Steam Turbines

This chapter discusses the basic design and components of a high pressure, intermediate pressure, and low pressure steam turbine. Turbines provide the primary means of converting the thermal energy contained in the steam system to the mechanical energy in the turbine shaft. This is used to drive the main generator in a power plant as well as various auxiliary pieces of equipment such as boiler feed pumps. The amount of energy exchanged between the steam system and the turbine system during this thermal to mechanical energy conversion process is a function of both the velocity of the steam flow as well as the differential pressure drop across the steam blades. Superheated steam from the boiler or steam generator enters the high pressure (HP) section of the turbine where the steam is expanded across the high pressure turbine blades. The chapter also describes the safety hazards associated with turbine system equipment.