Steam pressure power generation

Pressure steam is generated in the boiler and used for driving the turbine for power generation. Conventional steam pressure is around 170 kgf/cm2. Consequently, the boiling of water to generate steam does not occur in the boiler. As the water in the liquid phase directly shifts to the vapor phase, the once-through boiler is required instead of the drum type boiler. The relationship between steam conditions and the thermal efficiency of the plant is expressed by the Ranking diagram. High temperature strength under high pressure was the problem confronting the designing of the super heater, re heater, main steam valve, and turbine blades, etc. However, as high-temperature materials have become available economically of late, the supercritical pressure generation has come to be often adopted. High efficiency steam turbine blade A steam turbine that provides a high thermal efficiency by adopting the latest blade design theories, such as the laminar flow blade (Shrinked blade) with the cross-section of the blade designed to cause the least turbulence to the steam flow, a nozzle with its tip twisted in consideration of the affect of the outer and inner walls on the tip and the root of the blade (controlled vortex nozzle), and the multiple fin sealing designed to prevent steam leak from the tip of the blade. The trailing end of the Shrinked blade is thinned, preventing turbulence of steam on the back of the blade. The Shrinked blade has come to be theoretically determined due to the development of the blade design theory and the enlargement of the computer capacity.

We are connected Stepper Moter with this Blade which will give the outpur in the form of Voltage.After that we will connect This output voltage to an AC DC Converter and save in a Chargable Battery.From that battery we will glow a 100 Watt bulb .

The Parts Required for this projects are: Lpg Gas cylynder Boiler Stepper Moter 19 blade Fan Chargable Battery AC-DC Convertr 100 Watt Bulb Register Transister Capcitor Relay PCB LED

Electric power generation with steam at the individual household level is making a comeback. At the commercial power plant level, it never left. Even nuclear power plants run on steam. What is new is the fairly recent phenomenon of household-size steam power units for standby power generation. Unfortunately, most people today have no idea how a steam engine works or the things you have to keep in mind when setting up a home steam power system.

The easiest way to deal with a technology unfamiliar to you is to introduce one concept at a time. Lets introduce the basic concept or outline and then go back and flesh out the details. A home steam system consists of a boiler with a furnace to turn water to steam, a steam engine to convert the steam energy to rotary motion to drive a generator, and a system to re-circulate the water once the steam has turned back into water. During the re-circulation of the water utilizing the exhaust steam heat (providing hot water and/or heating the home itself) increases the efficiency of the system. The design of a home steam system is dictated by the circumstances of the home where it will be installed and the fuel available. Now here is what you have to keep in mind while designing your system. The Furnace The design of your furnace is based upon the type fuel you are going to use. Fuel can be solid, liquid, or a gas (vapor). It should be fairly obvious that a furnace built to burn logs and twigs is not going to work well with used motor oil or natural gas, or vice versa. The Boiler Boilers come in sizes and shapes as varied as the colors of the rainbow. However, there are only two basic types.

The firetube boiler is what you see on the old farm tractors and locomotives. A firetube boiler basically consists of a tank full of water with hollow tubes running through it. The hollow tubes allow more heating surface, in order to turn the water to steam more rapidly and efficiently. A firetube boiler will normally not withstand steam pressure in excess of 250 psi. This is one of the reasons so many of these devices went into orbit during the last century and the early days of this one. Our metals are much stronger now. Once in awhile you will still hear of a firetube boiler exploding, even when built with modern materials. Todays explosions can almost always be traced back to lack of maintenance. Even this potential danger can be largely eliminated by proper construction. Skip Goebel of Sensible Steam in Branson, Missouri, builds his boilers so that, in the unlikely even that one of his boilers "goes," the inside of the boiler, the tubes, give way first. The result is that the water goes down and puts out the fire in the furnace. Late in the nineteenth century some unknown genius came up with the idea of putting the water in the tubes instead of a water tank. The fire in the furnace then turned the water in the tubes into steam. Thus was born the watertube boiler. The watertube boiler had advantages. The first advantage was that steam in a tube is much more easily contained than steam in a box or a drum. Steam pressures in a tube can reach up to 5,000 psi before anything gives way. The second advantage is that water in a tube turns to steam much more rapidly than it does in a drum. It may take 20-30 minutes to "get up steam" in a firetube boiler. A watertube boiler will give you steam in 1-3 minutes. The third advantage is that a watertube boiler is cheaper and easier to build. The simplest of the watertube boilers is called a monotube boiler, which in essence is nothing more than a coiled copper tube (like a moonshine coil) with water in it and a fire underneath it. The fourth advantage to a watertube boiler is that they are really hard to explode. Normally, all a watertube boiler will do is spring a leak.

There are a couple of disadvantages to watertube boilers. First, a watertube boiler will not allow for the fluctuations in pressure that a firetube boiler will. A monotube requires a fairly constant load. Second, if a watertube boiler springs a leak and lets steam escape in an enclosed space, you could have a problem. If you breathe in 300 to 400 steam, your lungs could collapse. This is one reason you do not put a boiler inside your home. The Engine A steam engine is known as an external combustion engine. That is, the power or energy is produced outside of the engine. That is, the steam has power before it is introduced into the engine. An automobile engine, in contrast, produces power or energy inside the engine by inhaling a fuel-air mixture and then igniting it with a spark. A steam engine is also quite often lubricated externally. A device called a hydrostatic oiler is placed between the boiler and the steam engine. Steam picks up the oil and carries it into the engine.

