Steam turbine governing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steam turbine governing is the procedure of controlling the flow rate of steam into a steam
turbine so as to maintain its speed of rotation as constant. The variation in load during the operation
of a steam turbine can have a significant impact on its performance. In a practical situation the load
frequently varies from the designed or economic load and thus there always exists a considerable
deviation from the desired performance of the turbine.[1] The primary objective in the steam turbine
operation is to maintain a constant speed of rotation irrespective of the varying load. This can be
achieved by means of governing in a steam turbine.
Contents
[hide]

1 Overview
2 Throttle governing
o 2.1 Throttle governing small turbines
o 2.2 Throttle governing big turbines
3 Nozzle governing
4 By pass governing
5 Combination governing
6 Emergency governing
7 See also
8 References

Overview[edit]
Steam Turbine Governing is the procedure of monitoring and controlling the flow rate of steam into
the turbine with the objective of maintaining its speed of rotation as constant. The flow rate of steam
is monitored and controlled by interposing valves between the boiler and the turbine.[2] Depending
upon the particular method adopted for control of steam flow rate, different types of governing
methods are being practiced. The principal methods used for governing are described below.

Throttle governing[edit]
In throttle governing the pressure of steam is reduced at the turbine entry thereby decreasing the
availability of energy. In this method steam is allowed to pass through a restricted passage thereby
reducing its pressure across the governing valve.[2] The flow rate is controlled using a partially
opened steam control valve. The reduction in pressure leads to a throttling process in which the
enthalpy of steam remains constant.[1]

Figure1: 2-D schematic of throttle governor

Throttle governing small turbines[edit]

Low initial cost and simple mechanism makes throttle governing the most apt method for small
steam turbines. The mechanism is illustrated in figure 1. The valve is actuated by using a centrifugal
governor which consists of flying balls attached to the arm of the sleeve. A geared mechanism
connects the turbine shaft to the rotating shaft on which the sleeve reciprocates axially. With a
reduction in the load the turbine shaft speed increases and brings about the movement of the flying
balls away from the sleeve axis. This result in an axial movement of the sleeve followed by the
activation of a lever, which in turn actuates the main stop valve to a partially opened position to
control the flow rate.[2]

Throttle governing big turbines[edit]

In larger steam turbines an oil operated servo mechanism is used in order to enhance the lever
sensitivity. The use of a relay system magnifies the small deflections of the lever connected to the
governor sleeve.[2] The differential lever is connected at both the ends to the governor sleeve and
the throttle valve spindle respectively. The pilot valves spindle is also connected to the same lever at
some intermediate position. Both the pilot valves cover one port each in the oil chamber. The outlets
of the oil chamber are connected to an oil drain tank through pipes. The decrease in load during
operation of the turbine will bring about increase in the shaft speed thereby lifting the governor
sleeve. Deflection occurs in the lever and due to this the pilot valve spindle raises up opening the
upper port for oil entry and lower port for oil exit. Pressurized oil from the oil tank enters the cylinder
and pushes the relay piston downwards. As the relay piston moves the throttle valve spindle
attached to it also descends and partially closes the valve. Thus the steam flow rates can be
controlled. When the load on the turbine increases the deflections in the lever are such that the
lower port is opened for oil entry and upper port for oil exit. The relay piston moves upwards and the

throttle valve spindle ascend upwards opening the valve. The variation of the steam consumption
rate (kg/h) with the turbine load during throttle governing is linear and is given by the willans
line.[1]
The equation for the willans line is given by:

=aL+C
Where a is the steam rate in kg/kWh, 'L' is the load on turbine
in KW and C is no load steam consumption.

Nozzle governing[edit]
In nozzle governing the flow rate of steam is regulated by opening
and shutting of sets of nozzles rather than regulating its
pressure.[3] In this method groups of two, three or more nozzles
form a set and each set is controlled by a separate valve. The
actuation of individual valve closes the corresponding set of nozzle
thereby controlling the flow rate. In actual turbine, nozzle governing
is applied only to the first stage whereas the subsequent stages
remain unaffected.[1] Since no regulation to the pressure is applied,
the advantage of this method lies in the exploitation of full boiler
pressure and temperature. Figure 2 shows the mechanism of
nozzle governing applied to steam turbines.[2] As shown in the figure
the three sets of nozzles are controlled by means of three separate
valves.

Figure2: 2-D schematic of nozzle governor

By pass governing[edit]
Occasionally the turbine is overloaded for short durations. During
such operation, bypass valves are opened and fresh steam is
introduced into the later stages of the turbine. This generates more
energy to satisfy the increased load. The schematic of bypass
governing is as shown in figure3.

Figure3: 2-D schematic of bypass governor

Combination governing[edit]
Combination governing employs usage of any two of the above
mentioned methods of governing. Generally bypass and nozzle
governing are used simultaneously to match the load on turbine as
shown in figure 3.

