Steam Turbine

 What is a Turbine?
A Turbine is a device which converts the heat energy of steam into the kinetic energy & then to
rotational energy. The Power in a steam turbine is obtained by the rate of change in momentum of
a high velocity jet of steam impinging on a curved blade which is free to rotate. The basic cycle
for the steam turbine power plant is the Rankine cycle. The modern Power plant uses the rankine
cycle modified to include superheating, regenerative feed water heating & reheating.
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and
converts it into rotary motion. Steam turbine convert a part of the energy of the steam evidenced
by high temperature and pressure into mechanical power-in turn electrical power. The steam from
the boiler is expanded in a nozzle, resulting in the emission of a high velocity jet. This jet of steam
impinges on the moving vanes or blades, mounted on a shaft. Here it undergoes a change of
direction of motion which gives rise to a change in momentum and therefore a force. The motive
power in a steam turbine is obtained by the rate of change in momentum of a high velocity jet of
steam impinging on a curved blade which is free to rotate. The conversion of energy in the blades
takes place by impulse, reaction or impulse reaction principle.
Advantages
 It can translate a relatively large fraction of the heat energy into mechanical work.
 Thermal economy is fairly good.
 Steam turbine possesses for its moving parts rotating elements only.
 Easy to balance.
 Absence of internal lubrication.
 Exhaust steam is not contaminated with oil vapor.
 Considerable savings in lubricating oil.
 High component efficiency.
 High rotational speed.
 Amount of wear is negligible.
 The lubricating oil may be used for long period without replacement
Demerits
 For slow speed application reduction gears are required.
 The steam turbine cannot be made reversible.
 The efficiency of small simple steam turbines is poor.
Steam Turbine Classification:

 By details of stage design  By steam supply and exhaust conditions

 Impulse Turbine  Condensing
  Reaction Turbine  Non-condensing
 By casing or shaft arrangement  By number of exhaust stages in parallel
 Single casing, Tandem compound or  Two flow, Four flow or Six flow
Cross compound  By direction of steam flow
 Single or multi-stage  Axial flow, Radial flow or Tangential
 By steam supply flow
 Superheat or Saturated

Two important elements of Steam Turbine:

1. Nozzle: In which the steam expands from a high pressure and a state of comparative rest
to a lower pressure and a state of comparatively rapid motion.
2. Blade or deflector: In which the stream of steam particles has its direction and hence its
momentum changed. The blades are attached to the rotating element of the m/c or rotor;
whereas, in general, the nozzles are attached to the stationary part of the turbine, which is
usually termed the stator, casing or cylinder.
Principle of Operation
Steam at high pressure and temperature expands through nozzles forming high velocity jets. Many
such nozzles are mounted on inner wall of cylinder or stator casing. Steam jet from static nozzles
impinges and impart its momentum on to rotor blades. This make the rotor to rotate. A set of one
array of stator and rotor blade is called a ‘stage’. Number of stages are arranged one after another
and thus thermodynamic energy is converted into kinetic energy.

Steam Turbine Stage

A turbine stage consists of stationary stator row (guide vanes or nozzle ring) and rotating rotor
row. In the guide vanes high pressure, high temperature steam is expanded resulting in high
velocity. The guide vanes direct the flow to the rotor blades at an appropriate angle velocity. In
the rotor, the flow direction is changed and kinetic energy of the working fluid is absorbed by the
rotor shaft producing mechanical energy.
 Impulse Steam Turbine
In Impulse Steam Turbine, there are some fixed nozzles and moving blades are present on a
disc mounted on a shaft. Moving blades are in symmetrical order. The steam enters the turbine
casing with some pressure. After that, it passes through one or more no. of fixed nozzles into
the turbine. The relative velocity of steam at the outlet of the moving blades is same as the inlet
to the blades. During Expansion, steam's pressure falls. Due to high-pressure drop in the
nozzles the velocity of steam increases. This high-velocity jet of steam flows through fixed
nozzles and it strikes the blade with constant pressure. An impulse turbine, steam produced
only impulsive force to the blades. Now blades are starting to move in the same direction of
the steam flow. Due to change in momentum, turbine's shaft is starting to rotate.

An example of Simple Impulse turbine is a DA-Laval turbine.

CONSTRUCTION & WORKING PRINCIPLE OF IMPULSE STEAM (DA-Laval)
TURBINE
 The uppermost portion of the diagram shows a longitudinal section through the upper half
of the turbine.
 The middle portion shows the actual shape of the nozzle and blading.
 The bottom portion shows the variation of absolute velocity and absolute pressure during
the flow of steam through passage of nozzles and blades.
 The expansion of steam from its initial pressure (steam chest pressure) to final pressure
(condenser pressure) takes place in one set of nozzles. Due to high drop in pressure in the
nozzles, the velocity of steam in the nozzles increases. The steam leaves the nozzle with a
very high velocity and strikes the blades of the turbine mounted on a wheel with this high
velocity. The loss of energy due to this higher exit velocity is commonly known as carry
over loss (or) leaving loss. The pressure of the steam when it moves over the blades remains
constant but the velocity decreases. The exit/leaving/lost velocity may amount to 3.3
percent of the nozzle outlet velocity.
  WORKING PRINCIPLE OF REACTION STEAM TURBINE
The pressure of the steam at outlet from the moving blades of the turbine is less than that at the
inlet side of the blades; the drop in pressure suffered by the steam during its flow through the
moving blades causes a further generation of kinetic energy within the blade and adds to the
propelling force which is applied to the turbine rotor.
Parson’s Reaction Turbine
The reaction turbine is composed of moving blades (nozzles) alternating with fixed nozzles. In the
reaction turbine, the steam is expanded in fixed nozzles and also in the moving nozzles. In other
words, the steam is continually expanding as it flows over the blades. There is pressure and velocity
loss in the moving blades. The moving blades have a converging steam nozzle. Hence when the
steam passes over the fixed blades, it expands with decrease in steam pressure and increase in
kinetic energy.

In reaction turbines, the steam expands through the fixed nozzle, where the pressure potential
energy is converted to kinetic energy. The high-velocity steam from fixed nozzles impacts the
blades (nozzles), changes its direction and undergo further expansion. The change in its direction
and the steam acceleration applies a force. The resulting impulse drives the blades forward, causing
the rotor to turn. There is no net change in steam velocity across the stage but with a decrease in
both pressure and temperature, reflecting the work performed in the driving of the rotor. In this
type of turbine the pressure drops take place in a number of stages, because the pressure drop in a
single stage is limited.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IMPULSE TURBINE AND REACTION TURBINE

Advantages of Steam Turbine over Steam Engine

1. It requires less shaft workspace compared to the steam engine.
2. The absence of various links such as a piston, piston rod, crosshead, etc. make the
mechanism simple. The steam turbine is quiet and smooth in operation.
3. In steam turbine power is generated at a uniform rate. Therefore, the flywheel is not needed.
4. The internal lubrication is not required in a steam turbine. This reduces the cost of
lubrication.
5. Steam turbine overload capacity is large.
6. Steam turbine can be designed for much greater capacities of power as compared to the
steam engine. Steam turbines can be built in for generating power ranging from a few
horsepower to over 200,000 horsepower in single units.
7. It can be designed for greater range of speed of operation.
8. Thermodynamic efficiency of the steam turbine is higher compared to the steam engine.
9. In a steam turbine, the steam consumption does not increase with an increase in years of
service.