Inverter
Inverter is an electrical piece of equipment planned to replicate and moreover augment the electricity quality. Inverter is an electrical mechanism designed to translate direct current to alternating current, the modified alternating current can be at any requisite voltage and rate of recurrence with the use of transformers, switches and power circuits. Contrasting generators, an individual does not have to bother about home inverter since they do not have to stockpile up fuel, diesel or gas to keep them in operation state. An inverter can use only a car battery and can furnish electricity for the house with the assistance of these devices. Despite its minimal sizes, lot of information has to be put together when an individual plans to buy an inverter since many brands have a propensity to offer the best inverter with many models and makes to offer from with extraordinary features. When an individual plans to buy a home inverter, the only thing which has to be counted is the number of domestic devices which

they propose to use when the power is out, this will help them decide on the backup electricity required and production rate by an individual device. Inverter has reverse functionality of a converter; three varieties of waveforms will be shaped by an inverter clear-cut and outmoded square wave, original and altered sine wave. It is said that sine wave is best selection among both square and sine wave, though it is not effortless to produce. Sine wave has a benefit of chronological increase in voltage and absolute lack or negligible attendance of harmonic oscillations. Altered sine wave inverter is a type of succeeding generation inverter which compromises on the waveform excellence and price of the original sine wave. Original sine wave inverter is the up to date form of inverter consumed for susceptible form of electronic devices. An inverter is an electrical device that converts direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), the converted AC can be at any required voltage and frequency with the use of appropriate transformers, switching, and control circuits.

Solid-state inverters have no moving parts and are used in a wide range of applications, from small switching power supplies in computers, to large electric utilityhigh-voltage direct current applications that transport bulk power. Inverters are commonly used to supply AC power from DC sources such as solar panels orbatteries. The inverter performs the opposite function of a rectifier.

The wind turbine and the doubly-fed induction generator (WTDFIG) are shown in the figure called The Wind Turbine and the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator System. The AC/DC/AC converter is divided into two components: the rotor-side converter (Crotor) and the grid-side converter (Cgrid). Crotor and Cgrid are VoltageSourced Converters that use forced-commutated power electronic devices (IGBTs) to synthesize an AC voltage from a DC voltage source. A capacitor connected on the DC side acts as the DC voltage source. A coupling inductor L is used to connect Cgrid to the grid. The three-phase rotor winding is connected to Crotor by slip rings and brushes and the three-phase stator winding is directly connected to the grid. The power captured by the wind turbine is converted into electrical power by the induction generator and it is transmitted to the grid by the stator and the rotor windings. The control system generates the pitch angle command and the voltage command signals Vr and Vgc for Crotor and Cgrid respectively in order to control the power of the wind turbine, the DC bus voltage and the reactive power or the voltage at the grid terminals.

The Wind Turbine and the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator System

Operating Principle of the Wind Turbine Doubly-Fed Induction Generator The power flow, illustrated in the figure called , is used to describe the operating principle. In this figure the followings parameters are used: Pm Mechanical power captured by the wind turbine and transmitted to the rotor Stator electrical power output Rotor electrical power output

Ps Pr

Pgc Cgrid electrical power output Qs Qr Stator reactive power output Rotor reactive power output

Qgc Cgrid reactive power output Tm Tem r s Mechanical torque applied to rotor Electromagnetic torque applied to the rotor by the generator Rotational speed of rotor Rotational speed of the magnetic flux in the air-gap of the generator, this speed is named synchronous speed. It is proportional to the frequency of the grid voltage and to the number of generator poles. Combined rotor and wind turbine inertia coefficient

The mechanical power and the stator electric power output are computed as follows: Pm = Tmr Ps = Tems. For a lossless generator the mechanical equation is:

In steady-state at fixed speed for a lossless generator Tm = Tem and Pm = Ps + Pr. It follows that:

where s is defined as the slip of the generator: s = (sr)/s. The Power Flow

Generally the absolute value of slip is much lower than 1 and, consequently, Pr is only a fraction of Ps. Since Tm is positive for power generation and since s is positive and constant for a constant frequency grid voltage, the sign of Pr is a function of the slip sign. Pr is positive for negative slip (speed greater than synchronous speed) and it is negative for positive slip (speed lower than synchronous speed). For super-synchronous speed operation, Pr is transmitted to DC bus capacitor and tends to rise the DC voltage. For sub-synchronous speed operation, Pr is taken out of DC bus capacitor and tends to decrease the DC voltage. Cgrid is used to generate or absorb the power Pgc in order to keep the DC voltage constant. In steady-state for a lossless AC/DC/AC converter Pgc is equal to Pr and the speed of the wind turbine is determined by the power Pr absorbed or generated by Crotor. The power control will be explained below. The phase-sequence of the AC voltage generated by Crotor is positive for sub-synchronous speed and negative for super-synchronous speed. The frequency of this voltage is equal to the product of the grid frequency and the absolute value of the slip. Crotor and Cgrid have the capability of generating or absorbing reactive power and could be used to control the reactive power or the voltage at the grid terminals. C_rotor Control System The rotor-side converter is used to control the wind turbine output power and the voltage (or reactive power) measured at the grid terminals. Power Control The power is controlled in order to follow a pre-defined power-speed characteristic, named tracking characteristic. An example of such a characteristic is illustrated in the figure called Turbine Characteristics and Tracking Characteristic, by the ABCD curve superimposed to the mechanical power characteristics of the turbine obtained at different wind speeds. The actual speed of the turbine r is measured and the

corresponding mechanical power of the tracking characteristic is used as the reference power for the power control loop. The tracking characteristic is defined by four points: A, B, C and D. From zero speed to speed of point A the reference power is zero. Between point A and point B the tracking characteristic is a straight line, the speed of point B must be greater than the speed of point A. Between point B and point C the tracking characteristic is the locus of the maximum power of the turbine (maxima of the turbine power vs turbine speed curves). The tracking characteristic is a straight line from point C and point D. The power at point D is one per unit (1 pu) and the speed of the point D must be greater than the speed of point C. Beyond point D the reference power is a constant equal to one per unit (1 pu). Turbine Characteristics and Tracking Characteristic

