CHAPTER-6

STEAM TURBINE

1
 CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Classification of Steam 1. Impulse Turbines (De-Laval, Curtis and
Rateau)
Turbines 2. Reaction Turbines (Parson)
1. The impulse principle
 Theory of Steam Turbine 2. The reaction principle
(Operating Principle)
1. Pressure Compounding (Rateau turbine)
 The Impulse Turbine 2. Velocity Compounding (Curtis turbine)
3. Pressure-Velocity Compounding (Curtis-
 Compounding of Impulse Rateau turbine)
Turbine
 The impulse-reaction turbine
 Flow of steam through impulse turbine
 Tangential force (FT), (whirling force)
 Axial force (fa), (axial thrust)
 Power produced (P), (diagram power)
 Blade efficiency (diagram efficiency) 2

 Solved example (1)

 STEAM POWER PLANT
PROCESS

Fuel Boiler Generator

Turbine

Exhaust Steam
Pump Low Pressure
and temp
Low Pressure
Water
Cold Hot region
pump

Temperature at cold region

Figure 6.1 Sectional view of steam turbine

 STEAM TURBINE
 Steam turbine transform thermal energy is into mechanical
energy in the form of rotary motion- in turn electrical power
 The working substance of steam turbines is steam.
 Steam turbines are axial flow machines (radial steam turbines are
rarely used).
 The pressure of working medium used in steam turbines is very
high.
 The pressure and temperature of working medium in hydraulic
turbines is lower than steam turbines.
 Steam turbines of 1300 MW single units are available
 STEAM TURBINE
 Steam turbine consists a stationary blade called nozzles and rotor
blades or vane mounted on the shaft.

Figure 6.2 Sectional view of steam turbine

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF STEAM
TURBINE
Merits:
• Ability to utilize high pressure and high temperature steam.
• High component efficiency.
• High rotational speed.
• High capacity/weight ratio.
• Smooth, nearly vibration-free operation.
• No internal lubrication.
• Oil free exhaust steam.
• Can be built in small or very large units (up to 1200 MW).
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
 APPLICATION AND SELECTION

Application areas Selection criteria

 Power generation  Efficiency
 Refinery, Petrochemical  Life
 Pharmaceuticals  Power density (power to weight
 Food processing ratio)
 Petroleum/Gas processing  Direct operation cost
 Pulp & Paper mills  Manufacturing and maintenance
 Waste-to-energy costs
CLASSIFICATION OF STEAM
TURBINE
Steam turbines can be classified in several different ways:
 By details of stage design or action of steam
I. Impulse (velocity) called De Laval
II. reaction (pressure) called Parson’s turbine
III. Combined steam turbine
 By direction of steam flow:
I. Axial flow
II. Radial flow or
III. Tangential flow
 Based on number of stage (s)
I. Single stage
II. Multi stage
 THEORY OF STEAM TURBINES
 The steam from the boiler is expanded in a nozzle, resulting in
the emission of a high velocity jet.
 The 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 conversion of energy in the blades takes place by impulse,
reaction or impulse reaction principle.
 CONT’D…
A steam turbine is a two part
device:
Part 1: Energy Conversion via
Nozzles or Stationary Blades

Nozzle- change direction of velocity

and increase speed
Part 2: Energy Exchanger by
using Rotor or Moving Blades.

Rotor- create rotation on the shaft

Continuous power can be produced
only if a series of blades were
attached on the circumference of a
turbine wheel

