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Turbine
A turbine (/ˈtɜːrbaɪn/ or /ˈtɜːrbɪn/) (from the Greek
τύρβη, tyrbē, or Latin turbo, meaning vortex)[1][2] is
a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from
a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The
work produced can be used for generating electrical
power when combined with a generator.[3] A turbine
is a turbomachine with at least one moving part
called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with
blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so
that they move and impart rotational energy to the
rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and
waterwheels.
Gas, steam, and water turbines have a casing around
the blades that contains and controls the working
fluid. Credit for invention of the steam turbine is
given both to Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles
Parsons (1854–1931) for invention of the reaction
turbine, and to Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval
(1845–1913) for invention of the impulse turbine. A steam turbine with the case opened.
Modern steam turbines frequently employ both
reaction and impulse in the same unit, typically
varying the degree of reaction and impulse from the blade root to its periphery. Hero of Alexandria
demonstrated the turbine principle in an aeolipile in the first century AD and Vitruvius mentioned
them around 70 BC.
The word "turbine" was coined in 1822 by the French mining engineer Claude Burdin from the
Greek τύρβη, tyrbē, meaning "vortex" or "whirling", in a memo, "Des turbines hydrauliques ou
machines rotatoires à grande vitesse", which he submitted to the Académie royale des sciences in
Paris.[4] Benoit Fourneyron, a former student of Claude Burdin, built the first practical water
turbine.
Operation theory 1:23
Humming of a small pneumatic
A working fluid contains potential energy (pressure head) and
turbine used in a German 1940s-
kinetic energy (velocity head). The fluid may be compressible
vintage safety lamp
or incompressible. Several physical principles are employed by
turbines to collect this energy:
Impulse turbines change the direction of flow of a high velocity fluid or gas jet. The resulting
impulse spins the turbine and leaves the fluid flow with diminished kinetic energy. There is no
pressure change of the fluid or gas in the turbine blades (the moving blades), as in the case of a
steam or gas turbine, all the pressure drop takes place in the stationary blades (the nozzles). Before
reaching the turbine, the fluid's pressure head is changed to velocity head by accelerating the fluid
with a nozzle. Pelton wheels and de Laval turbines use this process exclusively. Impulse turbines
do not require a pressure casement around the rotor since the fluid jet is created by the nozzle
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prior to reaching the blades on the rotor.
Newton's second law describes the transfer of
energy for impulse turbines. Impulse turbines
are most efficient for use in cases where the
flow is low and the inlet pressure is high. [3]
Reaction turbines develop torque by reacting to
the gas or fluid's pressure or mass. The
pressure of the gas or fluid changes as it passes
through the turbine rotor blades.[3] A pressure
casement is needed to contain the working fluid
as it acts on the turbine stage(s) or the turbine
must be fully immersed in the fluid flow (such
as with wind turbines). The casing contains and
directs the working fluid and, for water
turbines, maintains the suction imparted by the
draft tube. Francis turbines and most steam
turbines use this concept. For compressible
working fluids, multiple turbine stages are
usually used to harness the expanding gas
efficiently. Newton's third law describes the
transfer of energy for reaction turbines.
Schematic of impulse and reaction turbines, where the
Reaction turbines are better suited to higher rotor is the rotating part, and the stator is the stationary
flow velocities or applications where the fluid part of the machine.
head (upstream pressure) is low. [3]
In the case of steam turbines, such as would be used for marine applications or for land-based
electricity generation, a Parsons-type reaction turbine would require approximately double the
number of blade rows as a de Laval-type impulse turbine, for the same degree of thermal energy
conversion. Whilst this makes the Parsons turbine much longer and heavier, the overall efficiency
of a reaction turbine is slightly higher than the equivalent impulse turbine for the same thermal
energy conversion.