The generic power control loop is illustrated in the figure called RotorSide Converter Control System. The actual electrical output power, measured at the grid terminals of the wind turbine, is added to the total power losses (mechanical and electrical) and is compared with the reference power obtained from the tracking characteristic. A Proportional-Integral (PI) regulator is used to reduce the power error to zero. The output of this regulator is the reference rotor current Iqr_ref that must be injected in the rotor by converter Crotor. This is the current component that produce the electromagnetic torque Tem. The actual Iqr component of positive-sequence current is compared to Iqr_ref and the

error is reduced to zero by a current regulator (PI). The output of this current controller is the voltage Vqr generated by Crotor. The current regulator is assisted by feed forward terms which predict Vqr.

Rotor-Side Converter Control System

Voltage Control and Reactive Power Control

The voltage or the reactive power at grid terminals is controlled by the reactive current flowing in the converter Crotor. The generic control loop is illustrated in the figure called Rotor-Side Converter Control System. When the wind turbine is operated in voltage regulation mode, it implements the following V-I characteristic.

Wind Turbine V-I Characteristic

As long as the reactive current stays within the maximum current values (-Imax, Imax) imposed by the converter rating, the voltage is regulated at the reference voltage Vref. However, a voltage droop is normally used (usually between 1% and 4% at maximum reactive power output), and the V-I characteristic has the slope indicated in the figure called Wind Turbine V-I Characteristic. In the voltage regulation mode, the V-I characteristic is described by the following equation: V = Vref + XsI where V I Xs Pno m Positive sequence voltage (pu) Reactive current (pu/Pnom) (I > 0 indicates an inductive current) Slope or droop reactance (pu/Pnom) Three-phase nominal power of the converter specified in the block dialog box

When the wind turbine is operated in var regulation mode the reactive power at grid terminals is kept constant by a var regulator. The output of the voltage regulator or the var regulator is the reference d-axis current Idr_ref that must be injected in the rotor by converter Crotor. The same current regulator as for the power control is used to regulate the actual Idr component of positive-sequence current to its reference value. The output of this regulator is the d-axis voltage Vdr generated by Crotor. The current regulator is assisted by feed forward terms which predict Vdr. Vdr and Vqr are respectively the d-axis and q-axis of the voltage Vr. Note: for Crotor control system and measurements the d-axis of the d-q rotating reference frame is locked on the generator mutual flux by a PLL which is assumed to be ideal in this phasor model. the magnitude of the reference rotor current Ir_ref is equal

to . The maximum value of this current is limited to 1 pu. When Idr_ref and Iqr_ref are such that the magnitude is higher than 1 pu the Iqr_ref component is reduced in order to bring back the magnitude to 1 pu. C_grid Control System The converter Cgrid is used to regulate the voltage of the DC bus capacitor. In addition, this model allows using Cgrid converter to generate or absorb reactive power. The control system, illustrated in the figure called Grid-Side Converter Control System, consists of: Measurement systems measuring the d and q components of AC positive-sequence currents to be controlled as well as the DC voltage Vdc.

An outer regulation loop consisting of a DC voltage regulator. The output of the DC voltage regulator is the reference current Idgc_ref for the current regulator (Idgc = current in phase with grid voltage which controls active power flow).

An inner current regulation loop consisting of a current regulator. The current regulator controls the magnitude and phase of the voltage generated by converter Cgrid (Vgc) from the Idgc_ref produced by the DC voltage regulator and specified Iq_ref reference. The current

regulator is assisted by feed forward terms which predict the Cgrid output voltage. The magnitude of the reference grid converter current Igc_ref is equal to

. The maximum value of this current is limited to a value defined by the converter maximum power at nominal voltage. When Idgc_ref and Iq_ref are such that the magnitude is higher than this maximum value the Iq_ref component is reduced in order to bring back the magnitude to its maximum value.

Grid-Side Converter Control System

Pitch Angle Control System The pitch angle is kept constant at zero degree until the speed reaches point D speed of the tracking characteristic. Beyond point D the pitch angle is proportional to the speed deviation from point D speed. The control system is illustrated in the following figure. Pitch Control System

Turbine Model The turbine model uses the Wind Turbine bloc of the Distributed Resources/Wind Generation library. See documentation of this model for more details. Induction Generator

The doubly-fed induction generator phasor model is the same as the wound rotor asynchronous machine (see the Machines library) with the following two points of difference: 1. Only the positive-sequence is taken into account, the negativesequence has been eliminated. 2. A trip input has been added. When this input is high the induction generator is disconnected from the grid and from Crotor.

12Volt 11Watt Inverter Circuit Push-pull applications makes a more reliable waveform output than that of a flyback converter. Thus it can be used. The below circuit have a push-pull transformer, with two Switching transistors, whose base feedback is collected from the transformer itself (self oscillating). This one has output power of upto 18Watt stated at 12V, though we can see the output is coupled by a series capacitor/diode here.The transformer has 5 lines at input section. Central connector goes to +VE supply, through a L1 inductor coil.