Figure 6.3 Sectional view of steam turbine 10

Impulse turbines:
 Smaller than reaction
turbine of
comparable power
 More durable
 Have longer time
between overhaul
than reaction
turbines.
Reaction turbines
 Have a slightly
higher operating
efficiency
 But usually used in
low pressure steam
environments.
Figure 6.4 Pressure and velocity profile of impulse and
reaction steam turbines
 COMPARISON BETWEEN IMPULSE & REACTION
TURBINE
Impulse turbine Reaction turbine
 Process of complete expansion of  Pressure drop with expansion and
steam takes place in stationary
generation of kinetic energy takes
 An impulse turbine has fixed
place in the moving blades
nozzles that orient the steam flow  Reaction turbine makes use of the
into high speed jets.
reaction force produced as the steam
 Blade profile is symmetrical as no accelerates through the nozzles
pressure drop takes place in the formed by the rotor
rotor blades  Efficient at the lower pressure stages
 Suitable for efficiently absorbing  Fine blade tip clearances are
the high velocity and high necessary due to the pressure
pressure leakages
 Steam pressure is constant across  Inefficient at the high pressure stages
the blades and therefore fine tip due to the pressure leakages around
clearances are not necessary the blade tips
 Efficiency is not maintained in the  Fine tip clearances can cause
lower pressure stages (high damage to
velocity cannot be achieved in the tips of the blades
steam for the lower pressure
PRINCIPLE OF IMPULSE TURBINE
Impulse Turbines
 Impulse blades can be recognized
by their shape.
 They are usually symmetrical and
have entrance and exit angles
respectively, around 20°

Schematic of Impulse
steam turbine

What will happen if exit

angles is 0/180° for
impulse steam turbine ?

Look the next figure…

Figure 6.5 Actual velocity diagram of an impulse steam turbine
 THE VELOCITY TRIANGLES OF IMPULSE TURBINE

U
a2 a1 b2 b1
V2 V1 Vr1
Vr2

Combined velocity triangle

V1: Inlet Absolute Velocity a1: Inlet flow Angle.

Vr1: Inlet Relative Velocity b1: Inlet Blade Angle.
Vr2: Exit Relative Velocity b2: Exit Blade Angle.
V2:Exit Absolute Velocity a2: Exit flow Angle.
The blade velocity is defined at mean diameter of rotor wheel.
 For same wheel speed, the blade velocity is directly proportional
to blade height.
WORK DONE-IMPULSE STEAM TURBINE

 From Euler’s equation, work done by the steam is given by;

Wt = U(Vw1 ± Vw2) (1)

 Since Vw2 is in the negative tangential direction, the work done per unit mass flow is
given by,
(2)
Wt = U(Vw1+Vw2)

 If Va1 ≠ Va2, (look the figure) there will an axial thrust in the flow direction expressed by
(3)

(4)

Assume that Va is constant then,

Wt = UVa (tanα1+ tanα2) or

Wt = UVa (tanβ1+ tanβ2)

This equation is often referred to as the diagram work

 CONT’D…
 In actual case, the relative velocity is reduced by friction and expressed by a blade
velocity coefficient k. Thus
k = Vr2/Vr1
 If the blade is symmetrical then β1 = β2 and neglecting frictional effects of the blades
on the steam, Vr1 = Vr2.

 Using the blade velocity coefficient k=Vr1/Vr2 , and symmetrical blades (β1 = β2 ),

Vw  2 V1 cos 1  U 

then

w  2U V1 cos 1  U 
 Hence, the rate of work performed per unit mass is

 Therefore, the efficiency of the blade is (diagram efficiency)

 LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES
 Profile loss: Due to formation of boundary layer on blade surfaces.
Profile loss is a boundary layer phenomenon and therefore subject to
factors that influence boundary layer development. These factors are
Reynolds number, surface roughness, exit Mach number and trailing
edge thickness.
 Secondary loss: Due to friction on the casing wall and on the blade
root and tip.
 Tip leakage loss: Due to steam passing through the small clearances
required between the moving tip and casing or between the moving
blade tip and rotating shaft.
 Disc windage loss: Due to surface friction created on the discs of an
impulse turbine as the disc rotates in steam atmosphere.
 Leaving loss: Due to kinetic energy available at the steam leaving
from the last stage of LP turbine.
 Partial admission loss: Due to partial filling of steam, flow between
the blades is considerably accelerated causing a loss in power.
 SUMMARY
Tangential force (Ft): Axial force (Fa), (Axial thrust):

Ft = m.(Vw1 ± Vw2)

