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Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Steam that is saturated or superheated (water vapor) is invisible; however, wet steam, a visible mist or aerosol of water droplets, is often referred to as "steam". Water increases in volume by 1,700 times at standard temperature and pressure; this change in volume can be converted into mechanical work by steam engines such as reciprocating piston type engines and steam turbines, which are a sub-group of steam engines. Piston type steam engines played a central role in the Industrial Revolution and modern steam turbines are used to generate more than 80% of the world's electricity. If liquid water comes in contact with a very hot surface or depressurizes quickly below its vapor pressure, it can create a steam explosion. Typ

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Unsteady Aerodynamics of Low-Pressure Steam Turbines Operating Under Low Volume Flow

Ivan William McBean, Benjamin Megerle, Peter Ott

Non-synchronous excitation under low volume operation is a major risk to the mechanical integrity of last stage moving blades (LSMBs) in low-pressure (LP) steam turbines. These vibrations are often induced by a rotating aerodynamic instability similar to rotating stall in compressors. Currently extensive validation of new blade designs is required to clarify whether they are subjected to the risk of not admissible blade vibration. Such tests are usually performed at the end of a blade development project. If resonance occurs a costly redesign is required, which may also lead to a reduction of performance. It is therefore of great interest to be able to predict correctly the unsteady flow phenomena and their effects. Detailed unsteady pressure measurements have been performed in a single stage model steam turbine operated with air under ventilation conditions. 3D CFD has been applied to simulate the unsteady flow in the air model turbine. It has been shown that the simulation reproduces well the characteristics of the phenomena observed in the tests. This methodology has been transferred to more realistic steam turbine multi stage environment. The numerical results have been validated with measurement data from a multi stage model LP steam turbine operated with steam. Measurement and numerical simulation show agreement with respect to the global flow field, the number of stall cells and the intensity of the rotating excitation mechanism. Furthermore, the air model turbine and model steam turbine numerical and measurement results are compared. It is demonstrated that the air model turbine is a suitable vehicle to investigate the unsteady effects found in a steam turbine.

2013

Unsteady Aerodynamics of Low-Pressure Steam Turbines Operating Under Low Volume Flow

Ivan William McBean, Benjamin Megerle, Peter Ott

Nonsynchronous excitation under low volume operation is a major risk to the mechanical integrity of last stage moving blades (LSMBs) in low-pressure (LP) steam turbines. These vibrations are often induced by a rotating aerodynamic instability similar to rotating stall in compressors. Currently extensive validation of new blade designs is required to clarify whether they are subjected to the risk of not admissible blade vibration. Such tests are usually performed at the end of a blade development project. If resonance occurs a costly redesign is required, which may also lead to a reduction of performance. It is therefore of great interest to be able to predict correctly the unsteady flow phenomena and their effects. Detailed unsteady pressure measurements have been performed in a single stage model steam turbine operated with air under ventilation conditions. 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been applied to simulate the unsteady flow in the air model turbine. It has been shown that the simulation reproduces well the characteristics of the phenomena observed in the tests. This methodology has been transferred to more realistic steam turbine multistage environment. The numerical results have been validated with measurement data from a multistage model LP steam turbine operated with steam. Measurement and numerical simulation show agreement with respect to the global flow field, the number of stall cells and the intensity of the rotating excitation mechanism. Furthermore, the air model turbine and model steam turbine numerical and measurement results are compared. It is demonstrated that the air model turbine is a suitable vehicle to investigate the unsteady effects found in a steam turbine.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers2014

Unsteady Aerodynamics of Low-Pressure Steam Turbines Operating Under Low Volume Flow

Ivan William McBean, Benjamin Megerle, Peter Ott

2013

CH-334: Opération unitaire et technologie des procédés

L'étudiant sera capable de :

Définir et décrire les principales OpUnit.
Elaborer l'analyse critique d'une OpUnit, optimiser son fonctionnement selon les contraintes.
Emettre des recommandations d'amélioration, en tenant compte de la technique de l'économie et du développement durable.

ME-451: Advanced energetics

Methods for the rational use and conversion of energy in industrial processes : how to analyse the energy usage, calculate the heat recovery by pinch analysis, define heat exchanger network, integrate heat pumps and cogeneration units and realise exergy analysis of energy conversion systems.

ME-351: Thermodynamics and energetics II

This course will discuss advanced topics in thermodynamics with a focus on studying gas phases, mixtures, phase transformations and combustion. The application of these principles to various practical systems such as batteries, fuel cells etc. will be discussed.

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a

Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parson

Water

Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, and it is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and