7/5/2016 Question&AnswersonSteamTurbines

Question&AnswersonSteamTurbines

Question&AnswersonSteamTurbines
Whatisimportanttorememberaboutradialbearings?

Answer:Aturbinerotorissupportedbytworadialbearings,oneoneachendofthesteamcylinder.Thesebearingsmustbe
accuratelyalignedtomaintainthecloseclearancebetweentheshaftandtheshaftseals,andbetweentherotorandthe
casing.Ifexcessivebearingwearlowerstheherotor,greatharmcanbedonetotheturbine.

Howmanygovernorsareneededforsafeturbineoperation?Why?

Answer:Twoindependentgovernorsareneededforsafeturbineoperation.Oneisanoverspeedoremergencytripthatshuts
offthesteamat10percentaboverunningspeed(maximumspeed).Thesecond,ormaingovernor,usuallycontrolsspeedata
constantratehowever,manyapplicationshavevariablespeedcontrol.

Howisaflyballgovernorusedwithahydrauliccontrol?

Answer:Astheturbinespeedsup,theweightsaremovedoutwardbycentrifugalforce,causinglinkagetoopenapilotvalve
thatadmitsandreleasesoiloneithersideofapistonorononesideofaspringloadedpiston.Themovementofthepiston
controlsthesteamvalves.

Whatisamultiportgovernorvalve?Whyisitused?

Answer:Inlargeturbines,avalvecontrolssteamflowtogroupsofnozzles.Thenumberofopenvalvescontrolsthenumber
ofnozzlesinuseaccordingtotheload.Abarliftorcamarrangementoperatedbythegovernoropensandclosesthesevalves
insequence.Suchadeviceisamultiportvalve.Usingnozzlesatfullsteampressureismoreefficientthanthrottlingthe
steam.

Whatismeantbycriticalspeed?

Answer:Itisthespeedatwhichthemachinevibratesmostviolently.Itisduetomanycauses,suchasimbalanceor
harmonicvibrationssetupbytheentiremachine.Tominimizedamage,theturbineshouldbehurriedthroughtheknowncritical
speedasrapidlyaspossible.(Caution,besurethevibrationiscausedbycriticalspeedandnotbysomeothertrouble).

Howisoilpressuremaintainedwhenstartingorstoppingamediumsizedturbine?

Answer:Anauxiliarypumpisprovidedtomaintainoilpressure.Someauxiliarypumpsareturnedbyahandcrankothersare
motordriven.Thispumpisusedwhentheintegralpumpisrunningtooslowlytoprovidepressure,aswhenstartingorsecuring
amediumsizedturbine.

Besideslubrication,whicharetwofunctionsoflubricatingoilinsometurbines?

Answer:Inlargeunits,lubeoilcoolsthebearingsbycarryingoffheattotheoilcoolers.Lubeoilinsometurbinesalsoactsas
ahydraulicfluidtooperatethegovernorspeedcontrolsystem.

Whatismeantbythewaterrateofaturbine?

Answer:Waterrateisanothertermusedforthesteamrate.

Whatisthedifferencebetweenpartialandfullarcadmission?

Answer:Inmultivalveturbineinlets,partialarcadmissionallowsthesteamtoenterpervalveopeninginasequential
manner,soasloadisincreased,morevalvesopentoadmitsteam.Thiscancauseunevenheatingonthehighpressure
annulusasthevalvesareindividuallyopenedwithloadincrease.Infullarcadmission,allregulatingvalvesopenbutonlyata
percentageoftheirfullopening.Withloadincrease,theyallopenmorefully.Thisprovidesmoreuniformheatingaroundthe
highpressurepartoftheturbine.Mostmoderncontrolsstartwithfullarcandswitchtopartialarctoreducethrottlinglosses
throughthevalves.

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7/5/2016 Question&AnswersonSteamTurbines
Atwhatpointsdoescorrosionfatiguedoesshowup?

Answer:Itattackstrailingedges,nearthebaseofthefoilandalsothebladerootserrations.

Besideslubrication,whataretwofunctionsoflubricatingoilinsometurbines?

Answer:Inlargerunits,lubeoilcoolsthebearingsbycarryingoffheattotheoilcoolers.Lubeoilinsometurbinesalsoacts
asahydraulicfluidtooperatethegovernorspeedcontrolsystem.

Despitepreventivemeasures,damageduetomoistureimpingementhasbeenfound,incertaincases,intheshield
andbeyond.Why?

Answers:

1.Shieldsaredesignedandfabricatedonthebasisofpredictedrangeofsteam/waterquantitiesimpactingthebladesat
specificangles.
2.Nowiftheoperatingconditionsdeviatesignificantlyfromdesignparametersthentheerosiondamagewilloccur.Andin
somecasesitmaygobeyondnominalerosionwearandwarrantrepair.
3.Alsothecorrosionofcasingcanoccurduetoblockage/cloggingofwaterdrainsorextractiontherebyforcingthewater
backintothecasing.Ifthiscondensatewateriscarriedovertosteampathandimpactstheblade,thermalfatigue
failurecanoccurwithinashortperiod.

Bymonitoringtheexhauststeamtemperature,howcanthebladedepositionbepredicted?

Answers:

1.Immediatelyafterthe1stcommissioning,thedifferentvaluesofexhausttemperaturefordifferentsteamflowratesare
preciselydeterminedandplottedagainststeamflow.Thiswillproducethefirstactualgraph.Thisisforacleanturbine.
2.Similargraphsaretobedrawnatlaterperiodsforcomparingwiththeinitialgraph.
3.Ariseinexhauststeamtemperatureunderthesameconditionsreferstodepositformation.
4.Anincreaseofexhauststeamtemperaturebymorethan10%intherangeof70tol00%steamflow,indicates
inadmissiblebladedepositions.Shutdownistobetakenandbladesaretobewashedoffdeposits.

