Turbine Blade Manufacturing The manufacturing of steam turbine blades start with a large ingot or bar stock.

Each blade is made individually and then assembled on the turbine rotor. Steam turbines are made this way because they are checked during outages and if a single blade has too much cracking and is at breaking point, the company is able to replace that particular blade rather than the whole assembly. The metal that is used depends on the type of turbine. For a high pressure turbine the metal needs to be able to withstand high temperature and pressure more than moisture and corrosion since the steam is superheated coming from the boiler. On the other hand the low pressure turbine blades need to be made of materials that have an increased resistant to corrosion and since the moisture content is higher in a LPT than a HPT. This piece of metal goes through a forge process that heat treats it multiple times then is put through chemical and alloy treatments. After the blade has been treated, the next step is to put it on a computer programed milling machine. This machine mills out the turbine blade with precise accuracy. Turbine Problems Turbine problems include pitting corrosion, corrosion fatigue, stress concentrations, deposit build up, solid particle and water droplet erosion. Turbine losses from erosion and buildup of blade deposits can reach as high as 15% of the total generating capacity. It is estimated that about

40% of the a

United

States utility plants and 60% of the industrial turbines operate with high concentrations of impurities in the steam. Sodium and cation conductivity lead to deposition of salts and hydroxides which lead to corrosion and loss of power generation. Deposits inside the turbine can change energy distribution and aerodynamic flow of the steam by build-up within the nozzle. These deposits can be formed by superheated steam and acid droplets, evaporation of moisture (liquid films) on surfaces, metal oxides formed in the steam cycle, and adsorption of gases and impurities in superheated steam. In many cases, magnetite, a ferrous mineral used for coating steam boilers, is removed from the superheaters and steam pipes causing chemical interaction and erosion. Some problems that occur in steam turbines are pitting, stress, and fatigue corrosion cracking. As the steam expands through the turbine, the solubility of contaminants in the steam decreases. The contaminants, including chlorides, sulfates, and sulfides condense onto the blade surfaces where concentrations are much higher than that of the flowing steam. The concentrated contaminants help accelerate corrosion. Pitting is associated

with chloride deposits and occurs on rotors and disks. Pitting is the localized corrosion that leads to the creation of small holes in metal. In order to reduce most of these issues it is necessary to keep a close eye on the chemistry of the feedwater. If the water has the correct chemical balance the steam turbine will run more efficiently with less maintenance. Operation Characteristics Steam turbines leak steam around blade rows and seals. This occurs especially for smaller turbine units. At the end of the turbine, where steam tends to leak from the seals, the steam is at a low pressure. This allows for air to be leaked into the turbine. The leakages cause less power to be produced and the make-up water has to be treated to avoid turbine material problems. Air leaked into the turbine is usually removed with a compressor to remove non-condensable gases from the condenser.

The high pressure used in steam turbines is the reason for a thick casing. Steam turbines experience large thermal inertia. Turbines must be warmed up and cooled down to minimize differential expansion between the rotating blades and stationary parts. Large turbines can take over ten hours to heat up while smaller units have rapid start up times. Steam turbines usually will operate

for a long period of time, although steam being delivered to the unit and power transmitted may vary during periods of continuous operation.