Chapter 1

STEAM TURBINE THEORY

1.1 Introduction
The steam turbine is most versatile prime mover, which is capable of almost endless applications.
A machine, which originates mechanical motion by using some natural force, is called prime mover.
Steam turbine is a practical power source and is built in as small size as 5 KW to as large as 1300 MW. It
is relatively quiet and smooth in operation. Its compactness is unexpelled in the high capacity region and
operates on relative speed, which permits direct connection to the alternator.

The steam turbine offers many advantages over other prime movers, both thermodynamically and
mechanically. From a thermodynamic point of view, the main advantage of the steam turbine over, say, a
reciprocating steam engine, is that in the turbine the steam can be expanded down to a lower back-
pressure, thereby making available a greater heat drop. In addition, the internal efficiency of the turbine is
high, so it is able to convert a high proportion of this relatively large heat drop into mechanical work.

From a mechanical point of view, the turbine is ideal, because the propelling force is applied
directly to the rotating elements of the machine and has not, as in the reciprocating engine, to be
transmitted through a system of connecting links, which are necessary to transform a reciprocating motion
into a rotary motion. Hence, since the steam turbine possesses rotary motion only, if the manufacture is
good and the machine is correctly designed, it ought to be free from out-of-balance forces.

If the load on a turbine is kept constant, the torque developed at the coupling remains constant. A
generator at a steady load offers a constant resisting torque. Therefore, a turbine is suitable for driving a
generator, particularly as they are both high-speed machines.

A further advantage of the turbine is that the exhaust steam is not contaminated with oil vapour
and can be condensed and fed back to the boilers without passing through filters. It also means that there
is considerable saving in lubricating oil when compared with a reciprocating steam engine of equal power.

Yet the steam turbine is not without disadvantages. It is non-reversible. Unlike the IC engine, it is
not a complete power plant, but must be associated with a steam generator. Steam rates are high unless
in condensing operation. The thermal (steam) power plant therefore was a duel phase cycle, i.e. vapour
and liquid. It is a closed cycle to enable the working fluid (water) to be used again and again. The cycle
used is "Rankine Cycle" modified to include superheating of steam, regenerative feed water heating and
reheating of steam.

1.2 Evolution of Steam Turbine

The modern turbine and the turbo-generator both owe a lot to a great mechanical engineer - Sir
Charles Algernon Parsons. The earlier record of a steam turbine invention shows that Hero of Alexandria
had built a steam turbine of the reaction type in the year 55 B.C. This early machine was a simple affair,
as shown in Fig. 1.1, but was not used for any practical purpose. But the reaction principle, where steam
issuing from a nozzle exerts a backward push or reaction is widely used in the modern Parson's and other
makes of turbine.

In 1629, Giovanni Bianca (Italy) made drawings of simple impulse turbine, later developed by the
French Engineers, De Lavel and Rateau and others.

However, Parsons was the first to realize that successful turbine must rotate at very high speeds,
even in those early days. It was understood that a jet of steam could rotate a wheel with blades on its
circumference or that it could develop power when escaping tangentially from an orifice or nozzle in a
wheel by its own reaction. Either way, the problem confronting Parsons, was that of constructing a
practical turbine, using very high jet velocities of the order of 750 m/s of even L.P. steam exhausting to
atmosphere; or double that velocity of H.P. Steam exhausts via jets into a partial vacuum.

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory

 Fig.1.1 Hero's Reaction Turbine

The utilization of these high velocities calls for the moving blades to travel at half these velocities,
i.e. velocities of the order of 375 m/s to 750 m/s. High linear speeds mean high rotational speeds and the
consequent centrifugal force of a severe nature. Blade speeds were reduced by sub-dividing the whole
expansion of steam into a number of stages so that moderate velocities have to be dealt with and this
forms the basis of the modern steam turbine as well. On this reaction principle, Parsons first commercial
turbine (1800 rpm) only generated 10 KW power in the year 1884.

Other inventors, i.e. C.G. Curtis (U.S.A.) and Prof. A. Rateau (France) preferred to use the
expansion of steam at each stage, by virtue of its velocity only, in fixed nozzles. Machines of this type,
where the steam drives the moving blading of each stage by virtue of its velocity only, are called impulse
turbines. Impulse turbines of fairly large size have been developed over the years, but it is recognized
that the reaction principle of Parsons Scores over the impulse, in having a higher efficiency.
Consequently, very large sets, which are nominally termed impulse, embody a certain amount of reaction.
Side-by-side with the introduction of the high-speed turbines, Parsons went on to invent the drum type of
generator stator (a.c.), to match the turbine.