In practice, modern turbine designs use both reaction and impulse concepts to varying degrees
whenever possible. Wind turbines use an airfoil to generate a reaction lift from the moving fluid
and impart it to the rotor. Wind turbines also gain some energy from the impulse of the wind, by
deflecting it at an angle. Turbines with multiple stages may use either reaction or impulse blading
at high pressure. Steam turbines were traditionally more impulse but continue to move towards
reaction designs similar to those used in gas turbines. At low pressure the operating fluid medium
expands in volume for small reductions in pressure. Under these conditions, blading becomes
strictly a reaction type design with the base of the blade solely impulse. The reason is due to the
effect of the rotation speed for each blade. As the volume increases, the blade height increases, and
the base of the blade spins at a slower speed relative to the tip. This change in speed forces a
designer to change from impulse at the base, to a high reaction-style tip.
Classical turbine design methods were developed in the mid 19th century. Vector analysis related
the fluid flow with turbine shape and rotation. Graphical calculation methods were used at first.
Formulae for the basic dimensions of turbine parts are well documented and a highly efficient
machine can be reliably designed for any fluid flow condition. Some of the calculations are
empirical or 'rule of thumb' formulae, and others are based on classical mechanics. As with most
engineering calculations, simplifying assumptions were made.
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Velocity triangles can be used to calculate the basic
performance of a turbine stage. Gas exits the stationary turbine
nozzle guide vanes at absolute velocity Va1. The rotor rotates at
velocity U. Relative to the rotor, the velocity of the gas as it
impinges on the rotor entrance is Vr1. The gas is turned by the
rotor and exits, relative to the rotor, at velocity Vr2. However,
in absolute terms the rotor exit velocity is Va2. The velocity
triangles are constructed using these various velocity vectors.
Velocity triangles can be constructed at any section through the Turbine inlet guide vanes of a
blading (for example: hub, tip, midsection and so on) but are turbojet
usually shown at the mean stage radius. Mean performance for
the stage can be calculated from the velocity triangles, at this
radius, using the Euler equation:
Hence:
where:
is the specific enthalpy drop across stage
is the turbine entry total (or stagnation) temperature
is the turbine rotor peripheral velocity
is the change in whirl velocity
The turbine pressure ratio is a function of and the turbine efficiency.
Modern turbine design carries the calculations further. Computational fluid dynamics dispenses
with many of the simplifying assumptions used to derive classical formulas and computer software
facilitates optimization. These tools have led to steady improvements in turbine design over the
last forty years.
The primary numerical classification of a turbine is its specific speed. This number describes the
speed of the turbine at its maximum efficiency with respect to the power and flow rate. The specific
speed is derived to be independent of turbine size. Given the fluid flow conditions and the desired
shaft output speed, the specific speed can be calculated and an appropriate turbine design selected.
The specific speed, along with some fundamental formulas can be used to reliably scale an existing
design of known performance to a new size with corresponding performance.
Off-design performance is normally displayed as a turbine map or characteristic.
The number of blades in the rotor and the number of vanes in the stator are often two different
prime numbers in order to reduce the harmonics and maximize the blade-passing frequency.[5]
Types
Steam turbines are used to drive electrical generators in thermal power plants which use coal,
fuel oil or nuclear fuel. They were once used to directly drive mechanical devices such as
ships' propellers (for example the Turbinia, the first turbine-powered steam launch[6]), but most
such applications now use reduction gears or an intermediate electrical step, where the turbine
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is used to generate electricity, which then powers an electric motor connected to the
mechanical load. Turbo electric ship machinery was particularly popular in the period
immediately before and during World War II, primarily due to a lack of sufficient gear-cutting
facilities in US and UK shipyards.
Aircraft gas turbine engines are sometimes referred to as turbine engines to distinguish
between piston engines.[7]
Transonic turbine. The gas flow in most turbines employed in gas turbine engines remains
subsonic throughout the expansion process. In a transonic turbine the gas flow becomes
supersonic as it exits the nozzle guide vanes, although the downstream velocities normally
become subsonic. Transonic turbines operate at a higher pressure ratio than normal but are
usually less efficient and uncommon.
