TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT
REACTION TO AN IMPULSE
A HERO’S TAKE
DAVID FLIN gets under the bonnet of steam turbines, from their beginnings
to their future
T
he first steam turbine was created
in the 1st century by Hero of
Alexandria. The steam engine was
used to open temple doors.
Things have moved on in the 2,000 years
since then. Charles Parsons developed the
first modern steam turbine in 1884, which
was connected to a dynamo to generate
7.5kW of electricity. But what designs of
steam turbine have withstood the test of
time and are currently in use?
Steam turbines come in a wide range of
sizes, from 0.75kW (used as mechanical
drives for pumps and other shaft-driven
equipment) to massive 1,500MW units. A
turbine may be classified with several
descriptors. For example, an impulse
steam turbine may be a non-condensing
unit with two stages of reversing elements,
cross-compounded with a low-pressure
reaction turbine.
Confused? Hopefully, this article will
explain the terminology used.
Principles of design
An ideal steam turbine is an isentropic
process, in which the entropy of the steam
entering the turbine is equal to the entropy
of the steam leaving it. This ideal doesn’t
exist, and typical isentropic efficiencies
range from 20-95%, depending on the
application of the turbine.
The interior of a turbine comprises
several rows of blades. One set of
stationary blades is connected to the
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casing and one set of rotating blades is
connected to the shaft. The sets intermesh
with certain minimum clearances, with the
size and configuration of sets varying to
efficiently exploit the expansion of steam at
each stage.
To maximise turbine efficiency, the steam
is expanded in a number of stages. Work is
generated from each steam expansion and
pressure drop. These stages are
characterised by how the energy is
extracted from them and are known as
either impulse or reaction turbines. Most
modern steam turbines are a combination
of the reaction and impulse blading stages.
Typically, higher pressure sections are
impulse type and lower pressure stages are
reaction type.
Impulse turbine
In an impulse turbine, the fixed blades (or
nozzles) orient the steam flow into high
speed jets, which the moving rotor blades
convert into shaft rotation. As the steam
flows through the fixed blade, it loses
thermal energy and gains kinetic energy,
giving it a high velocity as the steam
pressure falls. This high steam velocity
impacts the moving blades, inducing
rotation. The steam leaving the moving
blades retains a large portion of the velocity
it had on entering the moving blades. The
next stage of fixed blades then redirects
the high velocity steam jet, enabling the
next row of moving blades to extract more
energy from the steam flow and convert it
into shaft rotation. In impulse turbines,
steam expansion only happens at nozzles.
Reaction turbines
In a reaction turbine, the moving rotor
blades are arranged to form convergent
nozzles. This type of turbine makes use of
the reaction force produced as the steam
accelerates through the nozzles formed by
the rotor. Steam is directed onto the rotor
by the fixed blades of the stator. The steam
leaves the stator as a jet that fills the entire
circumference of the rotor. The steam then
changes direction and increases its speed
relative to the speed of the blades. A
pressure drop occurs across both the
stator and the rotor, with steam
accelerating through the stator and
decelerating through the rotor, with no net
change in steam velocity across the
PICTURE CAPTION Industrial steam turbines can
be used for various purposes: industrial power
plants, (captive power plants in the chemical,
petrochemical, sugar and textile industry, in pulp
and paper mills, steel works and mines); for
cogeneration and district heating plants; for waste-
to-energy applications such as waste incineration
facilities; biomass power plants; for combined-cycle
applications or in petrochemical plants and
refineries. Shown is the SST-300 industrial steam
turbine with a capacity of 50MW at Nuremberg
plant, Germany SIEMENS
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2008 issue one 65

TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT

combined stage, but with a decrease in ILLUSTRATION Comparison of impulse and reaction blading arrangements
both pressure and temperature, reflecting
the work performed in driving the rotor. Impulse turbine Reaction turbine
Reaction turbines create large amounts
of axial thrust, and so require the use of
Moving buckets
thrust bearings. Rotor
Fixed nozzle Rotating nozzle
Types of steam turbine:
Moving buckets
• condensing; Rotating nozzle
• non-condensing; Rotor
Fixed nozzle
• reheat;
Stator
• extraction;
• induction.