DotheradialaxialborecracksoccurintheLProtor/shaftalone?

Answer:ThesearealsoknowntooccurintheHPaswellasHProtors.

Doyoustopcoolingwaterflowthroughasteamcondenserassoonastheturbineisslopped?

Answer:Youshouldkeepthecoolingwatercirculatingforabout15millormoresothatthecondenserhasachancetocool
downgraduallyandevenly.Besuretohavecoolingwaterflowingthroughthecondenserbeforestartingupinordertoprevent
livesteamfromenteringthecondenserunlessitiscooled.Overheatingcancausesevereleaksandotherheadaches.

Doyouthinkthatturbinebladefailureistheonlycauseofunreliabilityofsteamturbines?Doesupgradingofturbine
meansreplacementofbladesand/orimprovementofbladedesign?

Answers:

1.Liketheblades,thesteamturbinerotorsarehighlystressedcomponents.Theyaresubjecttocrackingbyavarietyof
failuremechanisms.Rotorfailuresdooccur.Andwhentheyoccurtheresultiscatastrophicwiththecomplete
destructionoftheunitandthetotallossofgeneratingcapacity.
2.Therefore,specialattentionshouldbegiventorotorupgradingandrepairingtechniques.

BLADEFAILURES

Unknown26%

StressCorrosionCracking22%

HighCycleFatigue20%

CorrosionFatigueCracking7%

TemperatureCreepRupture6%

LowCycleFatigue5%

Corrosion4%

Othercauses10%

Besides,manydamagemechanismsoperateincombinationof,poorsteam/waterchemistry,certainbladedesignfactorsthat
varyfromoneturbinemanufacturetoother,systemoperatingparameters,

Howcandamagedtenonsberepaired?

Answers:Byadoptingmodernweldingtechniques,tenonscanberebuiltThisinsomecasesresultsinextendedbladelife.

Howcanproblemsof"excessivevibrationornoise"duetopipingstrainbeavoidedonsteamturbines?

Answers:

1.Theinletaswellasexhauststeamlinesshouldbefirmlysupportedtoavoidstrainsfrombeingimposedontheturbine.
2.Adequateallowanceshouldbemadeforexpansionofsteampipesduetoheat.

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7/5/2016 Question&AnswersonSteamTurbines
Howcansteamturbinesbeclassified?

Answers:

Bytheactionofsteam:

1.Impulse.
2.Reaction.
3.Impulseandreactioncombined.
Thenumberofstepreductionsinvolved:

4.Singlestage.
5.Multistage.
6.Whetherthereisoneormorerevolvingvanesseparatedbystationaryreversingvanes.

Thedirectionofsteamflow:

7.Axial.
8.Radial.
9.Mixed.
10.Tangential.
11.Helical.
12.Reentry.

Theinletsteampressure:

13.Highpressure.
14.Mediumpressure.
15.Lowpressure.
Thefinalpressure:

16.Condensing.
17.Noncondensing.

Thesourceofsteam:

18.Extraction.
19.Accumulator.

Whatisastageinasteamturbine?

Answer:Inanimpulseturbine,thestageisasetofmovingbladesbehindthenozzle.Inareactionturbine,each
rowofbladesiscalleda"stage."AsingleCurtisstagemayconsistoftwoormorerowsofmovingblade.

Whatisadiaphragm?

Answer:Partitionsbetweenpressurestagesinaturbine'scasingarecalleddiaphragms.Theyholdthevane
shapednozzlesandsealsbetweenthestages.Usuallylabyrinthtypesealsareused.Onehalfofthediaphragm
isfittedintothetopofthecasing,theotherhalfintothebottom.

Whatisaradialflowturbine?

Answer:Inaradialflowturbine,steamflowsoutwardfromtheshafttothecasing.Theunitisusuallyareaction
unit,havingbothfixedandmovingblades.TheyareusedforspecialjobsandaremorecommontoEuropean
manufacturers,suchasStaLaval(nowABB).

Whatarefourtypesofturbineseals?

Answers:

1.Carbonringsfittedinsegmentsaroundtheshaftandheldtogetherbygarterorretainersprings.
2.Labyrinthmatedwithshaftserrationsorshaftsealstrips.
3.Watersealswhereashaftrunneractsasapumptocreatearingofwateraroundtheshaft.Useonly
treatedwatertoavoidshaftpitting.
4.Stuffingboxusingwovenorsoftpackingringsthatarecompressedwithaglandtopreventleakagealong
theshaft.

Inwhichturbineistipleakageaproblem?

Answer:Tipleakageisaprobleminreactionturbines.Here,eachvaneformsanozzlesteammustflow

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7/5/2016 Question&AnswersonSteamTurbines
throughthemovingnozzletothefixednozzle.Steamescapingacrossthetipsofthebladesrepresentsalossof
work.Therefore,tipsealsareusedpreventthis.

Whataretwotypesofclearanceinaturbine?

Answer:

1. Radialclearanceatthetipsoftherotorandcasing.
2. Axialtheforeandaftclearance,atthesidesoftherotorandthecasing.

Whatarefourtypesofthrusthearings?

Answer:

1.Babbittfacedcollarbearings.
2.Tiltingpivotalpads.
3.Taperedlandbearings.
4.Rollingcontact(rollerorball)bearings.

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