There two power stage pins, and two feedback goes to each of transistors collector, base. The initial base feeding is done by a 220 Ohm resistor to the base of any of the transistor, having a capacitor of 104(0.1uF) to the other transistor. This technology can be used for similar CFL lighting/ mobile charging etc applications which does rectify the input power to DC.The most advantage of this circuit is that this circuit glows CFL even at huge battery discharge. Experiments show, Light stays till battery voltage goes down to 5V. Its not safe to run appliances upto that discharge level, as that would lead sulphation to the battery plates

. Here is used D880 or 1351 transistor for a output of 18Watt, but similarly we can use 2N3055 transistor in this setup with a big transformer to make output of upto 100W.

The Steam Chest The first part of the engine the steam enters is called the "steam chest." The steam chest contains the valve system. On smaller steam engines (10 horsepower and under) the usual valving system consists of a block of metal that slides over ports (or holes) cut into a portion of the interior of the steam chest. No springs are necessary. This valve is called a "D-valve." The D-valve uncovers a hole or passageway to allow steam to push against the piston head. At the other end of the D-valves travel, the valve uncovers another passageway that allows steam to push against the bottom of the piston. The exhaust passageway is in the middle. Such an engine is known as a "doubleacting" steam engine. The piston is alternately pushed by steam in both directions.

Engines of this type turn fairly slowly. 600 rpm is not an unusual or "slow" turning speed. Dont let the speed mislead you. 600 rpm in a steam engine isnt comparable to 600 rpm in a gasoline engine. 600 rpm in a gas engine is an "idle speed" that produces very little torque (or twisting force). A steam engine can produce maximum torque at almost 0 rpm. If you have ever seen an old 10 to 16 horsepower steam tractor at a "tractor pull" pulling against our modern 400+ horsepower gas engines, you will understand. The steam tractor always wins. The cylinder, piston, connecting rod and crankshaft are not what you are used to in an automobile engine. The connecting rod doesnt move in a circular motion: it moves straight up and down (or back and forth). The straight movement is changed to rotary motion at the crosshead. A slider moves back and forth in the crosshead. A second connecting rod connects the first connecting rod to the crankshaft. Crankshaft rotation drives whatever you want it to driveelectric generator, water pump, grain grinder, or other device. An eccentric mounted on the crankshaft operates the D-valve. The eccentric and the D-valve are connected by a valve rod. As the eccentric rotates the valve rod is moved back and forth, so does the D-valve. If you saw the movie "The Titanic" you may recall the size of the connecting rods going up and down in the engine room. That illustrates just how large a steam engine can be made as compared to one providing standby power for a home which can weigh as little as fifty pounds (not counting the furnace and boiler) and be carried around on the front seat of a pickup truck. Notice that youll never see gasoline engines as large as those powering an ocean liner. As steam engines get larger, they become more sophisticated (and complex). D-valves become spool (or cylinder) valves, engines become faster by becoming uniflow (as opposed to double-acting), engines become more efficient by becoming double or triple expansion, and so on. Boilers become more efficient as pressures and temperatures rise and size increases. There is a trade-off. As steam engines become more fuel-efficient and sophisticated, they also become more expensive, more complicated, and harder to maintain. The key word here is "practicality." An ocean-going freighter with a triple-expansion engine is practical. The vessel must carry enough coal to get it from point A to point B with the lowest

possible fuel consumption. Coal must be paid for and there are no "coal stations" in the middle of the ocean. A small steam engine used for home power generation needs to be as simple as possible to facilitate ease of operation and maintenance, and to keep manufacturing costs down. When your fuel economy consists of throwing another log into the furnace once every couple of hours, who cares what the fuel efficiency is? This is especially so during times when you cant buy gasoline or diesel fuel.

This page is a diary about our effort to build a steam powered 'backup generator' to charge our batteries. For the most part we have all the power we could ever need from our small 600 Watt solar array and our 20' diameter wind turbine, but on occasion I do need to run a generator and I always figured that a steam engine would be the most fun, plus... I don't need to rely on petroleum - I have lots of wood all around me!

This project has moved forward slowly over the course of a year as we've gathered all the parts required. The engine is a 1903 C&BC 6 horsepower steam engine. I bought it at auction nearby (stole it) for less than $150. It's in very good shape, I believe it's been rebuilt and never run since. The boiler we got about a year later. I'm guessing it to be about a 4hp boiler. It was made by 'The Look Out boiler company' in 1940. It seems to be in good condition. First step was to hydrostatically test the boiler. We filled it all the way to the top (actually above the top because we put pipes above the boiler) with water, and then put 150PSI air pressure to it and looked for leaks. It held up well. The boiler is only rated for 100PSI and we'll run it a bit below that so we have some safety factor.

Pictured above are most of the other bits we need. A steam whistle is a must this whistle is an 1880's Crane whistle. We also have a 3/4" Penberthy injector. The injector uses steam to inject hot water into the boiler when running. Also pictured above are two drip oilers to keep the crosshead lubricated, a steam gage and a check valve to sit between the injector and the boiler. Of course lots of other valves, pipes etc... are required. Critical parts not pictured are the pop off valve (the pop off valve is a safety that opens should the boiler get over 100PSI) and the lubricator for the engine that injects oil into the steam line and keeps the cylinder lubricated.

There is almost the full setup up and running. So far so good...

Our first test was to fit one of our 10' diameter wind turbines to the engine. This alternator is approx 50% efficient at 1000 Watts output. With this setup we could easily run at 1KW output - knowing full well that the alternator was also dissipating 1000 Watts of heat in the stator. So while it wasn't terribly efficient it was a fun test and I felt confident that with a larger alternator we could easily have 1500 Watts continuous output. With this alternator on it I could generate about 1KWH with 60 pounds of lodgepole pine as fuel. Not bad I didn't think...