Further contributions to the field of turbine power by Parsons were the steam jet air ejector and
regenerative feed heating, which was however first proposed by James Wier.

Shortly after the turn of the 19 th Century, steam turbines began to replace reciprocating steam
engines in power plants. Rapid development ensued and by 1909 units of 12 MW capacity were installed
in Chicago. The turbine performance and efficiency exceeded those of the reciprocating engine and
allowed the use of superheated steam on large scale. This led to the use of cast steel rather than cast
iron in turbines. Capacity rose steadily. A 208 MW unit was installed in New York in 1929. The rise was
helped in 1937 by the use of hydrogen-cooled generator. By the late 1950s capacities reached 450 MW.
In the post-world war-II era, capacities rose beyond 500 MW.

2 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

 Though in India the 500 MW units were installed in late 1980s, the units above 1000 MW are
common in Western countries.

1.3 Energy Conversion in Steam Turbine

A steam turbine basically consists of two elements or sets of elements as shown in Fig. 1.2.
These are –

Fig.1.2 Basic Elements of Turbine

a) Nozzle
The nozzle, attached to the casing of the turbine. The steam enters the nozzle at a high pressure and a
relatively low velocity. Due to nozzle action steam velocity increases at the cost of pressure and
temperature.

b) Curved Blades
The blades are attached to the turbine rotor. The rapidly moving particles of steam issuing from the
nozzle enter the blades. As the blades are curved (Fig. 1.3), the direction of motion of these particles of

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 3

steam is changed. This causes the change of momentum of passing steam due to which resultant force
in the tangential to the rotor periphery is set-up. The summation of this force acting on all the blades
constitutes the driving force of the turbine.

Fig.1.3 Action of Steam on Curved Blades

Finally when the steam comes out of the blades, the pressure and temperature of the steam are
reduced, i.e. the drop of the enthalpy at the exhaust of the turbine due to expansion of steam. The
processes of expansion and direction changing may occur once (single stage) as in the simple impulse
turbine, or a number of times (multi-stage) as in pressure compounded impulse or impulse-reaction
turbine.

1.4 Impulse and Reaction Principle

1.4.1. Classification
Basically there are two broad classifications of steam turbine with respect to operating principle.
i) Impulse Turbine
ii) Impulse-Reaction/Reaction Turbine

1.4.2. Impulse Turbine

In this class of turbines, the potential energy of steam, by virtue of its pressure and superheat, is
changed into Kinetic energy of steam having high velocity by expansion in fixed nozzles. All the
expansion of the original steam occurs in these nozzles only (fixed to the casing) and none taking place in
the rotor blading during its passage. Thus the pressures at the inlet and outlet edges of these blading will
be equal. The moving blades are designed in such a manner that the steam will glide on and off without
any tendency to strike them, thus giving an impulse due to change of velocity of steam which causes the
shaft to rotate. The steam flow area at the inlet and outlet is constant in this type and blading. Since

4 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

there is no pressure difference across the two sides of moving blades, there is little or no tendency for
steam to leak past the blade tips and so the problem of sealing between the two sides of the wheel is
considerably simplified. The impulse turbines may be sub-classified as follows.

a) The simple Impulse Turbine

This turbine consists of only one stage of nozzles and moving blades, as shown in Fig. 1.4. The
top portion of Fig. 1.4 shows a longitudinal section through the upper half of the turbine, the middle portion
shows a development of the nozzles and blading. The lower part of the figure shows approximately how
the absolute pressure and the absolute velocity of the steam vary from point-to-point during the passage
of the steam through the turbine.

