Steam Turbines
Steam turbines extract power from steam as it passes from high-pressure and high-temperature
conditions at the inlet to low-pressure and low-temperature conditions at the outlet.
From: Membranes for Industrial Wastewater Recovery and Re-use, 2003
Related terms:
Power Generation, Turbine, Compressors, Gas Turbines, Biomass, Heat Recovery Steam
Generator, Steam Generator, Pressure Steam
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Steam Turbines
Dipak K. Sarkar, in Thermal Power Plant,
2015
The steam turbine handles the maximum
power demand among all stationary prime
movers that are used for electric power
generation. A steam turbine is a constant
volume machine. The relation between
nozzle-box pressure and stage pressures
vs. load is linear in nature. There are two
basic types of steam turbines. The impulse
stage is best suited for high-pressure
region and for small steam quantities. The
reaction stage is advantageous at the lower
pressure region, where a large volume of
steam must be handled. There are three
basic methods of steam admission to the
turbine: throttle governing, nozzle
governing, and bypass governing.
Lubrication of the steam turbine is
required to minimize the rotating friction
in the bearings as well as to cool the
bearing surfaces. The operation of steam
turbines suffers from various losses. The
steam turbine is designed with three
distinct operating regimes: constant
pressure, true sliding pressure, and
modified sliding pressure.
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Steam Turbines
Michael S. Forsthoffer, in Forsthoffer's
More Best Practices for Rotating
Equipment, 2017
Supporting material
Total Train Control and Protection
Objectives
Table 5.10.1 presents the total train control
and protection objectives.
Table 5.10.1. Total Train Control/Protection Objectives
■ Meet driven equipment control requirements
■ Compressor—pressure or flow
■ Pump—pressure, flow or level
■ Generator—load
■ Meet above objectives when in series or parallel with other
trains
■ Continuously protect entire train from damage due to:
■ Overspeed
■ Loss of auxiliaries
■ Component mechanical failure
■ Driven equipment upsets (surge, minimum flow, high
load, etc.)
Regardless of the type of driven
equipment, the objective of the control
and protection system is to assure that the
required quantity of product or generated
power is continuously supplied
maintaining the highest possible total train
efficiency and reliability.
Fig. 5.10.1 presents a process diagram for
a steam turbine driven compressor train.
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Figure 5.10.1. Total train control.
Depending on the selected process
variable and location, any PIC or FIC will
continuously monitor the selected process
variable sending its signal as an input
signal to the turbine speed controller. For
this example, assume the set point is a
flow controller located in the discharge line
of the turbo-compressor (FICD). The
process system head (energy) requirements
A, B, C are shown. These different energy
requirements can represent either
increased pressure ratio requirements
(suction strainer blockage exchanger ΔP
etc.) and/or gas density changes (M.W. P or
T). As the process head (energy)
requirements increase from A to B to C,
the input flow variable will decrease if the
turbo-compressor speed does not change.
However, as soon as the monitored
process variable, FICD ≠ flow set point, the
turbine speed controller output will open
the turbine inlet throttle valves to provide
more turbine power to increase the head
(energy) produced by the compressor to
meet the additional process system head
requirements and therefore maintain the
desired throughput.
Adjusting the speed of the driven
equipment is the most efficient control
method since there are no control valves
required in the system. Therefore only the
exact value of head required by the process
system is produced by the turbo-
compressor.
Also noted in Fig. 5.10.1 are the two major
protection systems for the compressor and
steam turbine, the surge protection and
turbine overspeed protection systems. The
surge system has been previously
discussed, the turbine overspeed system
will be discussed later in this chapter. In
addition to the two major protection
systems mentioned above, other typical
protection systems for a rotating
equipment train are:
■ Shaft vibration
■ Bearing bracket vibration
■ Axial thrust displacement
■ Bearing temperature
■ Process gas temperature
■ Lube oil pressure
■ Seal oil ΔP
■ Suction drum high liquid level
(compressors)
Control
A turbine governor is a speed controller.
Important facts concerning expansion
turbine governors are shown in
Table 5.10.2.
Table 5.10.2. Control
■ The governor is the heart of the control system
■ The governor in simple terms compares input signal(s) to a
set point and sends an output signal to achieve the desired
set point.