So we got started building a larger alternator. Pictured above are the 12 coils completed for our 3 phase alternator. The stator is identical to those we build for larger 17' diameter wind turbines with the exception that we changed its shape (so we could mount it to a concrete pad) and wound the coils a bit differently. These coils are wound with 4 strands of #15 gauge wire (equivalent to 9 gauge wire) and there are 40 turns per coil.

Pictured above we're casting the stator with vinyl ester mixed about 50:50 by volume with ATH (alumina trihydrate) as filler.

There the stator is setting up in the mold - we've clamped a clear Plexiglas lid onto it.

The alternator will be a dual rotor axial flux type - just like the wind turbines we build. The steel magnet rotors are 18" in diameter and 1/2" thick.

There's one rotor with all its magnet on. Each rotor has 16 N40 grade NdFeB magnets on it, they measure 1.5" x 3" x .75". Again, this is about identical to a 17' wind turbine.

We take some 3/4" stainless steel strapping material, run it around the circumference of the rotors and cut it just about 3/16" short. Then we weld that together so we have a band that won't quite fit around the rotor. We heat that up with a torch until it just starts turning color (stainless will start to turn just slightly golden at a certain temp). When it's hot it expands and we drop it over the rotor and it shrinks on there. This adds some insurance against the magnets every flying out.

Once the band is around the magnet rotors we put a wooden 'island' in the middle and pour a mixture of vinyl ester, ATH, and chopped fiberglass into the rotor right up to the top of the stainless band. Pictured above is a finished magnet rotor bolted to a trailer hub. This is the same Dexter 81-9A trailer hub we use on the 10' diameter wind turbines. For the steam engine, I had to knock out the bearing races and bore out the inner diameter so it would fit the shaft of the engine.

There is the back magnet rotor mounted to the shaft of the engine.

George and Tom bolt the stator between two pieces of 2" angle iron. The angle iron will serve as a base by which we can bolt the stator to the concrete pad.

Pictured above I'm fitting the stator to the back rotor - then I marked the location for the studs that we'd put into the concrete. We drilled out the concrete with a 1/2" bit/hammer drill and fit studs to mount the stator.

There it is all finished up. Time to fill the boiler, light a fire and see what happens! Great fun to be able to use about anything that burns for fuel. Our best fuel in this area is lodgepole pine... wish we had Oak or something. I do know some folks with wood shops in town that can supply nice little chunks of hard wood though.

It takes about 40 minutes to go from a cold boiler to 80 pounds of steam, which is where I like to run this. Pictured above the engine is running with the governor on top. In my application, the governor is not really required because the alternator does keep a constant load on the engine. Should the alternator become disconnected in any way though, the governor would keep the engine from overspeeding.

This alternator starts to charge my 48V battery bank at 120 rpm. At 200 rpm we generate just over 2000 Watts. It's fairly exciting -- it's easy to maintain this level of power output with even the low grade wood we have around here. At this power level the alternator doesn't hardly warm up at all, and things seem very efficient. We did run it up to 3KW output for a short while, but I couldn't keep the pressure up in the boiler. Seems like the best we can hope for is about 2.5KW sustained... which is great! Much better than I'd hoped.

Lots of fun and I love it when things work out better than planned. Steam power is incredible stuff - it's amazing how much energy you can store in a gallon of water! Click Here to see a short video of the engine running! I'll post updates about this project as we tidy things up a bit more. While it is all working well now, there is still some work before I feel like this project is finished.

a simple generator What to do Your generator will consist of a coil held close to a spinning magnet. 1. Cut out two cardboard discs roughly 3cm in diameter, and make a 4 5mm hole in the centre of each. Insert the nail in the hole and push one disc up to its head. Cover the next 23cm of the nails surface with a couple of layers of insulating tape. 2. Slide on the other disc until it butts up against the tape, and then wind more tape on the other side of it to fix it in position so that the

cardboard discs are no more than 23cm apart. Unwind 30cm or so of wire from the reel to form a lead from the coil, and start winding the remaining wire around the insulating tape between the two cardboard discs. To keep track, it may help to make a tick mark on a piece of paper after every 100 turns. The number of turns is not critical, but the more the better; 1 500 should do. 3. Having covered the nail with a single layer of turns, continue building up layers one on top of the other. You dont have to do a particularly neat job. 4. After about 1 500 turns, leave about 30cm of wire free at the other end and then cover the windings with insulating tape. Remove a cm or so of the insulation from the two end wires by scraping off the enamel, and connect them to the bulb holder. Fit the bulb into the holder. 5. Pass the bolt through the hole drilled into the base of the magnet, and fasten it by tightening the nut. Fix the bolt into the chuck of a hand drill. Next, fix the sharp end of the nail in a vice (or between two heavy books) so that its horizontal. Bring the magnet to within about 1mm of the nail head, which should be slightly off-centre from the middle of the spinning magnet. Make sure the gap between the magnet and the nail head is as small as possible, but not so close that they touch. A tip here is to rest the hand holding the fixed part of the drill on the table-top so that its as steady as possible.

Turn the drill handle as fast as you can and the bulb should light up. Generating electricity really is as simple as this! Generators in bikes and cars Cars need a direct-current supply to operate the ignition, lights, windscreen wipers, etc. This is generated by an alternator which is mechanically coupled to the engine. A device called a rectifier is used to convert the alternating current output to direct current. A regulator also has to be fitted to control the current, so that the alternators output voltage continues to match the voltage of the vehicles battery as the engine speed changes. A dynamo on a bicycle, that produces electricity as you cycle, is another example of a generator. Its basic design is just the same as the home-made generator described above.