Fig.1.4 Arrangement of Simple impulse Turbine

In this turbine, the steam is expanded once only, the steam enters the nozzles at the steam chest
pressure and issues from the nozzles at condenser pressure. The heat drop is comparatively large and
as the increase in Kinetic energy is equal to the heat drop, the nozzle exit velocity of the steam is high.
For maximum blade efficiency, the blade velocity should be slightly less than one half the steam velocity,
so in this type of turbine the blade velocity is very high. As the rotor diameter is kept fairly small, the
rotational speed is also very high, being of the order of 30,000 rpm. With speeds of this order it is often
necessary to reduce the speed of the driven machine by gear-box, thus increasing the cost and

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 5

 Fig.1.5 Simple impulse Turbine Rotor Fig.1.7 (a) Two Stage Velocity Compounded
Impulse Turbine

Fig.1.7 Velocity Compounded impulse Turbine

Fig.1.6 Pressure Compounded Impulse Turbine

6 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

 complexity of an installation and reducing its overall efficiency. It can be seen from Fig. 1.4 that
the velocity of the steam leaving the moving blades is large which represents the loss of Kinetic energy
and is called the "Carry-over loss" or "Leaving Loss" which may be approximately 11% of initial Kinetic
energy of the steam. An example of the simple impulse turbine is the De Laval turbine used for relatively
low power application. Rotor of simple (Single stage) impulse turbine is shown in Fig. 1.5.

b) The Pressure-Compounded Impulse Turbine

The turbine, shown in Fig. 1.6, is basically a number of impulse turbines connected in series on
the same shaft, the exhaust steam from one stage entering the nozzles of the succeeding stage. In this
way the whole of the pressure drop (heat drop) available, i.e. from steam chest to condenser, is split-up
into a number of smaller pressure drops. Hence stage consists of set of nozzles and blades. As the heat
drop in each stage is a fraction of the heat drops in a simple impulse turbine working between the same
limits of pressure and temperature, the increase in Kinetic energy in each stage will be much lower, i.e.
the velocity of the steam issuing from the nozzles will be much lower. Therefore, the blade velocities and
rotational speed can be lowered. This means the greater the number of stages, the lower the speeds.

The leaving loss in the last stage as compared to simple impulse turbine is proportionately less,
still it is appreciable.

In a pressure-compounded impulse turbine the nozzles are usually fitted into partitions, called
"diaphragms", which separate one wheel chamber from the next. The wheels are mounted individually
on the shaft and carry the blades on their periphery. As expansion of the steam takes place wholly in the
nozzles, the space between any two diaphragms is filled with steam at a constant pressure, but the
pressure on either side of any diaphragm are different. The greatest difference occurs in the first few
stages. Hence, steam will tend to leak through the space between the bore of the diaphragm and the
surface of the shaft. Fitting of labyrinth glands usually minimizes such leakage. A.C.E. Rateau first
designed this type of turbine.

c) The Velocity-Compounded Impulse Turbine

It is similar to the simple impulse turbine in that there is only one set of nozzles. The wheel,
however, instead of being fitted with a single row of blades, is fitted with two or more rows, between which
are arranged rows of stationary guide blades. Fig. 1.7 shows a three-row wheel. Steam enters the
nozzles at the steam chest pressure and issues from the nozzles at condenser pressure and as in the
simple impulse turbine, at very high velocity. The provision of two or more rows of moving blades,
however, enables the blade velocity for maximum efficiency to be made appreciably less than that
necessary for maximum efficiency in its simple impulse turbine. On passing through the first row of
moving blades the steam gives up only a part of its Kinetic energy and issues from this row of blades with
fairly high velocity. It then enters the first of the two rows of guide blades and is redirected by them into
the second row of moving blades. There is a slight drop in velocity in the fixed guide blades due to
friction. In passing through the second row of moving blades, the steam gives up another portion of its
Kinetic energy to the rotor. It is redirected in the second row of guide blades, does work on the third row
of moving blades, and finally leaves the wheel in a more or less axial direction with a certain residual
velocity. This velocity is comparatively small and therefore the leaving loss is small, being about two
percent of the initial available energy of the steam.Fig.1.7 (a) shows two-stage vel.comp.impulse turbine.

d) The Pressure-Velocity Compounded Impulse Turbine

In the same way that a number of simple impulse turbines in series on the same shaft can be
combined to form a pressure-compounded impulse turbine, so a number of simple velocity - compounded
impulse turbine as shown in Fig. 1.8. The only difference in principle between the two types is that in the
pressure-compounded type a stage consists of a set of nozzles and a single row wheel, whereas in the
pressure-velocity-compounded type a stage consists of set of nozzles and a single row wheel, whereas in
the pressure-velocity compounded type a stage consists of a set of nozzles and a wheel with two or more
rows of blades.

