Steam, Gas and Wind

Turbine

Chapter 7 & 8
 Turbomachine - Classifications
Turbomachines

Power producing Power absorbing

fluid with high fluid with high

rotor work impeller work

fluid with low

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 Power Absorbing Turbomachines
• Pumps – Liquid (water) is the working medium:- depending
on the direction of fluid flow they are,
– axial flow

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– radial flow (centrifugal)
– mixed flow

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• Compressors and Fans - air is the working medium:-
depending on the direction of fluid flow they are,
– axial flow
– radial flow (centrifugal)
– mixed flow
• Blowers - air is the working medium
– axial flow
– radial flow (centrifugal)
 Power Producing Turbomachines
• Gas turbines – air and combustion gas is the working
medium
➢ axial flow

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➢ radial flow

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• Steam turbine – steam is the working medium
➢ impulse turbine
➢ reaction turbine
• Hydraulic turbines – water is the working medium
➢ impulse turbine
➢ reaction turbine
• Wind turbines – air / wind is the working medium
 Gas Turbine and Steam Turbine
classifications
According to action of fluid  
According to number of stages  
• Impulse turbine   • Single stage turbine  

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• Reaction turbine   • Multi stage turbine  

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• Combination of both   According to number of
cylinders  
According to direction of flow   • Single cylinder turbine  
• Axial flow turbine   • Double cylinder turbine  
• Radial flow turbine   • Three cylinder turbine
 Impulse and reaction Turbines
•  
Impulse turbine:-
† The stator/ nozzle is used to expand the working fluid (gas/steam)

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† The moving blades

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† convert the output kinetic energy of nozzle into mechanical energy
† direct the fluid flow to the next stage (multi-stage turbine) or to exit
(single-stage turbine).
Reaction turbine:-
The pressure drop of expansion takes place in the stator as well as in the
rotor-blades. The blade passage area varies continuously to allow for the
continued expansion of the gas stream over the rotor-blades.
 Impulse turbine Reaction turbine
Fluid expands in the nozzle & its pressure The steam expands partially in the nozzle and further
remains constant rotor in the rotor blades

Constant relative velocity in the absence of The relative velocity increases as the steam expands
friction in rotor

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The blade efficiency curve is less flat The blade efficiency curve is more flat
Blades are symmetrical Blades are asymmetrical

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The pressure on both ends of the moving blade is The pressure on both ends of the moving blade is
same different
For the same power developed, as pressure drop For the same power developed, as pressure drop is
is more, the number of stages required are less small, the number of stages required are more

The steam velocity is very high and therefore the The steam velocity is not very high and therefore
speed of turbine is high. the speed of turbine is low.
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 Radial and Axial Turbine
Radial Turbine
✓ Flow enters the impeller radially and exits axially.
✓ A radial turbine stage consists of volute, nozzle guide vanes and
impeller.

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✓ High pressure gas passes through the volute and / or nozzle guide

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vanes, increasing its kinetic energy. The high velocity gas transfers its
energy to the impeller shaft by flowing radially inward through the
impeller.
✓ The nozzles with adjustable vanes provide highest efficiency.
✓ Radial turbines employ a relatively higher pressure drop per
stage with low mass flow rate.
✓ The specific speed and power range of the radial turbines are low.

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✓ Since rotors / impellers are made of single piece construction,
they are mechanically strong and are more reliable.

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There are two types of inward flow radial turbines
• Cantilever turbine
• 90o IFR turbine
Cantilever turbine

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– Similar to the impulse type turbine
– Little change in relative velocity across the rotor

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– Aerodynamically very similar to the axial impulse
turbine
– Can be designed in a similar manner as axial
turbines.
90o IFR turbine
• This turbine has a striking similarity with a centrifugal compressor.
• The flow direction and blade motion are reversed.
• The flow enters the turbine radially and exits the turbine axially.
• Straight radial blades are generally preferred as curved blades would

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incur additional stresses.

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• The rotor or impeller ends with an exducer.
• Usually the flow exiting the rotor passes through a diffuser to recover
KE, which would otherwise be wasted.
 Applications of Radial Turbine

• Gas turbine
• Turbocharger
• Process industry

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Exit
Inlet

Impeller Exducer
Nozzle
vane
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Impeller and
nozzle
 Axial Turbine
✓ The kinetic energy of combustion gas is converted to
mechanical power by the impulse or reaction with a series
of blades arranged around the circumference of a wheel or
cylinder.

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✓ Stationary blades / guide blades act as nozzles and they

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convert fluid pressure into kinetic energy. The following
rotating blades convert kinetic energy into useful work.
✓ Axial turbines have low pressure drop per stage and
higher mass flow rate compared to radial turbines.
✓ The flow stream lines through the bladings are nearly
parallel to the shaft axis.
✓Flow enters axially and discharges almost axially.
✓The blade passages converge from inlet to exit, and hence the
flow accelerates.
✓Blade profile is thicker at the inlet and thinner at the exit.

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✓Due to density variation from inlet to exit, the turbine end

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walls have flare with flow area increasing from inlet to exit.
✓Axial turbines can handle large mass flow rates and are more
efficient.
✓Axial turbine have same frontal area as that of the compressor.
✓They can also be used with a centrifugal compressor.
✓Efficiency of turbines higher than that of compressors.
Axial Turbine

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Stator Rotor
Axial Turbine Stage
Applications
• The axial flow gas turbine is used
in

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• almost all applications of gas
turbine power plant.