Power produced (P), (Diagram power):

Wt = U(Vw1+Vw2)

Blade efficiency (b), (Diagram efficiency):

19
EXAMPLE -6.1

20
21
 EXAMPLE -6.2
In a single stage impulse turbine the isentropic enthalpy drop of 200 kJ/kg
occurs in the nozzle and nozzle angle of 15°. The blade velocity coefficient
is 0.96 and ratio of blade speed to steam velocity is 0.5. The steam mass
flow rate is 20 kg/s and velocity of steam entering is 50 m/s. Determine
a) the blade angles at inlet and outlet if the steam enters blades
smoothly and leaves axially.
b) the blade efficiency
c) the power developed in kW
d) the axial thrust.
 COMPOUNDING OF STEAM
TURBINES
 Compounding is achieved by using more than one
set of nozzles, blades rotors in a series keyed to a
common shaft
 This is done to reduce the rotational speed of the
impulse turbine.

 Three main types of compounded impulse

turbines are:

a) Pressure compounded
b) Velocity compounded
c) Pressure and velocity compounded impulse
turbines.
 PRESSURE COMPOUNDIND

 It involves splitting up of the whole

pressure drop into a series of smaller
pressure drops across several stages
of impulse turbine.
 All rotors are mounted on the same
shaft.
 VELOCITY COMPOUNDING
If high velocity of steam is allowed to flow through one row of moving
blades, it produces a rotor speed of about 30000 rpm which is too high
for practical use.
Velocity drop is achieved through many moving rows of blades instead of a
single row of moving blades. It consists of a nozzle or a set of nozzles
and rows of moving blades attached to the rotor or the wheel and rows
of fixed blades attached to the casing
PRESSURE VELOCITY COMPOUNDING
 In this combination a steam is partially expanded in a row of nozzles
and then enters the rows of velocity compounding, then the steam
enters a second row of nozzles followed by another rows of velocity
compounding and so on
 Pressure velocity compounding gives the advantage of producing a
shortened rotor compared to pure velocity compounding.
STAGE EFFICIENCY AND REHEAT FACTOR
The Thermodynamic effect on the turbine efficiency can be understood
by considering a number of stages between two stages as shown in
Figure
 DEGREE OF
REACTION
 Degree of reaction is a parameter that describes the relation
between the energy transfer due to the static pressure change and
the energy transfer due to dynamic pressure change.

 Degree of reaction is defined as the ratio of static pressure drop

in the rotor to the static pressure drop in the stage. It is also
defined as the ratio of static enthalpy drop in the rotor to the
static enthalpy drop in the stage
 BLADE HEIGHT IN AXIAL FLOW
TURBINE
The continuity equation m = ρAV may be used to find the blade
height ‘h’. The annular area of flow = πDh. Thus the mass flow
rate through an axial flow turbine is

Blade height will increase in the direction of flow in a turbine and

decrease in the direction of flow in a compressor.
 EXAMPLE -6.3
Single row impulse turbine operates between 10 bar and 5 bar with expansion
efficiency of 95%. 10 kg of dry saturated steam per second enters into nozzle
and leaves nozzle at angle of 20° to the axis of rotation of blades. The blade
velocity coefficient is 0.90, blade speed is 200 m/s and internal losses due to
disc friction and windage losses is 0.5 kJ/kg of steam. Consider that there is
no axial thrust on the blades. Determine:
a) Blade angles
b) Stage efficiency
c) Stage output in hp and prepare heat balance sheet. Also reason out the
error if any by solving using velocity diagram.
 EXERCISE

A De’Laval turbine runs with steam supplied at 16 bar, 250°C. The nozzle
efficiency is 90%, blade velocity coefficient is 0.98, mechanical efficiency is
95%, nozzle angle is 15°, symmetrical blades with 30° angle, mean diameter
of wheel is 80 cm, back pressure is 0.15 bar. Determine

a) the speed of rotation

b) the steam consumption per-bhp-hr
c) the stage efficiency
d) the percentage energy loss at exit.
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH!!