■ An example of a simple governor system is “cruise control”
in a car
Regardless of type, all controllers have
three identical parameters:
■ Input
■ Set point
■ Output
Some familiar controllers are:
■ Pressure
■ Flow
■ Level
■ Temperature
■ Surge
■ Speed
As an example, refer to Fig. 5.10.2, which is
a speed controller that may be familiar.
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Figure 5.10.2. A control system analogy.
(A) Cruise control. (B) Steam turbine governor.
In both cases, load change is inversely
related to speed change. The controller
compares input to set point and changes
output appropriately.
In Fig. 5.10.2, we compare an auto “Cruise
Control” to a steam turbine governor
(typical single stage mechanical/hydraulic).
Both are speed controllers and have an:
■ Input
■ Set point
■ Output
The table below shows a comparison of
these parameters.
Parameter C.C. (Cruise control)
Input Actual speed from
speedometer
Set point Selected by driver
Output To fuel control system
Fig. 5.10.3 is a schematic of a steam
turbine governor system.
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Figure 5.10.3. Steam turbine control.
(Courtesy of M.E. Crane, Consultant)
Note that the set point can either be a
manual set point, similar to a driver setting
a “speed” in a cruise control system or a
process variable. Examples of process
variable set points would be:
■ Pressure
■ Flow
■ Level (pump applications)
There are many controller designs.
Historically, the first controllers were
entirely mechanical. An example of a
mechanical speed controller is shown in
Fig. 5.10.4.
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Figure 5.10.4. A mechanical governor system.
Commonly called “Fly Ball Governors,” the
input shaft from the driver would rotate
the weights through a gear set. As the
weights rotated, centrifugal force would
move the weights outward, compressing
the spring and thus moving the output
linkage. The tension on the spring from
the speed changer (set point) would
control the speed as the equilibrium point
of the input and set point values.
Many mechanical governors are still in use
today on older, small single valve steam
turbines. The mechanical governor output
force is limited and lead to the
development of the mechanical hydraulic
governor pictured in Fig. 5.10.5.
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Figure 5.10.5. A mechanical hydraulic governor system.
The mechanical-hydraulic governor uses
the same mechanical mechanism to
determine the output signal. However, the
output shaft moves a pilot valve, which
allows hydraulic fluid (usually oil) to
provide the output signal to the throttle
valve(s). The common Woodward “T.G.”
and “P.G.” governors are examples of
mechanical/hydraulic governors. These
governors have internal positive
displacement oil pumps driven by the
governor input shaft.
All mechanical-hydraulic governors require
hydraulic fluid and site preventive
maintenance practices must include these
governors. They are provided with a sight
glass to indicate the operating level of the
hydraulic fluid. Typical fluids used are
turbine oil and automatic transmission
fluid “ATF.” Governor instruction books
must be consulted for specific hydraulic
specifications. In larger systems, the
governor hydraulic fluid reservoir may not
be large enough to provide a sufficient
fluid quantity to fill all of the speed
governor oil lines.
Readers are cautioned that additional
hydraulic fluid may have to be added
during initial start-up and whenever work
has been done on the governor system
during a turnaround.
Fig. 5.10.6 is a representation of a
mechanical-hydraulic governor system for
a multi-valve steam turbine.
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Figure 5.10.6. Typical mechanical-hydraulic governor for turbine drive.
(Courtesy of Elliott/Woodward)
The system shows a Woodward “P.G.–P.L.”
governor system. These systems, common
in the 1960s and 1970s are still in use
today and have provided extremely reliable
service. However, both mechanical and
mechanical-hydraulic governors receive
their input signal via a gear arrangement.
Therefore, they cannot be repaired or
removed while the turbine is operating.
During the 1970s refinery, petrochemical
and gas plant capacities increased
significantly. As a result, the lost product
revenue for 1-day downtime for governor
repair became very large (typically
$500,000 to over $1,000,000!). Therefore,
there was an urgent need for a governor
system that could be maintained without
having to shut down the turbine. The
electro/hydraulic governor met this need.
Table 5.10.3 presents the important facts
concerning this system.
Table 5.10.3. Electro-Hydraulic Governors
■ Do not require a mechanical input signal
■ Provide extremely accurate control
■ Provide self diagnostics, fault tolerance and auto-start
capability
■ Require actuator to convert electric output signal to control
signal (hydraulic or pneumatic)
■ Types:
■ Analog
■ Digital
■ Either type can be:
■ Non-redundant
■ Redundant
■ Triple redundant
Since they did not require a mechanical
(gear or shaft drive) input signal, these
governors could be exchanged while the
operators kept the turbine in the manual
mode. As an analogy, exchanging
automatic control valves is the same
procedure. In this case, the operator
maintains process conditions by manually
throttling the bypass valve while the
automatic control valve undergoes repair.
