D.

Steam Turbine

D.1 Heat rate

The principles of stage and cylinder efficiency having been introduced, consideration
is now given to the definition of turbine heat rate. The heat rate is determined by
measurement of some plant operating parameters. These include:

Flow rate, using a differential pressure device.

Enthalpy, based on calibrated pressure and temperature measurement.
Electric power, based on calibrated voltage and current measurements.

Consider a steam cycle with single reheat and regenerative feed heating, shown in
Figure

Figure 15 (steam cycle with single reheat and regenerative feed heating)

The heat rate is defined by:

 A means of measuring cycle heat rate having been defined, consideration can now
be given to variations between the design heat rates quoted by the turbine
manufacturers and the heat rates achieved in operation.

In this section, the effects of certain terminal conditions of the steam cycle are
considered in detail. The impact on efficiency is evaluated and the constraints faced
by the designer are discussed.

D.2 Effect of steam inlet conditions

Firstly, consider the effect of steam inlet conditions to the turbine. The temperature
of the steam supplied to the turbine stop valve is a major factor in the cycle
efficiency and the efficiency of the turbine in converting available energy into work.
The effect of increasing the steam inlet temperature for a turbine expanding
between set pressures. The expansion process shown is for a single-cylinder turbine
with no increase in entropy. As the temperature is increased, the available energy
increases.
There are limitations to the selection of inlet steam conditions. As mentioned in the
previous section there are criteria which affect the choice of inlet conditions:
Maximum turbine exhaust wetness 12%.
Metallurgical constraints on the choice of turbine and boiler materials.

The metallurgical limit on temperature is 565C for coal-fired plant brought into
service with the CEGB over the years 1960 to 1986. This limit reflects a
compromise between ease of manufacture, creep strength and cost. The practice on
CEGB 500 MW and 660 MW sub-critical units has been to select a pressure of 159
bar at the turbine stop valve.

D.3 Effect of reheat conditions

Now consider the selection of reheat conditions for a single reheat cycle. Having
established the steam conditions at entry to the HP turbine, there are several
design compromises involved in the choice of reheat pressure and temperature.
First, consider the boundary conditions.
The HP cylinder exhaust steam must be sufficiently superheated to avoid any
wetness in the cold reheat pipework, which would cause severe erosion. As in the
previous section, the exhaust steam from the LP cylinder must be wet, but not
greater than 12% wetness. Now consider the effect of changing reheat
temperature for a constant pressure drop in the HP cylinder The effect of reducing
the pressure or of raising the temperature of the reheat steam is to reduce LP
exhaust wetness.
Although reducing LP exhaust wetness is desirable, too high a temperature could
lead to some difficulties with materials. The common practice has been to reheat to
the original superheat steam condition, i.e., 565C.
Another important factor in the design of the re-heater is the effect of pressure
losses in the pipework. The pressure loss results from a throttling effect which
reduces the available energy for work. The pressure at which steam is reheated is
about 25% of the stop valve condition, representing approximately a fourfold
increase in volume. This necessitates the use of increased pipe sizes which are
expensive and inflexible. The plant designer has to weigh the merit of using larger
pipes, or pipe runs in parallel, versus the improvement in cycle efficiency. The usual
pressure drop is 7.5 to 10% of the HP cylinder exhaust pressure. Finally,
constraints will exist in the boiler on the range of conditions attainable.

D.4 Effect of pressure loss in pipework and valves

the effect of pressure loss anywhere in the steam path causes a loss in cycle
efficiency by reducing the energy available for conversion into work. Valve gear at
the inlet to the HP and IP turbines is used to control the inlet mass flow and hence
the load on the machine by a throttling process. comparing the condition lines of a
reheat turbine at full load with all the valves wide open and one at part load, where
the load has been reduced by 40% by throttling on the inlet valves to the HP
turbine. Other pressure losses are neglected. The throttling effect is to reduce the
inlet pressure by a constant enthalpy process The result is a loss in entropy and
also a slight fall in temperature with some reduction in the available heat drop. This
accounts for a small loss in efficiency. However, the major flow reduction which
results is the main reason for the reduction of work done in the HP, IP and LP
cylinders. In this example, the condenser pressure is assumed to remain constant
and the pressure drop across the turbine cylinders is controlled by the Ellipse law
relationship.
Pressure loss is associated with pipe diameter, of surface roughness, steam flow
rate and the pipe geometry (number of bends, expansions, contractions). Simply
reducing piping losses by redesigning pipe runs, or by adding to the number of
pipes, may increase the capital cost of the plant in excess of the benefit gained in
running costs.