An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to alternating current electrical energy. Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used. In principle, any AC electrical generator can be called an alternator, but usually the word refers to small rotating machines driven by automotive and other internal combustion engines. Alternators in power stations driven by steam turbines are called turbo-alternators.

Principle : A.C. generators or alternators (as they are usually called) operate on the same fundamental principles of electromagnetic induction as D.C. generators. Alternating voltage may be generated by rotating a coil in the magnetic field or by rotating a magnetic field within a stationary coil. The value of the voltage generated depends onthe number of turns in the coil. strength of the field. the speed at which the coil or magnetic field rotates.

A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which either drives an electrical generator or does some other work, like ship propulsion. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of thermal power stations is due to the different fuel sources. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy. General Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incineration plants, as well as many natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequently combusted in gas turbines as well as boilers. The waste heat from a gas turbine can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power plants burning coal, oil, or natural gas are often referred to collectively as fossil-fuel power plants. Some biomassfueled thermal power plants have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal power plants, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use cogeneration are sometimes referred to as conventional power plants. Commercial electric utility power stations are most usually constructed on a very large scale and designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically use three-phase or individual-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz (Hertz, which is an AC sine wave per second) depending on its location in the world. Other large companies or institutions may have their own usually smaller power plants to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if heat or steam is created anyway for other purposes. Shipboard steam-driven power

plants have been used in various large ships in the past, but these days are used most often in large naval ships. Such shipboard power plants are general lower power capacity than full-size electric company plants, but otherwise have many similarities except that typically the main steam turbines mechanically turn the propulsion propellers, either through reduction gears or directly by the same shaft. The steam power plants in such ships also provide steam to separate smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply electricity in the ship. Shipboard steam power plants can be either conventional or nuclear; the shipboard nuclear plants are mostly in the navy. There have been perhaps about a dozen turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion. In some industrial, large institutional facilities, or other populated areas, there are combined heat and power (CHP) plants, often called cogeneration plants, which produce both power and heat for facility or district heating or industrial applications. AC electrical power can be stepped up to very high voltages for long distance transmission with minimal loss of power. Steam and hot water lose energy when piped over substantial distance, so carrying heat or energy by steam or hot water is often only worthwhile within a local area or facility, such as steam distribution for a ship or industrial facility or hot water distribution in a local municipality. History Reciprocating steam engines have been used for mechanical power sources since the 18th Century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt. The very first commercial central electrical generating stations in New York and London, in 1882, also used reciprocating steam engines. As generator sizes increased, eventually turbines took over due to higher efficiency and lower cost of construction. By the 1920s any central station larger than a few thousand kilowatts would use a turbine prime mover. Efficiency Power is energy per time. The power output or capacity of an electric plant can be expressed in units of megawatts electric (MWe). The electric efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered as saleable energy (in MWe) produced at the plant busbars as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed, is typically 33% to 48% efficient. This efficiency is limited as all heat engines are governed by the laws of thermodynamics (See: Carnot cycle). The rest of the energy must leave the plant in the form of heat. This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of with cooling water or in cooling towers. If the waste heat is instead utilized for district heating, it is called cogeneration. An important class of thermal power station are associated with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products. Since the efficiency of the plant is fundamentally limited by the ratio of the absolute temperatures of the steam at turbine input and output, efficiency

improvements require use of higher temperature, and therefore higher pressure, steam. Historically, other working fluids such as mercury have been experimentally used in a mercury vapour turbine power plant, since these can attain higher temperatures than water at lower working pressures. However, the obvious hazards of toxicity, and poor heat transfer properties, have ruled out mercury as a working fluid. Diagram of a typical coal-fired Steam power station

Typical diagram of a coal-fired thermal power station Steam generator

Schematic diagram of typical coal-fired power plant steam generator highlighting the air preheater (APH) location. (For simplicity, any radiant section tubing is not shown.) In fossil-fueled power plants, steam generator refers to a furnace that burns the fossil fuel to boil water to generate steam. In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to a specific type of large heat exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary (reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which of course is used to generate steam. In a nuclear reactor called a boiling water reactor (BWR), water is boiled to generate steam directly in the reactor itself and there are no units called steam generators. In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer, a steam drum, and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, air preheater (APH), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator or baghouse) and the flue gas stack.[1][2][3] Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. Nuclear plants also boil water to raise steam, either directly generating steam from the reactor (BWR) or else using an intermediate heat exchanger (PWR). For units over about 200 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by installing duplicates of the FD fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID

fan with isolating dampers. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided. Boiler furnace and steam drum Once water inside the boiler or steam generator, the process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel. The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer. From the economizer it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the steam drum it goes down the downcomers to the lower inlet waterwall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the waterwalls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear waterwalls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the waterwalls, the steam/vapor once again enters the steam drum. The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and water separators and then dryers inside the steam drum. The steam separators and dryers remove water droplets from the steam and the cycle through the waterwalls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation. The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers, water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal. The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial startup. The steam drum has internal devices that removes moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils. Superheater Fossil fuel power plants can have a superheater and/or reheater section in the steam generating furnace. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. In a fossil fuel plant, after the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the steam drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into tubes inside an area of the furnace known as the superheater, which has an elaborate set up of tubing where the steam vapor picks up more energy from hot flue gases outside the tubing and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high pressure turbine. Reheater