The first electronic governors were analog
type, which required significant
maintenance to change out cards. Digital
governors were introduced in the late
1970s and are the only type of speed
control used today. As micro-processors
became popular, digital governors also
offered the great advantage of redundancy.
Redundant and triple redundant governors
became very popular because governors
could now automatically transfer on line to
allow control to be maintained while the
other governor required maintenance.
Operator assistance was no longer
required. Fig. 5.10.7 presents a block
diagram for an electro-hydraulic governor
systems.
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Figure 5.10.7. Electrohydraulic governor block diagram.
(Courtesy of M.E. Crane Consultant)
In the 1990s, the trend is to control all
process and machinery functions through
the plant central distributed control
system. A new chemical plant in South
America is presently designing a D.C.S.
system that will control all critical system
functions:
■ Turbine speed control
■ Process control
■ Surge protection
■ E.S.D. systems
■ On-line monitoring
■ Emergency pump auto-start
In this design, all critical functions are
actuated on the basis of a two out of three
voting system.
As previously discussed, extraction
turbines are used to optimize plant
steam balance and overall steam cycle
efficiency. Table 5.10.4 defines the function
of an extraction steam turbine control
system.
Table 5.10.4. Extraction Control
Function: satisfy driven equipment control requirement and
provide required extraction steam quantity at desired flow or
pressure
An extraction control system consists of multiple governors with
feed back
Both mechanical-hydraulic and electro-
hydraulic extraction control systems are
successfully operating in the field. Either
design incorporates two or more
governors operating together to meet the
control system objectives. Each governors
output controls a specific set of throttle
valves. In addition, each governor in an
extraction or admission system
Set alert About this page
Steam Turbines
D. GRAY B.SC, M.I.E.E., M.I.MAR.E.,
M.A.I.E.E.E., in Centralized and Automatic
Controls in Ships, 1966
Publisher Summary
This chapter discusses the control system
of steam turbines in ships. The basic
requirement of the control system for
steam turbines is that the shaft speed shall
be controlled in accordance with the
command from the bridge. The optimum
method of control is decided by the
watchkeeping engineer who acts as a servo
link in the chain of command between the
bridge and the machinery. With remote
controls and particularly with bridge
control, the same actions must be carried
out but further safety interlocks are
required as control may be affected by
persons other than a watchkeeping
engineer, and the servo link previously
provided by the engineer may at present
be absent. When the bridge control is in
charge, the control room or engine room
controls should be ineffective and vice
versa. The throttle control system should
be arranged so that it cannot be energized
until the turning gear is disengaged. The
chapter also discusses a typical turbine
control system in detail.
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Combined cycle power
plants
M.P. Boyce, in Combined Cycle Systems
for Near-Zero Emission Power Generation,
2012
1.11.4 Types of condenser
Large steam turbines are usually
condensing type steam turbines.
Condensers can be water-cooled or air-
cooled units. Water-cooled condensers are
more common and also more effective.
The cooling effectiveness of the condenser
is very important to the performance of the
LP steam turbine. If the cooling
effectiveness is reduced, then the back
pressure of the LP steam turbine is
increased, and the power output of the
steam turbine is reduced.
The use of multishaft CCPPs has one
major benefit: the gas turbine and the
steam turbine can be from two different
manufacturers. A major limitation of the
single-shaft CCPP is that it does not allow
the flexibility of choosing the best available
steam turbine for a given plant.
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Combined Heat and Power
Principles and
Technologies
Paul Breeze, in Combined Heat and
Power, 2018
Steam Turbines
Steam turbines are one of the workhorses
of the power generation industry. Large
steam turbines can achieve 47% efficiency.
Smaller units that are likely to be used in
CHP systems will have lower efficiency,
though this need not be a problem. Steam
turbines for large coal-fired or nuclear
power plants will usually have multiple
units to provide an output often in excess
of 1000 MW. Single steam turbines of up
to 250 MW are available while for small-
scale applications, units as small as 50 kW
can be found. With this wide capacity
range it is normally possible to find a unit
suitable for any CHP application.