Condensing turbines Rotation

These turbines exhaust steam in a partially
condensed state, typically of a quality near
90%, and at a pressure well below
atmospheric to a condenser. These
turbines are the mainstay of the power
generation industry, particularly in large
utility central plants.
The moisture in the last turbine stages
require more expensive materials,
otherwise erosion of the blades becomes a
major problem.
Condensing turbines are used for all
coal-fired, oil- and gas-fired steam electric
plants, all nuclear power plants, and all
combined cycle plants.
Non-condensing steam turbines
Non-condensing or backpressure steam
turbines are most widely used for process
steam applications. The exhaust pressure
is controlled by a regulating valve to suit the
needs of the process steam pressure.
These are commonly found at facilities
where large amounts of low pressure
process steam are available.
Reheat turbines
Reheat turbines are used almost
exclusively in electric power plants. In a
reheat turbine, steam flow exits from a high
pressure section of the turbine and is
returned to the boiler, where it is further
superheated. The steam then goes back
into an intermediate pressure section of the
turbine and continues its expansion.
Virtually all reheat turbines are also classed
as condensing turbines.
Steam pressure
Steam velocity
Extraction turbines
Extraction turbines are common in
applications such as papermaking that
require steam at a certain pressure and
temperature. In an extraction turbine, some
of the steam is taken from a point of the
turbine having the desired temperature and
pressure, and used for industrial process
needs or sent to boiler feedwater heaters.
Extraction flows may be controlled with a
valve, or left uncontrolled. A one-way valve
is almost always located on the extraction
piping. In the event of an emergency
turbine shutdown, pressure from the
extraction line could supply enough energy
to overspeed the turbine if there is a loss of
load on the machine. The check valve
prevents this from occurring.
Reversing turbines
Reversing turbines are equipped with one
or more stages of blades that are faced in
the opposite direction of the main blading.
A valving arrangement allows for the main
steam line to be closed to the forward
blades and opened to the reversing blade
elements. These reversing blades are
mounted on the same shaft as the forward
elements. Normally, the reversing blades
share the same condenser. During
reversing operations, the forward blade
elements are spinning backwards in hot
steam. This incurs a large efficiency loss
known as windage loss. This steam is
relatively stagnant and the forward blades
may overheat during extended operation.
Induction turbines
Induction turbines introduce low pressure
steam at an intermediate stage to produce
additional power.
Casing and shaft arrangements
Some of the more common casing and
shaft arrangements include: single casing,
tandem compound and cross compound
turbines.
Single casing is the most basic
arrangement where a single casing and
shaft are coupled to a load.
Tandem compounding is used where
two or more casings are directly coupled

66 energy-profile.com

together to drive a single load on one shaft.
A cross compounded turbine arrang-
ement features two or more shafts driving
two or more loads that may operate at
different speeds. Gearboxes have also
been developed to input the multiple shafts
of the cross compound arrangements and
output a single shaft.
Bearings and lubrication
Two types of bearings are used to support
and locate the rotors of steam turbines.
Journal bearings are used to support the
weight of the turbine rotors. A journal
bearing consists of two half cylinders that
enclose the shaft and are internally lined
with Babbit, a metal alloy usually consisting
of tin, copper and antimony.
Thrust bearings axially locate the turbine
rotors and absorb longitudinal force. A
thrust bearing is made up of a series of
Babbit-lined pads that run against a
locating disc attached to the turbine rotor.
High pressure oil is injected into the
bearings to provide lubrication. The oil is
carefully filtered to remove solid particles,
PICTURE CAPTION 3D drawing of an SST-600 industrial steam turbine with a capacity of up to 100MW
SIEMENS
and specially designed centrifuges remove
any water from the oil.
Shaft seals
The shaft seal on a turbine rotor consist of
a series of ridges and grooves around the
rotor and the rotor housing. These present
a long, tortuous path for any steam leaking
through the seal. The seal therefore does
not prevent the steam from leaking, but
merely reduces the leakage to a minimum.
The leaking steam is collected and
returned to a low pressure part of the
steam circuit.
Operation and maintenance
When warming up a steam turbine for use,
the main steam stop valves after the boiler
have a bypass line to allow superheated
steam to slowly bypass the valve and
proceed to heat up the lines in the system
along with the steam turbine. In addition, a
turning gear is engaged when there is no
steam to the turbine to slowly rotate the
turbine to ensure that there is even heating
to prevent uneven expansion and rotor
ENERGY PROFILE POWER
bowing. After first rotating the turbine by
the turning gear, allowing time for the rotor
to assume a straight plane, then the turning
gear is disengaged and steam is admitted
to the turbine. For most utility and industrial
steam turbines, a starting and loading chart
is included in the unit instruction manual.
The starting and loading chart is used
to guide turbine operators in loading their
units in such a way as to minimise
the rotor and shell thermal stresses,
and to also minimise the chances
of the rotor heating faster
than the shell, creating a rotor
long condition.
Problems with turbines are
rare and the maintenance
requirements are relatively small.
Any imbalance of the rotor can lead
to vibration, which, in extreme cases can
lead to a blade coming off the rotor and
punching through the casing.
It is also essential to ensure that the
turbine be turned with dry steam. If water
gets into the steam and is blasted onto the
blades (described as moisture carryover),
then rapid impingement and erosion of the
blades can occur, possibly leading to
imbalance and catastrophic failure. In
addition, water entering the steam stream
will probably result in the destruction of the
thrust bearing for the turbine shaft. To
prevent this, along with controls and baffles
in the boilers to ensure high quality steam,
condensate drains are installed in the
steam piping leading to the turbine.
Speed regulation
Controlling the speed of a turbine is
essential, as turbines need to be run up
slowly to prevent damage. In addition, the
generation of electricity requires precise
speed control in order that the electricity is
of a usable quality. This speed regulation is
usually achieved by use of a governor.
Uncontrolled acceleration of the turbine
rotor can lead to an overspeed trip,
effected by the nozzle valves controlling
the flow of steam to the turbine to close.
Were this not to happen, the turbine
may continue to accelerate until it
breaks apart. ep
2008 issue one 67