Power plant furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine is rerouted to go inside the reheater tubes to pickup more energy to go drive intermediate or lower pressure turbines. This is what is called as thermal power. Fuel preparation system In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers may be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of grinders. Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles. Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces. Air path External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draft fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion, injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall. The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through any opening Auxiliary systems Fly ash collection Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars. Bottom ash collection and disposal At the bottom of the furnace, there is a hopper for collection of bottom ash. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling

down from the furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage site. Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the boiler, losses due to blowdown and leakages have to be made up to maintain a desired water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water system. Impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist of calcium and magnesium salts which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces which will lead to overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water, and that is done by a water demineralising treatment plant (DM). A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion, and mixed bed exchangers. Any ions in the final water from this process consist essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions, which recombine to form pure water. Very pure DM water becomes highly corrosive once it absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen. The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping and valves are generally of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with air. DM water make-up is generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the dissolved gases being removed by an air ejector attached to the condenser. Steam turbine-driven electric generator

Rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power station Main article: Turbo generator The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work satisfactorily and safely. The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large diameter shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while running. To minimise the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to further reduce the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated. Barring gear Barring gear (or "turning gear") is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine generator shaft at a very low speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the steam inlet valve is closed), the turbine coasts down towards standstill. When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one position too long. This is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom half. The shaft therefore could warp or bend by millionths of inches. This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be enough to cause damaging vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. The shaft is therefore automatically turned at low speed (about one percent rated speed) by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop. [edit] Condenser Main article: Surface condenser

Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser.[2][3][4][5]

The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes.[2][6][7][8] The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor-driven exhausters for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum. For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 oC where the vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum. Thus leaks of non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning. The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to the atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean. Feedwater heater Main article: Feedwater heater

A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feedwater heater. In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler, the surface condenser removes the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour to liquid. The heat content (btu) in the steam is referred to as Enthalpy. The condensate pump then pumps the condensate water through a feedwater heater. The feedwater heating equipment then raises the temperature of the water by utilizing extraction steam from various stages of the turbine. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system. This reduces plant operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam cycle. Superheater As the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into an elaborate set up of tubing in different areas of the boiler. The areas known as superheater and reheater. The steam vapor picks up energy and its temperature is now superheated above the

saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves of the high pressure turbine. Deaerator Main article: Deaerator

Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section and horizontal water storage section A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the metal. Generally, power stations use a deaerator to provide for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank. There are many different designs for a deaerator and the designs will vary from one manufacturer to another. The adjacent diagram depicts a typical conventional trayed deaerator. If operated properly, most deaerator manufacturers will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated water will not exceed 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm/L). Oil system An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbine's main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms.

At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft takes over the functions of the auxiliary system. Generator heat dissipation The electricity generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat that it generates. While small units may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during start-up, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix with oxygen in the air. The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere. The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potential of about 22 kV and water is conductive, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the generator high voltage windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used. Generator high voltage system The generator voltage ranges from 11 kV in smaller units to 22 kV in larger units. The generator high voltage leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are supported on suitable insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high voltage electrical substation (of the order of 115 kV to 520 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid. The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage leads. Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 11 kV, a breaker is provided to connect it to a common 11 kV bus system. Other systems Monitoring and alarm system Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors

and alarm systems that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range. Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation.

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.[1]

It has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine (invented by Thomas Newcomen and greatly improved by James Watt) primarily because of its greater thermal efficiency and higher power-toweight ratio. Because the turbine generates rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator about 80% of all electricity generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the expansion of the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible process.

History

2000 KW Curtis steam turbine circa 1905. The first device that may be classified as a reaction steam turbine was little more than a toy, the classic Aeolipile, described in the 1st century by Hero of Alexandria in Roman Egypt.[2][3][4] More than a thousand years later, in 1551, Taqi al-Din in Ottoman Egypt described a steam turbine with the practical

application of rotating a spit. Steam turbines were also described by the Italian Giovanni Branca (1629) and John Wilkins in England (1648.)[5]

Parsons turbine from the Polish destroyer ORP Wicher II The modern steam turbine was invented in 1884 by the Englishman Sir Charles Parsons, whose first model was connected to a dynamo that generated 7.5 kW of electricity.[6] After the invention of Parson's steam turbine, which made cheap and plentiful electricity possible and revolutionised marine transport and naval warfare, the world would never be the same again.[7] His patent was licensed and the turbine scaled-up shortly after by an American, George Westinghouse. A number of other variations of turbines have been developed that work effectively with steam. The de Laval turbine (invented by Gustaf de Laval) accelerated the steam to full speed before running it against a turbine blade. This was good, because the turbine is simpler, less expensive and does not need to be pressure-proof. It can operate with any pressure of steam. It is also, however, considerably less efficient. The Parson's turbine also turned out to be easy to scale-up. Parsons had the satisfaction of seeing his invention adopted for all major world power stations. The size of his generators had increased from his first 7.5 kW set up to units of 50,000 kW capacity. He knew that the total output from turbo-generators constructed by his firm C. A. Parsons and Company and by their licensees, for land purposes alone, had exceeded thirty million horse-power.[6] Within Parson's lifetime the generating capacity of a unit was scaled-up by about 10,000 times.[8] Types Steam turbines are made in a variety of sizes ranging from small 1 hp (0.75 kW) units (rare) used as mechanical drives for pumps, compressors and other shaft driven equipment, to 2,000,000 hp (1,500,000 kW) turbines used to generate electricity. There are several classifications for modern steam turbines. Steam Supply and Exhaust Conditions These types include condensing, noncondensing, reheat, extraction and induction. Noncondensing or backpressure 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 refineries, district heating units, pulp and paper plants, and desalination facilities where large amounts of low pressure process steam are available.