Contra-rotating turbines. With axial turbines, some efficiency advantage can be obtained if a
downstream turbine rotates in the opposite direction to an upstream unit. However, the
complication can be counter-productive. A contra-rotating steam turbine, usually known as the
Ljungström turbine, was originally invented by Swedish Engineer Fredrik Ljungström (1875–
1964) in Stockholm, and in partnership with his brother Birger Ljungström he obtained a patent
in 1894. The design is essentially a multi-stage radial turbine (or pair of 'nested' turbine rotors)
offering great efficiency, four times as large heat drop per stage as in the reaction (Parsons)
turbine, extremely compact design and the type met particular success in back pressure power
plants. However, contrary to other designs, large steam volumes are handled with difficulty and
only a combination with axial flow turbines (DUREX) admits the turbine to be built for power
greater than ca 50 MW. In marine applications only about 50 turbo-electric units were ordered
(of which a considerable amount were finally sold to land plants) during 1917–19, and during
1920-22 a few turbo-mechanic not very successful units were sold.[8] Only a few turbo-electric
marine plants were still in use in the late 1960s (ss Ragne, ss Regin) while most land plants
remain in use 2010.
Statorless turbine. Multi-stage turbines have a set of static (meaning stationary) inlet guide
vanes that direct the gas flow onto the rotating rotor blades. In a stator-less turbine the gas flow
exiting an upstream rotor impinges onto a downstream rotor without an intermediate set of
stator vanes (that rearrange the pressure/velocity energy levels of the flow) being encountered.
Ceramic turbine. Conventional high-pressure turbine blades (and vanes) are made from nickel
based alloys and often use intricate internal air-cooling passages to prevent the metal from
overheating. In recent years, experimental ceramic blades have been manufactured and tested
in gas turbines, with a view to increasing rotor inlet temperatures and/or, possibly, eliminating
air cooling. Ceramic blades are more brittle than their metallic counterparts, and carry a greater
risk of catastrophic blade failure. This has tended to limit their use in jet engines and gas
turbines to the stator (stationary) blades.
Shrouded turbine. Many turbine rotor blades have shrouding at the top, which interlocks with
that of adjacent blades, to increase damping and thereby reduce blade flutter. In large land-
based electricity generation steam turbines, the shrouding is often complemented, especially in
the long blades of a low-pressure turbine, with lacing wires. These wires pass through holes
drilled in the blades at suitable distances from the blade root and are usually brazed to the
blades at the point where they pass through. Lacing wires reduce blade flutter in the central
part of the blades. The introduction of lacing wires substantially reduces the instances of blade
failure in large or low-pressure turbines.
Shroudless turbine. Modern practice is, wherever possible, to eliminate the rotor shrouding,
thus reducing the centrifugal load on the blade and the cooling requirements.
Bladeless turbine uses the boundary layer effect and not a fluid impinging upon the blades as
in a conventional turbine.
Water turbines
Pelton turbine, a type of impulse water turbine.
Francis turbine, a type of widely used water turbine.
Kaplan turbine, a variation of the Francis Turbine.
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Turgo turbine, a modified form of the Pelton wheel.
Tyson turbine, a conical water turbine with helical
blades emerging partway down from the apex gradually
increasing in radial dimension and decreasing in pitch
as they spiral towards the base of the cone.
Cross-flow turbine, also known as Banki-Michell turbine,
or Ossberger turbine.
Wind turbine. These normally operate as a single stage
without nozzle and interstage guide vanes. An exception is
the Éolienne Bollée, which has a stator and a rotor.
Velocity compound "Curtis". Curtis combined the de Laval
and Parsons turbine by using a set of fixed nozzles on the
first stage or stator and then a rank of fixed and rotating
blade rows, as in the Parsons or de Laval, typically up to
ten compared with up to a hundred stages of a Parsons
design. The overall efficiency of a Curtis design is less than Three types of water turbines:
that of either the Parsons or de Laval designs, but it can be Kaplan (in front), Pelton (middle)
satisfactorily operated through a much wider range of
and Francis (back left)
speeds, including successful operation at low speeds and
at lower pressures, which made it ideal for use in ships'
powerplant. In a Curtis arrangement, the entire heat drop in
the steam takes place in the initial nozzle row and both the subsequent moving blade rows and
stationary blade rows merely change the direction of the steam. Use of a small section of a
Curtis arrangement, typically one nozzle section and two or three rows of moving blades, is
usually termed a Curtis 'Wheel' and in this form, the Curtis found widespread use at sea as a
'governing stage' on many reaction and impulse turbines and turbine sets. This practice is still
commonplace today in marine steam plant.