As in other type of impulse turbines, the steam is expanded wholly in the nozzles and the wheels
rotate in steam at constant pressure. The total pressure drop from steam chest to condenser being split-

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 7

up into as many steps as the number of wheels on the shaft. This type of turbine is comparatively simple
in construction and is much more compact than the multi-stage pressure-compounded impulse turbine
since the pressure drop is greater per stage and consequently fewer stages are necessary. Unfortunately
its efficiency is not high. At one time it was widely used in power stations but is now an obsolete type.
Many impulse turbines, however, incorporate a two-row velocity wheel for the first stage in the high
pressure cylinder. An American engineer, C.G. Curtis, first introduced this turbine.

Fig.1.8 Velocity &Pressure Compounded impulse Turbine

1.4.3 Impulse-reaction Turbines

Impulse-reaction (commonly called as "Reaction Turbine") turbines works on the principle that the steam
pressure is reduced in both fixed and moving blades unlike in impulse turbine in which pressure was
reduced only in nozzles. While the steam is passing through the moving blades, work is still being done
by the impulse effect due to the reversal of direction of the high velocity steam, but the fixed and moving
blades are so designed that the steam expands as it passes through both thus giving, in addition, a
reaction effect due to the expansion of steam through the moving blades.

Since in the reaction type machine a pressure drop also occurs across the moving blades it is
necessary to provide effective sealing at the blade tips. This must be done to prevent leakage of steam
past the shrouding of the wheel and consequent loss in efficiency particularly at the high-pressure end of
the machine. These turbines may be designed for radial flow or axial flow. However, radial flow
machines are absolute now a days and all modern turbine employ axial flow designs.

The axial-flow impulse-reaction turbine consists of a number of rows of moving blades attached to
the rotor and an equal number of rows of fixed blades attached to the casing as shown in Fig. 1.9.

8 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

 Fig.1.9 Axial Flow Reaction Turbine

The fixed blades compare to the nozzles used in the impulse turbine. Steam is admitted
over the whole circumference and in passing through the first row of fixed blades undergoes a small drop
in pressure and its velocity is increased. It then enters the first row of moving blades and as in the
impulse turbine, suffers a change in direction and hence momentum giving an impulse on the blades.
During the steam passage through the moving blades it undergoes a further small drop in pressure
resulting in increase in velocity, which gives rise to a reaction in the direction opposite to that of the added
velocity. It is in this way that the impulse-reaction turbine differs from the pure impulse turbine. Thus the
gross propelling force in the impulse-reaction turbine, or the "reaction" turbine, is the vector sum of the
impulse and the reaction effects.

Fig. 1.9 shows how the blade heights increase as the specific volume of the steam increases with
reduction in pressure. It also shows how the pressure falls gradually as the steam passes through the
groups of blades. There is a pressure drop across each row of blades both fixed and moving. This is of
considerable practical importance, especially at the high-pressure end of the turbine where the pressure
drops are greatest, because this difference of pressure tends to force some steam through the clearance
spaces between the moving blades and the casing, similarly between the fixed blades and rotor. These
clearances have to be carefully controlled by using axial and/or radial seals at the blade tips; otherwise

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 9

the available energy possessed by the steam, which leaked across, would be lost. The pressure drop
across the moving blades gives rise to a large axial thrust on the rotor towards the low pressure end of the
turbine, therefore special balance pistons have to be fitted to counteract it. Fig. 1.10 shows the axial
section of a turbine with impulse/reaction stages and balance piston arrangement.

Fig.1.10 Double Casing Impulse-Reaction Turbine

The steam velocities in this type of turbine are moderate, the velocity for maximum blade
efficiency being roughly equal to the blade velocity. The leaving loss is normally about the same as for
the multi-stage impulse turbine.

The impulse-reaction turbine was developed by Sir Charles A. Parsons and is widely used in
power stations.

1.4.4 Distinction between Impulse & Reaction Designs

The hard and fast distinction between the impulse and impulse-reaction turbine is becoming
progressively less important. The general trend of commercial development being that the reaction
turbine often to adopt a certain percentage of impulse in its design and the impulse turbine likewise to
adopt a certain percentage of reaction. At the present time the two types are therefore characterized
more by differences of constructional features than by any actual differences in the methods of extracting
energy from the steam by the blading. The reason for this progressive development is that the reaction
stage is slightly more efficient than the impulse stage, but at the high-pressure end of the turbine this is
more offset by the loss due to leakage across the tips of moving blades. The general trend is to use a
greater percentage of impulse at the high-pressure end of the turbine and to progressively increase the
percentage of reaction at the low-pressure end.

