Steam Turbines

• A steam turbine is a prime mover which continuously converts

the energy of highpressure, high temperature steam supplied
by a steam generator into shaft work with the low temperature
steam exhausted to a condenser.

• This energy conversion essentially occurs in two steps:

1. The high-pressure, high-temperature steam first expands in

nozzles and comes out at a high velocity.

2. The high velocity jets of steam coming out of the nozzles,

impinge on the blades mounted on a wheel, get defl ected by
an angle and suffer a loss of momentum which is absorbed by
the rotating wheel in producing torque.
• A steam turbine is basically an assemblage of nozzles and blades.

• The Greek inventor Hero of Alexandria built the first prototype of a

steam turbine in 120 BC which operated on the reaction principles.

• A simple closed spherical vessel, mounted on bearings, carrying

steam from a cauldron or boiler with four tangential pipes
discharging steam is driven around by the reaction of the steam jets
(Fig. 7.1 a).

• Many centuries later, Giovanni Branca made the prototype of the

impulse steam turbine in 1629, which is often referred to as the
Branca’s wheel.
• Steam turbines are not only employed to operate electric
generators in thermal and nuclear power plants to produce
electricity, but they are also used

(a) to propel large ships, ocean liners, submarines and so on,

and

(b) to drive power absorbing machines like large compressors,

blowers, fans and pumps.
 FLOW THROUGH NOZZLES
• A nozzle is a duct by flowing through which the velocity of a
fluid increases at the expense of pressure drop.

• A duct which decreases the velocity of a fluid and causes a

corresponding increase in pressure is called a diffuser.

• The same duct may be either a nozzle or a diffuser depending

upon the end conditions across it.

• If the cross-section of a duct decreases continuously from inlet

to exit, the duct is said to be convergent, and if it increases
from inlet to exit, the duct is said to be divergent.
• If the cross section initially decreases and then increases, the
duct is called convergent-divergent.

• The minimum cross section of this duct is referred to as throat

• .
• A fluid is said to be compressible if its density changes with a
change in pressure (or temperature).

• If the density does not changes or changes very little, the fluid
is said to be incompressible.

• Gases and vapours are compressible, whereas liquids are

incompressible.
 Nozzle Efficiency
• Due to friction between the fluid and walls of the nozzle, the
expansion process is irreversible, although still approximately
adiabatic.

• In nozzle design, the usual practice is to base all calculations

on isentropic flow and then to make an allowance for friction
using a coefficient or efficiency.

• The nozzle efficiency, ηn, is defined as the ratio of the actual

enthalpy drop to the isentropic enthalpy drop (Fig. 7.8),
• The convergent part of a nozzle is usually
sharp, while the divergent part is gradual.

• Most of the friction loss occurs in the

divergent portion of the nozzle.

• If the semi-divergence angle a is large

(Fig. 7.9), there will be flow separation
from the wall with the formation of
eddies, which entails energy loss.

• If the angle a is small, the length of nozzle

becomes large to provide the desired exit
flow area, causing more energy loss due to
friction.

• Usually, α varies from 5° to 8°.

 Nozzle Types
• Probably the most common physical conception of the nozzle is the
converging diverging type, although its application in the turbine design is
somewhat limited.
• More generally, the converging or subsonic nozzles are used.

• There are two types of nozzles:

1. Reamed or round nozzles
2. Foil nozzles

• Reamed nozzles are used principally in the high pressure impulse stages of
steam turbines.
• The principal advantages of the reamed nozzle are low cost, ease of
manufacture, and adaptability to standardization.
• The principal disadvantages are lower efficiency, somewhat greater length,
and an inability to utilize effectively for flow purposes the area of a given
flow annulus.
• The angle of divergence in reamed nozzles, as mentioned earlier, is usually
about 12° and rarely over 15°, in order to avoid flow separation with its
attendant loss.

• The converging part is normally sharp and a good fillet or rounded entrance
is provided.

• The foil nozzle is formed by curved airfoil sections.

• The nozzle is short with well-rounded entrance edges and sharp exit edges
affording a good issuing jet.

• These nozzles have high efficiency and are costlier. A foil nozzle block is
made by welding the individual foils between sections of concentric rings.

• The block is then welded in place between the outer and inner shrouds.
The foil nozzle finds wide application in large steam turbines.
 Flow Area of Nozzle
• If the condition of steam at inlet to the nozzle is known, the
critical pressure p* can be estimated by multiplying the inlet
pressure p0 by 0.546 or 0.577 depending on whether the inlet
steam is superheated or dry saturated, respectively.