Emergency governing[edit]
Every steam turbine is also provided with emergency governors
which come into action under the following condition.[2]

When the speed of shaft increases beyond 110%.

Balancing of the turbine is disturbed.

Failure of the lubrication system.
Vacuum in the condenser is quite less or supply of coolant
to the condenser is inadequate.

See also[edit]

Turbine
Steam turbines

References[edit]
a b c d

1. ^ Jump up to:
1966_jachens_steam turbines their
construction.pdf Steam Turbines: Their Construction,
Selection and Operation. W. B. Jachens (Proceedings of
the South African Sugar Technologists Association -1966
a b c d e f
2. ^ Jump up to:
Thermal engineering Rathore and
Mahesh. M (2010) Tata McGraw-hill.p.739.
3. Jump up^ Turbines, compressors and fans S M Yahya
(fourth edition) Tata McGraw-hill.p.393.

Categories:

Steam turbines

Mechanical power control

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Losses in steam turbines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Any turbomachine extracts energy from high-pressure steam and converts it into shaft work. The
total energy content available in steam supplied to the steam turbine is not completely recovered in
the form of mechanical energy. There are certain losses in energy of steam which occur inside a
turbine.
Contents
[hide]

1 Admission losses
2 Leakage losses
3 Friction losses
4 Exhaust loss
5 Radiation and convection losses
6 Losses due to moisture
7 Carry over losses
8 References
9 Further reading

Admission losses[edit]
In practice the flow of steam through nozzle is not isentropic, but accompanied with losses which
decrease the kinetic energy of steam coming out of the nozzle.
The decrease in kinetic energy is due to the following reasons

Viscous forces between steam particles

Heat loss from steam before entering the nozzle
Deflection of flow in the nozzle
Boundary layer development in the nozzle
Turbulence in the nozzle
The friction in the nozzle which reduces available enthalpy drop and hence actual velocity
leaving the nozzle is less than that obtained with is-entropic expansion

Leakage losses[edit]
Steam leaves the boiler and reaches the condenser after passing through the main valve, regulating
valves, nozzles, clearance spaces between nozzles and moving blades, diaphragm and rotating
shaft etc. Further there is large pressure difference between inside of steam turbine and the ambient
and also from one location to another location across these devices.
Therefore steam leakage takes place through

Main valve and regulating valve

Seals and glands
Spaces between nozzles and moving blades
Spaces between diaphragm and shaft of turbine
Space between moving blade rings and turbine casing
leakage of steam through these is a direct loss of energy.

Friction losses[edit]
Frictional resistance is offered during flow of steam through nozzles on moving and stationary
blades. In most of the turbines the blade wheels rotate in a space full of steam. The viscous friction
at the wheel surface causes admission losses as steam passes from nozzle to wheel. The effect of
partial admission creates eddies in the blade channels.
The surface of curved moving blades and stationary blades offers resistance, which increases with
increase in roughness of blade surface and relative velocity between steam and rotating blade.
The energy loss also takes place when the steam jets turns along the curvature of the blade surface.
The turning losses depend on the angle of turning.

Exhaust loss[edit]
The energy content of steam is not fully utilized in the turbine. Despite of being at very low pressure
the exhaust coming out of the turbine and entering the condenser carries some of kinetic energy and
useful enthalpy, which is direct energy loss.

Radiation and convection losses[edit]

The steam turbine operates at a relatively high temperature; therefore some of the heat energy of
steam is radiated and convected from the body of the turbine to its surrounding. These direct losses
and are minimized by proper insulation's.

Losses due to moisture[edit]

The steam passing through the last stage of turbine has high velocity and large moisture content.
The liquid particles have lesser velocity than that of vapor particles and hence the liquid particles
obstruct the flow of vapor particles in the last stage of turbine and therefore, a part of kinetic energy
of steam is lost. If the dryness fraction of steam falls below 0.88, the erosion and corrosion of blades
can also take place.

Carry over losses[edit]

When steam passes from one stage to another through the diaphragm, some energy losses takes
place, which are referred to as carry over losses and therefore, the kinetic energy of steam available
at succeeding stage of moving blades for utilization is less than that of the exit at preceding stage.
This is due to formation of eddies in annular space between the nozzle and moving blades.

References[edit]

Turbines, Compressors and Fans by Yahya; Tata McGraw Hill publications.

Thermal engineering by Rathore and Mahesh; Tata McGraw Hill publications.

Further reading[edit]

Basic concepts in Turbo machinery by Ingarm.

http://www.turbinesinfo.com/steam-turbine-efficiency.
http://www.physicsforums.com Physics General Physics/
http://vikashkumarsharma.blogspot.com/2012/.../losses-in-steam-turbines/
http://www.learnthermo.com/examples/ch05/p-5c-2.php
Categories:

Steam turbines

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This page was last modified on 27 February 2013 at 07:28.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site,
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