10 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

 Further due to different characteristics of impulse and reaction blading there are significant
differences in the turbine designs. The impulse turbine moving blades are carried on discs, which are
either integral with or attached to a small diameter shaft. The axial thrust on the rotor is small since there
is no pressure drop across the blades and therefore no pressure forces across the discs. The presence
of a pressure drop across the moving blades of the reaction turbine makes disc unviable. Instead, a
greatly expanded hollow shaft known as a drum rotor replaces the discs.

1.5 Blade Efficiency & Internal losses in Turbine

1.5.1 Efficiency
The efficiency with which the transfer of energy to the moving blades occurs is essentially
dependent upon the ratio of moving blade velocity and the steam absolute velocity. The ideal efficiency
curves for impulse and reaction stage are shown in Fig. 1.11. The maximum efficiency of impulse stage is
achieved at the ratio of 0.5, which means if the blade speed remains constant (as in case of utility
turbines), but the steam velocity changes (change of steam flow rate) then the efficiency suffers.
Comparatively reaction stage efficiency remains fairly constant at medium to higher loads.

Work done by moving blades

Blade efficiency () =
Available energy

Fig.1.11 Ideal Efficiency Curves for Impulse & Reaction Stages

The work done by the moving blade is reduced due to three most predominant losses, i.e. profile
loss, secondary loss and tip leakage loss, which are shown in Fig. 1.12.

1.5.2 Profile Loss

This is due to the formation of boundary layers on the blade surfaces. The fluid in the boundary
layer is subject to viscous forces, which slow it down and increase its entropy relative to the flow in the
main stream. This results in the steam downstream of the moving blades having higher entropy than the
steam upstream. At a given flow rate this would result in a larger pressure drop across the blades than
there would be in isentropic flow. Since the pressures in a turbine are fixed, the flow rate becomes less
than isentropic and the entropy of the exhaust steam greater than isentropic. This means the heat drop
obtained across the stage is less than that for an isentropic expansion and is therefore less efficient.

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 11

 Fig.1.12 Steam Flow & Losses in a Turbine Stage

12 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

 Profile loss depends on factors such as Reynolds number, surface roughness, exit mach number
and trailing edge thickness.

1.5.3 Secondary Loss

This is due to friction on the casing wall and on the blade root and tip. It is a boundary layer effect
and therefore dependent upon the same considerations as those for profile loss. Fig. 1.13 shows how the
interaction of the boundary layer phenomenon between blade tip and casing and between root and shaft
creates the secondary flows A&B.

Fig.1.13 Secondary Flows in Blades

1.5.4 Tip Leakage Loss

This leakage, as its name implies, arises from steam passing through the small clearance
required between the moving blade tip and the casing, or between the end of the fixed blades and rotating
shaft. The problem is overcome to a certain extent through the use of inter-stage seals. At the blade
tips there is a shroud band, which extends around the entire circumference of the moving blades, joining
the tips. The shroud is sealed against the casing by several knife-edges.

The extent of the leakage depends on whether the turbine is of an impulse or reaction type.
Reaction turbines suffer a pressure drop across the moving blades, so encouraging flow through the
clearances. Consequently, it is more important for a reaction turbine to have good tip sealing than it is for
an impulse turbine. The sealing of impulse and reaction turbine stages is shown in Fig. 1.14.

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 13

 Fig.1.14 Interstage Sealing of Impulse & Reaction Stage

1.5.5 Disc Windage Loss

This is the friction loss due to the surface friction created on the discs of an impulse turbine as the
disc rotates in the steam environment. The result is the forfeiture of shaft power for an increase in Kinetic
and heat energy of the steam.

1.5.6 Loss due to Lacing Wires

The long blades of the LP cylinder are stiffened towards the tip with lacing wires as shown in Fig.
1.15. Their purpose is to damp vibrations and raise the resonant frequency of the blade so that it does
not coincide with any exciting frequency present in the turbine. The presence of these wires, however,
produces losses in blade efficiency because of the passage area that they block.

Fig.1.15 LP Turbine Blades Stiffened by Lacing Wire

14 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

1.5.7 Wetness Loss
This loss is incurred by moisture entrained in the low-pressure steam towards the exist plane of
the LP turbine. The loss is a combination of two effects, the first is the reduction in efficiency due to
absorption of energy by the water droplets and the second is the erosion of the final moving blades
leading edges.