• If the exit pressure is given and the nozzle efficiency is

known, the exit velocity of steam, as well as the critical
velocity of steam at the throat can be estimated from
• where the enthalpy drops are read from the Mollier chart
(kJ/kg).
• With the actual states of steam at exit and the throat being
fixed on the Mollier diagram, the specific volumes can be
obtained from it.
• Knowing the mass flow rate of steam (w), the flow areas
required at the nozzle exit, as well as at the throat can be
estimated from
• If the nozzles are circular in cross section,

where n is the number of nozzles and dexit is the exit diameter of

the nozzles.

• The cross section may be rectangular or square also.

• Foil-type nozzles are mounted in a nozzle diaphragm which is

horizontally split into two halves and joined by vertical flange bolts
(Fig. 7.10a).

• The top halves of the diaphragms, which form the stator, can be
lifted by cranes thus exposing the rotor for inspection and repair, if
needed.
• Steam is expanded in a set of nozzles from 10 bar. 300 °C to 2
bar. Are the nozzles convergent or convergent–divergent?
Neglecting the initial velocity, find the minimum area of the
nozzles to flow 1 kg/s of steam. Assume isentropic expansion.
 TURBINE BLADING
• Depending upon the types of blades used and the method of energy transfer
from the fluid to the rotor wheel, the turbines may be of two types:

(a) Impulse turbines

(b) Reaction turbines

Impulse Turbines

• In impulse turbines, all pressure drops of steam occur in the nozzles

and there is no pressure drop as steam flows through the passage between
two blades.
• High-velocity jets of steam impinge upon the blades with velocity 1 V , get
deflected by an angle, and come out at a lower velocity 2 V impressing a
torque on the blades. The pressure of steam p1 remains essentially constant
as steam flows through the blades.

• From the principle of conservation of momentum,

Momentum of steam jets at inlet to the blades – momentum of jets at exit
from the blades (both resolved in the direction of motion of the wheel) =
momentum (angular) absorbed by the wheel in producing shaft work.

• In Figs 7.17 (b) to 7.17 (d), it is seen that the wheel rotates only due to the
impulsive effect of the jets (i.e., the difference of momenta of the jets
deflected by the blades).

• The blades of such a wheel are called impulse blades.

• The mean peripheral velocity of the blades, also called the
mean blade velocity, Vb-bar , is given by

• where Dm is the mean diameter of the wheel and N is its rpm.

The area of flow or blade annulus (Fig. 7.17(e)), Ab, is given
to be

• where D1 is the root diameter, D2 is the tip diameter, and hb is

the height of the blades.
 Velocity Diagrams, Diagram Work and
Diagram Efficiency
• Steam coming out from the nozzles at absolute velocity strikes the blades
with relative velocity while the blades rotate with mean peripheral
velocity . .
• Steam leaves the blades with relative velocity while its absolute velocity
is .
• As shown in Fig. 7.18(a), α is the nozzle angle subtended by the nozzle
axis with the direction of rotation of the wheel, β1 is the inlet blade angle
and β2 is the exit blade angle.
• The inlet and exit velocity triangles of Fig. 7.18(a) have been superposed
on a common in Fig. 7.18(b).
• If all the angles are measured clockwise, then γ is the exit blade angle (γ =
180 – β2) and δ is the angle made by absolute exit velocity of steam leaving
the blades with the plane of rotation of the wheel.
• It is the difference of the cosine components of the velocities of
steam which drives the wheel and produces the torque.
• It is called the change in the velocity of whirl, , which is
given by
Optimum Velocity Ratio
 where α is the nozzle angle.

• The lower is the nozzle angle, higher is the blading efficiency.

• However, too low a nozzle angle may cause energy loss at
blade inlet.
• Therefore, the nozzle angle has to be maintained within a
certain range, which varies from 16° to 22°.
Compounding of Steam Turbines
• Such high rotational speeds cannot be properly utilized.
• It entails large friction losses.
• The centrifugal stresses also become very large.
• Alternatively, if N is fixed, the diameter of the wheel becomes too large.

• Moreover, with a single stage, the velocity of steam at exit is sufficiently

high and there is a considerable loss of kinetic energy with exiting steam.

• To obviate these difficulties the turbines are compounded or staged, where

steam instead of expanding in a single stage is made to expand in a number
of stages, whereby the turbine speed is reduced while securing the same
enthalpy drop of steam.

• Basically, there are two ways of compounding steam turbines:

1. Pressure compounding or Rateau staging

2. Velocity compounding or Curtis staging
 Pressure Compounding or Rateau Staging
• The pressure compounding or Rateau staging corresponds to putting a
number of simple impulse stages in series (Fig. 7.23).

• The total enthalpy drop is divided equally among the stages (Fig. 7.24).

• The pressure drops only in the nozzles.

• There is no pressure drop (theoretically) while steam flows through the

blades.

• The kinetic energy of steam increases in the nozzles at the expense of the
pressure drop and it is absorbed (partially) by the blades in each stage, in
producing torque
• In Fig. 7.24, the total isentropic enthalpy drop of steam (h0 –
h4) is divided equally among the four stages of the turbine.