A simple steam turbine CHP system needs
a boiler and steam generator to raise the
steam to drive the unit. The fuel can be any
fossil fuel as well as biomass fuels. For
highest electrical conversion efficiency, the
steam will be condensed at the exit of the
steam turbine, creating the largest
pressure drop possible across the turbine
blades. However, for CHP applications,
steam is often taken from the steam
turbine exhaust to use in a process. Such
turbines are called back-pressure turbines
because their exhaust pressure is not the
minimum. In addition, it is possible to
design a steam turbine CHP system in
which steam is extracted at one or more
points along the turbine. Turbines with this
capability are called extraction steam
turbines.
An alternative configuration is to take
steam directly from the plant boiler to use
in an industrial process and then use the
remaining energy to generate electricity,
much in the manner of a bottoming CHP
system. The flexibility of steam turbines in
CHP applications makes them ideal for
many types of industrial process.
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Steam turbine cycles and
cycle design optimization
A. Ohji, M. Haraguchi, in Advances in
Steam Turbines for Modern Power Plants,
2017
2.1 Introduction
Steam turbine technology supports our
modern life and important industrial
activities in present society. This chapter
covers important information on the
design of steam turbine systems. The
steam turbine plays an important role in
the thermal power plant. This chapter also
includes important information relating to
design optimization for thermal power
plants such as the Rankine cycle, thermal-
power cycle, and integrated gasification
combined cycle (IGCC) power plants.
Firstly, descriptions of the basic cycles of
steam turbine plants are provided,
including the Rankine cycle, reheat cycle,
and regenerative cycle, along with a
calculation of thermal efficiency in thermal
power plants. Secondly, descriptions of
different steam turbine types are provided,
including condensing turbine, back
pressure turbine, extraction condensing
turbine, and mixed pressure turbine.
Thirdly, descriptions relating to steam
turbine cycles used for industrial purposes
are provided, such as steam-turbine cycles
for petrochemical plants, gas- and steam-
turbine combined cycle, cogeneration
cycle. In addition, descriptions relating to
ultra-supercritical (USC) thermal power
plants, advanced-USC (A-USC) thermal
power plants, and IGCC power plants are
provided.
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Steam Turbine Combined
Heat and Power Systems
Paul Breeze, in Combined Heat and
Power, 2018
Abstract
Steam turbines are used extensively in
both large and small power plants to
generate electrical power. Coal-fired, gas-
fired, nuclear, and biomass fuels can be
used to generate steam for steam turbine
plants. Steam is also used for a variety of
industrial processes and steam turbines
are important components of big
combined heat and power (CHP) plants for
industrial use. They can be used in various
configurations. Back pressure turbines
offer the simplest option but extraction
turbines can provide a more flexible supply
of steam and provide steam at different
temperatures and pressures. More
complex configurations can include gas
turbines and steam turbines in a combined
cycle CHP plant. When only a low grade
T.G. (Turbine governor)
heat source is available, the organic
Actual speed from speed
pick-up Rankine cycle turbine can be used to
Selected by operator generate electrical power.
To steam throttle valve
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Integrated Design of
Communities
Moncef Krarti, in Optimal Design and
Retrofit of Energy Efficient Buildings,
Communities, and Urban Centers, 2018
7.4.1.1 Steam Turbines
Steam turbines are the oldest and most
versatile prime movers used in power
generation. In the United States, most of
the electricity generated from power plants
use steam turbines. However, steam
turbines are also utilized in CHP systems,
combined cycle power plants, and district
heating systems. The capacity of steam
turbines ranges from 50kW to several
hundred megawatts. There are several
types of steam turbines used today in
power generation applications including
the following:
• Condensing turbines: These are power-
only utility turbines. They exhaust
directly to condensers that maintain
vacuum conditions at the discharge.
• Noncondensing turbines: Also referred
to as back-pressure turbines. They
exhaust steam to the facility mains at
conditions close to the process heat
requirements.
• Extraction turbines: These have
openings in their casing for extraction
of a portion of the steam at some
intermediate pressure before
condensing the remaining of the
steam.
The electrical generating efficiency of
steam turbines varies from 37% for large
electric utility plants to 10% for small
plants that produce electricity as a
byproduct of steam generation. The
common applications of steam turbines for
CHP systems involve industrial processes
where solid or waste fuels are readily
available. In the United States, it is
estimated that over 580 industrial and
institutional facilities use steam engines to
produce about 19,000MW of electric
capacity. Table7.10 lists typical cost and
performance parameters for cogeneration
systems using steam turbines.
