshaft.Coldairwillhaveadetrimentaleffectonthehotmetaloftheshaftwhichcanleadto
damage.Inordertominimisetheseproblems,amanuallycontrolledsupplyoflowpressureSEALsteam(about2
Psi),ispipedtoacommonlinefeedingtheglandsofthemachine.Thispressurewillpreventtheingressofairat
theL.P.endandensureapositivepressureattheH.P.endduringstartup.(Theejectorunitsarestartedand
vacuumpulledbeforestartingtheturbine).Whentheturbineloadisincreased,theleakageofsteamintotheSeal
steamheaderwillcausegreaterpressurethantheSealsteamsupplyandwillbegintoflowtotheL.P.endseal.At
thispoint,theSealsteamsupplycanbeshutdownandtheSealsteamtakenfromtheH.P.endandmanually
maintainedat2Psibyventingexcessintothesurfacecondenser.Evenwhenthesealpressuresaremaintained
at2Psi,someleakageoccursfrombothseals.ThisistakencareofbytheLEAKsteamrecoverysystem.
TURBINELEAKSTEAMSYSTEM(Figure.13)
Leakageofsteamfromturbineglandstoatmosphere(inbothtypesofturbine),asalreadymentioned,is
dangerousandawasteofsteam.Theturbineinboardandoutboardglandsarefittedwithcarbonringsealsand
labyrinthsealstohelppreventleakage.Thesesealsdonotcompletelystoptheescapeofsteam.Inorderto
completelypreventit,aturbinewillalsobefittedwithaLEAKsteamsystemwhichpipestheleakageintoawater
cooledcondenser.Thecondensatefromthecondenserisdrainedawaytoa'Hotwell'fromwhereitisreturnedto
thesteamgenerationplant.Theleaksteamcondenserisfittedwithanejectorsystemtoremovenon
condensiblesfromthesteamanddischargethemtoatmospherewiththeejectorexhauststeam.This,inthecase
ofthecondensingturbine,istopreventnoncondensiblesfromreenteringthesurfacecondenser.
SEALSTEAMSYSTEM

Figure.12
TURBINELEAKSTEAMSYSTEM

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IntroductiontoTurbines&SteamTurbinesTurbineSealSteamSystem

Figure.13

AbouttheAuthor
NorrieisaretiredprofessionalwhohasbeenworkinginOilandGasandLNGproductioninMarsaelBrega,
Libyafor30years.
NorrieusedtobeintheTrainingDept.andpreparedProgrammesforLibyanTrainees.

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