• In Mollier diagram, the enthalpy drop (h0 – h4) is measured,

then the enthalpy drop, h0 – h1 = h1 – h2 = h2 – h3 = h3 – h4 = (h0
– h4)/4 are computed and inserted on the insentropic line.

• The interstage pressures noted from the diagram are p1, p2 and
p3, i.e. the pressure after first stage is p1, the pressure after
second stage is p2, and so on.
 Velocity Compounding or Curtis Staging
• In velocity compounding or Curtis staging, all the pressure drop and hence,
enthalpy drop of steam take place in a single row of nozzles and the
resultant kinetic energy of steam is absorbed by the wheel in a number of
rows of moving blades with guide blades in between two such rows.

• As shown in Fig. 7.25, steam expands in the single row of nozzles from p0
to p1 with velocity increasing from .

• The pressure p1 remains essentially constant thereafter. The KE of steam

jets

at nozzle exit is partially converted to shaft work in the first row of moving
blades with velocity decreasing from .
• The exiting steam jets are then deflected by the stationary guide blades to
the next row of moving blades where part of the remaining kinetic energy
is converted to shaft work.

• It is a two-row Curtis or velocity stage having two rows of moving blades

with one row of guide blades in between.

• In a three row Curtis stage, the two-row stage is followed by a second row
of guide blades and then a third row or moving blades, so that the energy
conversion from fluid to rotor takes place in three stages.

• Steam with high KE exiting the nozzles works on the first row of moving
blades, gets deflected by the first row of guide blades, works on the
second row of moving blades, again gets deflected by the second row of
guide blades and finally does work on the third row of moving blades.

• The velocity diagrams for the first row of moving blades and the second
row of moving blades are shown respectively in (a) and (b) of Fig. 7.26.
• The blade friction factor kb may be assumed the same for both moving and
guide blades.
Reaction Turbines
• In these turbines, pressure drop occurs both in the nozzles or the fixed row
of blades, as well as in the moving row of blades (Fig. 7.30), since the
moving blade channels are also of the nozzle shape.

• Due to the expansion of steam while flowing through the blades, there is
an increase in kinetic energy, which gives rise to reaction in the opposite
direction (by Newton’s third law of motion).

• Blades rotate due to both the impulse effect of the jets (due to change in
their momentum) and the reaction force of the exiting jets impressed on the
blades in the opposite direction.

• Such turbines are called impulse-reaction turbines, or to distinguish them

from impulse turbines, simply reaction turbines.
• The degree of reaction (R) of these turbines is defined as

where the subscripts “mb” and “fb” represent moving blades and fixed
blades, respectively.

• If (h)mb = 0, R = 0, which is the case of pure impulse turbines where

there is no enthalpy drop of steam in the moving blades, and all the
enthalpy drop of the stage take place only in nozzles.

• If hfb = 0, R = 1, which is the case of a pure reaction (R = 100%)

turbine, e.g. Hero’s turbine.

• If equal enthalpy drops occur in the fixed and moving blades, i.e. if hfb =
hmb = (hstage)/2, R = 1/2 or 50%.

• Sometimes, 50% reaction turbines are also called Parsons turbines.

• The velocity diagrams for the moving blades of a 50% reaction turbine are
shown in Fig. 7.31.

• With a simple impulse type the value of Vr2 (= kb Vr1 ) would be given by
BE, but in the reaction turbine this velocity is increased to BC by further
expansion of the steam in the nozzle-shape blade channels.
• For manufacturing advantage, both fixed blades and moving blades are
made similar in shape so that they can be extruded from the same set of
dies.
• Since hfb = hmb, V1 =Vr2 again, for similar geometry, α = β2 = 180° – γ
• The triangle ABD and DBC are similar.
Vr1 = V2 and β1 = 180° – δ
P1. The velocity of steam entering a simple impulse turbine is
1000 m/s, and the nozzle angle is 20°. The mean peripheral
velocity of blades is 400 m/s and the blades are symmetrical. If
the steam is to enter the blades without shock, what will be the
blade angles?
(a) Neglecting the friction effects on the blades, calculate the
tangential force on the blades and the diagram power for a
mass flow of 0.75 kg/s. Estimate also the axial thrust and
diagram efficiency.
(b) If the relative velocity at exit is reduced by friction to 80%
of that at inlet, estimate the axial thrust, diagram power and
diagram efficiency.
P2. The angles at inlet and discharge of the blading of a 50%
reaction turbine are 35° and 20°, respectively. The speed of
rotation is 1500 rpm and at a particular stage, the mean ring
diameter is 0.67 m and the steam condition is at 1.5 bar, 0.96
dry. Estimate
(a) the required height of blading to pass 3.6 kg/s of steam, and
(b) the power developed by the ring.