Pressure compound multi-stage impulse, or "Rateau", after its French inventor, Auguste
Rateau. The Rateau employs simple impulse rotors separated by a nozzle diaphragm. The
diaphragm is essentially a partition wall in the turbine with a series of tunnels cut into it, funnel
shaped with the broad end facing the previous stage and the narrow the next they are also
angled to direct the steam jets onto the impulse rotor.
Mercury vapour turbines used mercury as the working fluid, to improve the efficiency of fossil-
fuelled generating stations. Although a few power plants were built with combined mercury
vapour and conventional steam turbines, the toxicity of the metal mercury was quickly
apparent.
Screw turbine is a water turbine which uses the principle of the Archimedean screw to convert
the potential energy of water on an upstream level into kinetic energy.
Uses
A large proportion of the world's electrical power is generated by turbo generators.
Turbines are used in gas turbine engines on land, sea and air.
Turbochargers are used on piston engines.
Gas turbines have very high power densities (i.e. the ratio of power to mass, or power to volume)
because they run at very high speeds. The Space Shuttle main engines used turbopumps (machines
consisting of a pump driven by a turbine engine) to feed the propellants (liquid oxygen and liquid
hydrogen) into the engine's combustion chamber. The liquid hydrogen turbopump is slightly larger
than an automobile engine (weighing approximately 700 lb) with the turbine producing nearly
70,000 hp (52.2 MW).
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Turboexpanders are used for refrigeration in industrial processes.
See also
Balancing machine
Euler's pump and turbine equation
Helmholtz's theorems
Rotordynamics
Rotor–stator interaction
Secondary flow
Segner wheel
Tidal stream generator
Turbo-alternator
Turbodrill
Turbofan
Turbojet
Turboprop
Turboshaft
Turbine-electric transmission
Notes
1. "turbine" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=turbine&search
mode=none)."turbid" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=turbid&allowed_in_frame=
0). Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. τύρβη (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=tu/rb
h). Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
3. Munson, Bruce Roy, T. H. Okiishi, and Wade W. Huebsch. "Turbomachines." Fundamentals of
Fluid Mechanics. 6th ed. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print.
4. In 1822, Claude Burdin submitted his memo "Des turbines hydrauliques ou machines rotatoires
à grande vitesse" (Hydraulic turbines or high-speed rotary machines) to the Académie royale
des sciences in Paris. (See: Annales de chimie et de physique, vol. 21, page 183 (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=rzNCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA183) (1822).) However, it was not until 1824
that a committee of the Académie (composed of Prony, Dupin, and Girard) reported favorably
on Burdin's memo. See: Prony and Girard (1824) "Rapport sur le mémoire de M. Burdin
intitulé: Des turbines hydrauliques ou machines rotatoires à grande vitesse" (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=03BRAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA207) (Report on the memo of Mr. Burdin
titled: Hydraulic turbines or high-speed rotary machines), Annales de chimie et de physique,
vol. 26, pages 207-217.
5. Tim J Carter. "Common failures in gas turbine blades" (https://web.archive.org/web/201805171
15019/http://opac.vimaru.edu.vn/edata/E-Journal/2005/Engineering%20failure%20analyis/12_
2/12(2_4).pdf). 2004. p. 244-245.
6. Adrian Osler (October 1981). "Turbinia" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110928063911/http://fil
es.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5652.pdf) (PDF). (ASME-sponsored
booklet to mark the designation of Turbinia as an international engineering landmark). Tyne
And Wear County Council Museums. Archived from the original (http://files.asme.org/ASMEOR
G/Communities/History/Landmarks/5652.pdf) (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 13 April
2011.
7. Wragg, David W. (1973). A Dictionary of Aviation (first ed.). Osprey. p. 267.
ISBN 9780850451634.
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8. Ingvar Jung, 1979, The history of the marine turbine, part 1, Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm, dep of History of technology
Further reading
Layton, Edwin T. "From Rule of Thumb to Scientific Engineering: James B. Francis and the
Invention of the Francis Turbine," NLA Monograph Series. Stony Brook, NY: Research
Foundation of the State University of New York, 1992.
External links
Turbines (https://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/fluids/turbine.htm)
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