Erosion occurs because the water droplets travel far slower than steam, consequently their
velocity relative to the blades is significantly different in direction as well as speed. The result is the
impact of condensation droplets on the blades, in particular at the tip where the blade rotational velocity is
highest.
In the past, the leading edge of the blade has been protected either by an edge-hardening
process or by the brazing on of stellite strips, which is a very hard material. Now a day, with better
understanding of the mechanism of droplet erosion, has produced means of alleviating much of the
problem. Higher last-stage heat drops are employed along with higher mass flow loading. The result is a
higher pressure at the inlet to the moving blades leading to the reduction in the size of droplets.

1.6 Stage Efficiency

The efficiency of turbine stage will always be somewhat less than ideal because of the losses
discussed in previous section 1.5. The efficiency of a well designed stage in a modern HP turbine is
about 85 - 90%. This stage efficiency is obtained as follows.

Actual heat drop in the stage

Stage  = x 100%
Isentropic heat drop in the stage
(Enthalpy at fixed blade inlet ) -
(Enthalpy at moving blade outlet)
= x 100%
(Enthalpy at fixed blade inlet) -
(Enthalpy at isentropic moving blade outlet)
This can be more clearly envisaged through the use of a turbine condition line as illustrated in Fig.
1.16. This is the locus of the conditions of the steam as it passes from the stop valve at the inlet to the HP
cylinder, then through all the turbine stages to the exit plane of the final moving blade of the LP cylinder
exhausting into condenser under vacuum. Ideally the expansion of steam through the turbine will occur
isentropically, that is, at constant entropy shown by the vertical dotted line in Fig. 1.16. In reality the
friction effects, such as profile and secondary loss, cause an increase in the heat and entropy of the
steam.

Fig. 1.17 shows a section of the condition line displaying one stage only. (H 1 - H2) represents the
isentropic heat drop and (H1 - H3) the actual heat drop. Cylinder efficiency then is obtained for HP, IP and
LP turbines by considering the heat drop across all the stages of the cylinder.

1.7 Cylinder Efficiency

Commonly two definitions are used for expressing cylinder efficiency for HP & IP turbines. The
first is the one described above and is known as the internal efficiency. The second includes the effect
of the pressure drop through the emergency stop valves and control valves of the HP turbine and
interceptor valves and control valves of the IP turbine and is known as external efficiency, as shown in
Fig. 1.18.

It can be seen that though the pressure drop across the valves is at constant enthalpy, the
change in entropy affects the moving blade exit isentropic enthalpy so that :

H1 - H 2 H1 - H 2
 (internal) = x 100% and  (external) = x 100%
H1 - H 3 H1 - H 4

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 15

 Fig.1.16 Turbine Condition Line Fig.1.17 Stage Condition Line

For HP and IP turbines, the kinetic energy effects at inlet and exhaust are small and usually ignored.
The kinetic energy at inlet to the LP turbine is also negligible but at the exhaust it is not so. As a result LP
efficiencies are calculated by considering either:
 The total exhaust conditions - which includes the steam kinetic energy and is measurable with a
correctly aligned pitot.
 The exhaust conditions - which represents conditions when the kinetic energy has been reduced to
zero and is measurable with pressure gauge.
Both exhaust conditions are displayed in Fig. 1.19 from which the following LP efficiencies can be
obtained. In LP turbine steam leaves the final stage with appreciable kinetic energy at the total pressure
and enthalpy shown in Fig. 1.19.

If the steam could be slowed down isentropically to zero kinetic energy, it would be at static
pressure and enthalpy. In practice the steam does slow down after leaving the last blade, but through the
conversion of its kinetic energy to flow friction losses. This is constant enthalpy process since the steam
cannot do work on blades that it has already left. Consequently steam comes to rest at the point "X" on
Fig. 1.18.

The heat loss between the total conditions at blade exit (H 2) and the static pressure line (H4) is
known as the leaving loss.

16 Steam Turbines for Power Generation

 Fig.1.18 HP, IP Cylinder Efficiencies Fig.1.19 LP Cylinder Efficiencies

Leaving Loss = Ve2/2 J/Kg

Where, Ve is the velocity of steam leaving the last row of blades. For a 500 MW turbine, the
velocity Ve is typically 170 m/s. Generally the leaving loss is responsible for 2% reduction in LP Cylinder
efficiency.

-o0o-

Chapter-1: Steam Turbine Theory 17