Shaft Sealing System

on Steam Turbines
Wilhelm Herzog
Energy Sector
Energy Service Division / Oil & Gas and Industrial Applications Services

© Siemens AG 2009. All rights reserved.

Introduction / Content

Content

ƒ Shaft Seals

ƒ Oil Seal on Bearing Housing

ƒ Solution Approach

ƒ Condensing / Back pressure Turbine

Sealing

ƒ Seal Steam Temperature

ƒ Summary

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Page 2 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Typical Steam Turbine Labyrinth Sealing

Inlet shaft Balance piston Exhaust shaft

labyrinth labyrinth labyrinth

Bearing housing PT << P atm

oil seal
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Page 3 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Labyrinth seal basics

“Toothed“ bushing
Radial clearance

Lower pressure Rotor with seal strips Higher pressure

ƒ Labyrinth seals consist of a number of thin strips or serrations

ƒ The clearance between shaft and bushing is very small
ƒ The resistance offered by this series of obstruction to steam
flow holds leakage to a minimum

A seal is required to keep the steam in and air out of the turbine!

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Page 4 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Back pressure turbine shaft sealing

Leakoff steam
PA > P atm
PT >> P atm P atm

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Page 5 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Condensing turbine shaft sealing

Seal steam

PT << P atm P atm

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Page 6 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Shaft Seals on Condensing Turbines

Seal air Leak-off steam

Shaft labyrinth seal

Oil seal

Seal steam

Seal
steam
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Page 7 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Non-contacting Shaft Seals

Despite minimal clearance in a non-

contacting shaft seal, the prevailing
“Toothed“ bushing
differential pressure always causes: Flow of medium

Flow through the labyrinth

Rotor with seal strips

Basic problem:
Either something escapes from the sealed space, or something gets into it.

Areas of use: 1. Oil seal on bearing body

2. Steam seal on shaft labyrinth

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Page 8 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Oil Seal on Bearing Housing

Purpose:

Prevention of
ƒ Oil escape from bearing housing
ƒ ingress of foreign matter into the oil system

Standard solution:
Maintain negative pressure in the bearing housing respectively the oil
system of approx. – 10 to – 20 mm water column (WC)

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Page 9 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Oil Seal on Bearing Housing

Problematic ?
ƒ Centralized vacuum generation from oil vapor extraction located on
oil tank.
ƒ As long as that is working properly, no oil will escape, but foreign
matter can enter the bearing housing and get into the oil system
ƒ Different arrangement of oil return lines and ventilation situation in the
bearing housing, with different levels of efficiency at the points of
relevance
ƒ If the suction power of the exhauster deteriorates due to clogged
filters, the vacuum will become insufficient

Î Result: Oil leak

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Page 10 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Solution approach for a
„Leak tight Bearing Housing“

Way out of the dilemma:

ƒ A flow in inward and outward direction must be created within

the seal

ƒ The seal medium must be harmless both to the environment

and the oil system.

? How can this be achieved ?

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Page 11 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Oil Seal using Sealing Medium

Seal air

Bearing body

ƒ Division of the labyrinth, with Pressure

center-fed seal air at a slight gauge
positive pressure. Oil seal ring

Atmosphere
ƒ The option Seal air or gas is
also employed for oil systems
that operate at a slight positive
pressure
Rotor

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Page 12 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
 Shaft Labyrinth Steam Sealing

Leakoff steam

Condensing turbine: Shaft

labyrinth
Sealing steam is required to prevent
ƒ air ingress into condenser
ƒ escape of seal steam to atmosphere

Atmosphere Vacuum

Backpressure turbine:
ƒ Escape of leak steam to atmosphere
Seal steam
must be prevented

Rotor

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Page 13 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Steam Seals on Condensing Turbines

Is there any difference in function to the described oil seal system?

Yes, because precise pressure stabilization of the seal steam (with an
optimum somewhere between 0.02 and 0.04 bar gauge) is necessary to prevent
the ingress of air!
p seal < 0.02 => air ingress into condenser
If
p seal > 0.04 => escape of steam from labyrinth

Consequently:
- Manual control is hardly ever sufficient for this difficult task.
- Only in the rarest of instances could the required precision of control be
achieved using mechanical and hydraulic systems.

Modern electronic PI controllers, preferentially in combination with

pneumatically actuated control valves, have proven to work best in
actual practice!
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Page 14 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Backpressure Turbine Sealing

The backpressure-turbine situation: Leakoff-steam extraction

ƒ No air ingress possible:
Internal pressure >Atmosphere
ƒ Leak-off steam must be extracted
Leak-off steam >
How is this accomplished? 4bar
ƒ Leak-off steam connection
ƒ Leak-off steam exhaust to Atmosphere
atmosphere / leak steam condenser

Effects:
ƒ Forced directional flow from the
atmosphere to the extraction Back-
chamber pressure
Rotor
Ö No steam can escape!

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Page 15 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
 „Mixed“ Application on Heating Turbines

Vacuum mode Pressure mode

(Internal pressure < Atmosphere) (Internal pressure > Atmosphere)
and
Seal-steam control Leak-off steam exhaust
CV 1 CV 2

Extraction

Precondition:
Separation of
SIEMENS
- seal steam supply
and
- leak-off steam exhaust !

100
Split range: Stroke

0 y
0 Vacuum mode Pressure mode Pressure controller
100 signal
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Page 16 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Seal-steam Temperature

Requirement:
The temperature difference between seal-steam and casing inlet /
exhaust end must not exceed allowable limits:

Recommended seal steam temperature ranges:

Seal steam
Lowest allowable Highest allowable
temperature
Wheel-chamber
Turbine inlet end temperature at 100% Live steam temperature
load – 150°C

Turbine exhaust ≥ 150 °C, minimum 50°C

≤ 300 °C
end above saturation line

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Page 17 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Seal-steam Temperature

The most economical and functionally reliable configuration

are two sealing steam systems:

CV 1 CV 2

Extraction

SIEMENS

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Page 18 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Seal-steam Temperature / Flow

If no suitable second source of seal steam is available?

Ö Seal-steam temperature must be reduced by cooling

CV 1

Leak-off steam
extraction

SIEMENS

Seal-steam cooler difficulies:

ƒ Only very small amounts of steam and injection water must be handled
ƒ Seal-steam and injecting-water requirement can even approach zero
ƒ Low volumetric flow through the steam cooler

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Page 19 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2
Summary

Strategies for dealing with leaky shaft seals:

ƒ Avoid undue clearance rotor / sealing tips

ƒ Oil seal rings with seal-air connection
ƒ Electronic seal-steam control
ƒ Pneumatically actuated control valves
ƒ Optimized extraction-line arrangement
ƒ Elimination of seal-steam cooler by switching to seal-steam
supply from low-pressure/low-temperature steam system

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 Thanks
for your attention

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Page 21 May 2009 W. Herzog Siemens Energy; E S SO PLS EN NBG 2