Condensing turbines are most commonly found in electrical power plants. These turbines exhaust steam in a partially condensed state, typically of a quality near 90%, at a pressure well below atmospheric to a condenser. Reheat turbines are also used almost exclusively in electrical power plants. In a reheat turbine, steam flow exits from a high pressure section of the turbine and is returned to the boiler where additional superheat is added. The steam then goes back into an intermediate pressure section of the turbine and continues its expansion. Extracting type turbines are common in all applications. In an extracting type turbine, steam is released from various stages of the turbine, and used for industrial process needs or sent to boiler feedwater heaters to improve overall cycle efficiency. Extraction flows may be controlled with a valve, or left uncontrolled. Induction turbines introduce low pressure steam at an intermediate stage to produce additional power. Casing or Shaft Arrangements These arrangements include single casing, tandem compound and cross compound turbines. Single casing units are the most basic style where a single casing and shaft are coupled to a generator. Tandem compound are used where two or more casings are directly coupled together to drive a single generator. A cross compound turbine arrangement features two or more shafts not in line driving two or more generators that often operate at different speeds. A cross compound turbine is typically used for many large applications. Principle of Operation and Design An ideal steam turbine is considered to be an isentropic process, or constant entropy process, in which the entropy of the steam entering the turbine is equal to the entropy of the steam leaving the turbine. No steam turbine is truly isentropic, however, with typical isentropic efficiencies ranging from 20%90% based on the application of the turbine. The interior of a turbine comprises several sets of blades, or buckets as they are more commonly referred to. One set of stationary blades is connected to the 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. Turbine efficiency

Schematic diagram outlining the difference between an impulse and a reaction turbine To maximize turbine efficiency the steam is expanded, generating work, in a number of stages. These stages are characterized by how the energy is extracted from them and are known as either impulse or reaction turbines. Most steam turbines use a mixture of the reaction and impulse designs: each stage behaves as either one or the other, but the overall turbine uses both. Typically, higher pressure sections are impulse type and lower pressure stages are reaction type. Impulse turbines An impulse turbine has fixed nozzles that orient the steam flow into high speed jets. These jets contain significant kinetic energy, which the rotor blades, shaped like buckets, convert into shaft rotation as the steam jet changes direction. A pressure drop occurs across only the stationary blades, with a net increase in steam velocity across the stage. As the steam flows through the nozzle its pressure falls from inlet pressure to the exit pressure (atmospheric pressure, or more usually, the condenser vacuum). Due to this higher ratio of expansion of steam in the nozzle the steam leaves the nozzle with a very high velocity. The steam leaving the moving blades is a large portion of the maximum velocity of the steam when leaving the nozzle. The loss of energy due to this higher exit velocity is commonly called the "carry over velocity" or "leaving loss". Reaction turbines In the reaction turbine, the rotor blades themselves 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 vanes of the stator. It 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 stage but with a decrease in both pressure and temperature, reflecting the work performed in the driving of the rotor. 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. Also a turning gear is engaged when there is no steam to the turbine to slowly rotate the turbine to ensure even heating to prevent uneven expansion. After first rotating the turbine by the turning gear, allowing time for the rotor to assume a straight plane (no bowing), then the turning gear is disengaged and steam is admitted to the turbine, first to the astern blades then to the ahead blades slowly rotating the turbine at 10 to 15 RPM to slowly warm the turbine. Problems with turbines are now rare and maintenance requirements are relatively small. Any imbalance of the rotor can lead to vibration, which in extreme cases can lead to a blade letting go and punching straight through the casing. It is, however, essential that the turbine be turned with dry steam. If water gets into the steam and is blasted onto the blades (moisture carryover) rapid impingement and erosion of the blades can occur, possibly leading to imbalance and catastrophic failure. Also, water entering the blades will likely 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 The control of a turbine with a governor is essential, as turbines need to be run up slowly, to prevent damage while some applications (such as the generation of alternating current electricity) require precise speed control.[9] Uncontrolled acceleration of the turbine rotor can lead to an overspeed trip, which causes the nozzle valves that control the flow of steam to the turbine to close. If this fails then the turbine may continue accelerating until it breaks apart, often spectacularly. Turbines are expensive to make, requiring precision manufacture and special quality materials. During normal operation in synchronization with the electricity net powerplants are governed with a five percent droop speed control . This means the full load speed is 100% and the no load speed is 105%. This is required for the stable operation of the net without hunting and dropouts of powerplants. Normally the changes in speed are minor . Adjustments in power output are made by slowly raising the droop curve by increasing the spring pressure on a centrifugal governor. Generally this is a basic system requirement for all powerplants because the older and

newer plants have to be compatible in response to the instantaneous changes in frequency without depending on outside communication. [10] Direct drive Electrical power stations use large steam turbines driving electric generators to produce most (about 80%) of the world's electricity. Most of these centralised stations are of two types, fossil fuel power plants and nuclear power plants, but some countries are using concentrating solar power (CSP) to create the steam. The turbines used for electric power generation are most often directly coupled to their generators. As the generators must rotate at constant synchronous speeds according to the frequency of the electric power system, the most common speeds are 3000 r/min for 50 Hz systems, and 3600 r/min for 60 Hz systems. In installations with high steam output, as may be found in nuclear power stations, the generator sets may be arranged to operate at half these speeds, but with four-pole generators.[11]