D.5 Effect of final feed temperatures

The concept of regenerative feed heating was introduced as a means of improving

cycle efficiency. The thermodynamic optimum final feed temperature for Rankine
cycle plant is, by definition, that which gives the highest cycle efficiency. However,
raising the final feed temperature would reduce the required size of the boiler
economiser surface.
In order to avoid an increase in the stack temperature, the air heater would have to
be increased in size, and the cost of this would exceed any saving on the
economizer. Consequently the economic optimum feed temperature is somewhat
lower than the thermodynamic optimum.
Raising the final feed temperature also has implications for the design of the HP
turbine. Past practice has been to use bled-steam from the HP turbine exhaust. The
saturation temperature of the bled-steam controls the maximum feed temperature
obtainable. To provide steam at a higher pressure with a higher saturation
temperature, requires steam to be bled from an intermediate point on the HP
cylinder. This is an additional complication and cost to the turbine plant. Despite the
increases in capital cost, the benefit from improved cycle efficiency is such that the
additional heater is worth including.

D.6 Effect of exhaust pressure

The efficiency of the cycle is strongly influenced by the LP turbine exhaust pressure.
The back pressure of the condenser sets the saturation temperature at which the
expanded steam rejects its latent heat of vaporisation to the cooling water.
Consequently, changes in back pressure affect the temperature of cycle heat
rejection.
However, there are several plant constraints affecting the selection design exhaust
pressure. Consider the effect of lowering the exhaust pressure on the turbine The
effect of a change in condenser saturation temperature on the cycle work done is
shown on a T-S diagram Generally, a low exhaust pressure is sought as it improves
cycle efficiency.

However, there are several plant constraints affecting the selection design exhaust
pressure. Consider the effect of lowering the exhaust pressure on the turbine
Expansion to a lower pressure results in increased wetness, and increased specific
volume at the exhaust.
The increase in exhaust wetness tends to increase the erosion of the last-stage
blades. However, more significant is the effect of increased specific volume,
implying the need for a higher volume flow rate. The volume flow rate through the
condenser is the product of the mean steam axial velocity and the annular exhaust
area. The annular exhaust area is limited by the maximum length of LP blade. At
3000 r/min, the centrifugal forces on the long blades become very high and there is
a limit to the mechanical stress which blade roots can sustain. Hence, having
established a maximum annular area, the increase in volume flow rate must be
accommodated by an increase in exit velocity. Steam issuing from the last stage of
the turbine with high residual velocity represents a loss of kinetic energy. This
kinetic energy performs no useful work on the turbine blades and therefore is a loss
of available energy, known as the 'leaving loss', and varies with the square of
velocity. The other loss associated with the turbine exhaust is the 'hood loss', which
defines the hydraulic pressure loss between the last row of moving blades and the
condenser; this also varies with the square of the same velocity.
The sizing of the LP turbine exhaust area affects the overall design of machine, in
particular the thermal design of the condenser. The requirement to provide a
certain volume flow rate affects the configuration of the LP cylinders since 1, 2, 3 or
even 4 double-flow LP cylinders may be operated in parallel to give the desired flow
rate. The number and size of the chosen arrangement of LP turbines affects many
other areas of design the rotor dynamics; the plant arrangement; size of civil
structures.
Having introduced all factors against decreasing exhaust pressure, the design
compromise is once more between improvements in cycle efficiency versus the
increase in plant complexity and therefore reliability and cost. Finally, a major
factor affecting the choice of exhaust pressure is the ambient temperature at which
the CW can reject heat. This factor seasonally effects the thermal efficiency of the
plant.