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• industrial and shipboard
applications.
• exclusively in aircraft gas
turbine engines.
Multistage Axial Turbine

•A series of stages form multistage

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•The energy transfer in a stage is limited by

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the blade speed.
•If more energy transfer per unit mass is
required, then more number of stages are
arranged one after the other.
STEAM TURBINE
Rankin cycle: Steam power plant

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Figure 1. Rankine cycle.
Figure 2. T-s and p-h diagrams.
 Steam turbine
• In a steam turbine, high-pressure steam from the
boiler expands in a set of stationary blades or
vanes (or nozzles).

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• The high-velocity steam from the nozzles strikes
the set of moving blades (or buckets).

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• The kinetic energy of the steam is utilized to
produce work on the turbine rotor.
• Low-pressure steam then exhausts to the
condenser.
 Steam Turbine
• The power in a steam turbine is obtained by the rate of change of momentum
(impulse turbine) of a high velocity jet of steam impinging on a curved blade,
which is free to rotate.
• The steam from the boiler is expanded in a nozzle, resulting in the

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generation of a high velocity jet. This jet of steam impinges on the moving
vanes or blades, mounted on a disc / drum.

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 Steam Turbine Stage
✓ A turbine stage consists of stationary stator row (guide vanes or nozzle ring) and
rotating rotor row.
✓ In the guide vanes, the high pressure, high temperature steam is expanded,
resulting in high flow velocity.
✓ The guide vanes also direct the flow to the rotor blades at an appropriate angle.

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✓ In the rotor, the flow direction is changed and kinetic energy of the working fluid
is absorbed by the rotor shaft producing mechanical energy.

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 Steam Turbine Principle
✓ Process of complete expansion of steam takes place in stationary
nozzle and the velocity energy is converted into mechanical work on
the turbine blades.

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✓ Pressure drop with expansion and generation of mechanical energy
takes place in the moving blades.

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✓ Pressure drop may be partly effected in nozzles and partly in moving
blades which are so designed that expansion of steam takes place in
them.
✓ High velocity jet from nozzle produces an impulse on the moving
blade and the jet coming out at still higher velocity from moving
blades produces a reaction.
Steam Turbine Blades and
Stages

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GAS TURBINE
Joule’s cycle : Gas turbine

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 Gas Turbine
✓ Gas turbine unit mainly comprises compressor module,
turbine module, combustor and many auxiliary
components.
✓ Gas turbines find wide application as aero-engines and in
power generation.

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✓ In power application, all the power developed by the turbine is
used to drive the compressor, generator and the auxiliary

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systems of the power plant.
✓ In aero-engines, the turbine develops power only to drive the
compressor and the remaining energy of the combustion gas is
used to generate thrust for aircraft propulsion.
✓ Gas turbines are available in a range of sizes from micro scale to
very large units.
✓ Gas turbine units have high power to weight ratio, small frontal
area and high efficiency.
Gas Turbine Engine – Aero Application

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 Gas Turbine

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Wind Turbines
• A wind turbine is a machine for converting
the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical
energy.

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• If the mechanical energy is used directly by
machinery, such as a pump or grinding

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stones, the machine is usually called a
windmill.
• If the mechanical energy is converted to
electricity, the machine is called a wind
turbine.
• Wind turbines are broadly classified as
horizontal axis or vertical axis.
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VELOCITY TRIANGLES FOR AN AXIAL FLOW TURBINE

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 •   If the blade is symmetrical
Applying the angular momentum equation, β1 = β2 and
V1 = V2. : for friction less
cases
In an axial turbine, In the actual case, the relative velocity
is reduced by friction and expressed by
Therefore, the work per unit mass is; a blade velocity coefficient k. That is:

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 Assuming that the axial velocity is constant and
therefore the diagram work per unit mass is;
=
Note that:-
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where h0 is the enthalpy at the entry to the nozzle and h1 is the enthalpy at
the nozzle exit, neglecting the velocity at the inlet to the nozzle.
Efficiency
•1.  The energy supplied to the blades is the kinetic energy of the jet, and the
blading efficiency or diagram efficiency:

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2. Gross efficiency or stage efficiency

U Cw
 stage 
And we get h

 stage  b
Blade height
• The continuity equation, m = ρAC, may be used to find the blade
height h. The annular area of flow = πDh. Thus, the mass flow rate

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through an axial flow
compressor or turbine is:

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• Blade height will increase in the direction of flow in a turbine and
decrease in the direction of flow in a compressor.
DEGREE OF REACTION
• The degree of reaction or reaction ratio (Λ) is a parameter that describes the
relation between the energy transfer due to static pressure change and the
energy transfer due to dynamic pressure change.

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• The degree of reaction is defined as the ratio of the static pressure drop in the

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rotor to the static pressure drop in the stage.

• It is also defined as the ratio of the static enthalpy drop in the rotor to the static
enthalpy drop in the stage.
BLADE LOADING COEFFICIENT
The work capacity the stage is expressed in terms of a temperature drop
coefficient (or) blade loading coefficient

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For V = V . : for friction less cases and symmetrical blades
1 2

β1 = β2 then

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Maximum blade efficiency
• Differentiating the above eqn. and equating it to zero provides the maximum
diagram efficiency:

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Max power
• The power output per unit mass flow rate at the maximum diagram efficiency

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W
 U C w
2U  C1 cos 1

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m
Combustion gases enter the first stage of a gas turbine at a stagnation
temperature and pressure of 1200 K and 4.0 bar. The rotor blade

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tip diameter is 0.75m, the blade hub is 0.12 m and the shaft speed is
10,500 rpm. At the mean radius the stage operates with a reaction

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of 50%, a flow coefficient of 0.7 and a stage loading coefficient of
2.5. Determine (a) the relative and absolute flow angles for the stage;
(b) the velocity at nozzle exit; (c) the static temperature and pressure
at nozzle exit assuming a nozzle efficiency of 0.96 and the mass
flow.