Table 7.10. Cost and Performance Characteristics for Selected Cogeneration
Systems Using Steam Turbines
Cost and Performance Parameters System capacity in kW
500 3000 15,000
Total installed cost ($/kW) $918 $385 $349
Fuel input (MMBtu/h) 26.7 147.4 549.0
Electric efficiency (%) 6.4 6.9% 9.3%
Steam to process (MMBtu/h) 19.6 107.0 386.6
Overall efficiency (%) 79.6 79.5 79.7
Source: Energy Nexus Group,2002a. Technology
Characterization: Steam Turbines, A report prepared for EPA,
Climate Protection Partnership Division, Washington, D.C.
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EXTERNAL
COMBUSTION ENGINES
AND USE OF BIOMASS
FUELS
L.A. KRISTOFERSON, V. BOKALDERS, in
Renewable Energy Technologies, 1986
Steam Turbines
Steam turbines are supplied by several
manufacturers. However, few of them
produce models with an output of less
than 200 kW.
Steam turbines in this size range are of the
single-stage type, which implies that
turbine efficiency is quite low compared to
larger steam turbines or high-performance
steam engines.
These small steam turbines have a high
operating speed to optimize their
efficiency. A speed reduction gear is then
needed to match the electric generator
speed.
Another concept is the “total flow” helical
rotor screw expander (using two counter
rotating screws), which can be used with a
wide variety of steam conditions. It is
rugged and can work on steam-fluid
mixtures as well as pure steam. This design
is suitable also for small sizes, some 50 kW,
and development work on this concept is
now under way.
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Steam turbine monitoring
technology, validation, and
verification tests for power
plants
D.R. Cornell, in Advances in Steam
Turbines for Modern Power Plants, 2017
11.2.9 Testing of steam turbines in
combined-cycle units
Testing of steam turbines within a
combined cycle will typically utilize the
ASME PTC 6.2–2011 test code which will
determine the steam turbine output for a
given heat input (flow). In some instances,
if a steam turbine performance test is not
required, a total combined cycle test will be
implemented following the ASME PTC 46
code. This test is less sophisticated in
terms of determining the individual
component performance within the
combined cycle. It will only determine
overall combined cycle efficiency, heat rate,
and output for a given fuel input.
Testing of steam turbines in combined
cycles follows procedures different than
those used for fossil fired cycles with
regenerative feedwater heating. Steam
turbines in combined cycles include reheat
and nonreheat units, condensing and
noncondensing types, and units with
cogeneration capability. Key attributes of
testing steam turbines in a combined cycle
include:
• output performance, which is steam
turbine output at a predetermined set
of reference conditions including all
flows entering and leaving the test
envelope;
• methods that determine the energy to
and from the steam turbine;
• if applicable, methods that account for
the influence of reheating;
• proper accounting for all leakages
within the cycle.
It is important to note that the output
performance determined as part of the
steam-turbine test within a combined cycle
is not an output capacity test (common in
a fossil unit test) but is an output corrected
to a reference heat input. A fossil unit
output capacity test is corrected to
reference pressure and temperatures but
not steam flow. Similar to other ASME PTC
6 tests for steam turbines, test results are
corrected for test conditions that deviate
from reference heat balance conditions.
Some of the major corrections used for a
steam turbine test in a reheat combined
cycle include (1) throttle flow, (2) HP
turbine flow capacity, (3) throttle
temperature, (4) reheat delta pressure, (5)
IP admission flow, (6) reheat temperature,
(7) LP admission flow, (8) LP admission
enthalpy, and (9) LP exhaust pressure.
The testing of steam turbines in combined
cycles follows many of the same protocols
as testing steam turbines in a fossil fired
plant with respect to test procedure, test
conditions, plant stability, and uncertainty
analysis. For combined cycle plants in a
single-shaft arrangement in which the
steam turbine and gas turbine are on a
common shaft-line driving a single
generator, determining the steamturbine
output performance becomes very difficult.
This is mainly due to fact that it is
challenging to determine with any
accuracy the generator output contribution
from the steam turbine. HP and IP
efficiency can be determined from
enthalpy drop tests for a single-shaft plant.
Typically, for combined cycle units that are
in a single-shaft configuration, overall
plant performance is determined in
accordance with PTC 46.
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