Exhaust steam conditions

Author s Note— The numerical values expressed above are for illustration only. They are not correct in an absolute sense. You may study these concepts and arrive at accurate conversion rates of steam enthalpy to kinetic energy by using the Mollier diagram in your steam tables. Just follow the vertical isoentropic lines down the chart from the motive steam conditions down to the exhaust steam conditions. Note the lines of constant moisture as you drop below the saturated steam envelope line.)... 

Chapter 20 Steam Turbines Z39 20.1.3 Exhaust Steam Conditions... 

The output from the turbine might be superheated or partially condensed, as is the case in Fig. 6.32. If the exhaust steam is to be used for process heating, ideally it should be close to saturated conditions. If the exhaust steam is significantly superheated, it can be desuperheated by direct injection of boiler feedwater, which vaporizes and cools the steam. However, if saturated steam is fed to a steam main, with significant potential for heat losses from the main, then it is desirable to retain some superheat rather than desuperheat the steam to saturated conditions. If saturated steam is fed to the main, then heat losses will cause excessive condensation in the main, which is not desirable. On the other hand, if the exhaust steam from the turbine is partially condensed, the condensate is separated and the steam used for heating. 

Fig. 6.2 shows a simplified diagram of the basic STIG plant with steam injection S per unit air flow into the combustion chamber the state points are numbered. Lloyd 2 presented a simple analysis for such a STIG plant based on heat input, work output and heat rejected (as though it were a closed cycle air and water/steam plant, with external heat supplied instead of combustion and the exhaust steam and air restored to their entry conditions by heat rejection). His analysis is adapted here to deal with an open cycle plant with a fuel input/to the combustion chamber per unit air flow, at ambient temperature To, i.e. a fuel enthalpy flux of/7i,o. For the combustion chamber, we may write... 

The selection is dictated by economics governing the initial plant cost versus higher turbine output. Usually, the turbine exhaust steam is designed to be slightly superheated, which is desirable, as it allows for heat loss from the steam with minimum condensate losses. At low loads from the turbine, the degree of superheat can rise sharply, well in excess of the normal design conditions, and for this purpose, desuperheaters are often employed to trim the steam temperature at exhaust. 

Where an under-slung condenser has been specified, the provision of a basement to the engine room offers the attraction of compactness at the expense of enhanced civil works, while alternatively, the specification of pannier condensers can obviate the need for a basement and will simplify the foundation design, but will considerably increase the floor area requirements. The condensing plant itself consists essentially of banks of tubes through which cooling water flows and around which exhausted steam from the turbine is condensed to form a vacuum. Such tubes have traditionally been made of brass, but where severe corrosion conditions exist, cupro-nickel is sometimes used. 

For back-pressure turbines, the turbine exhausts to a steam main. Therefore, in order to enable estimation of steam main conditions, it is important to predict the condition of the exhausted steam also. With a value of the mechanical efficiency, the enthalpy of the exhaust steam can be calculated from an energy balance9 ... 

A steam turbine operates with inlet steam conditions of 40 barg and 420°C and can be assumed to operate with an isentropic efficiency of 80% and a mechanical efficiency of 95%. Calculate the power production for a steam flowrate of 10 kg s-1 and the heat available per kg in the exhaust steam (i.e. superheat plus latent heat) for outlet conditions of ... 

Under certain conditions, such as high water temperatures, insufficient water supplies and problems of blowdown disposal, systems that depend on convection and use air as the transport medium may be preferable. The two types of dry cooling towers are the direct and indirect systems. Figures 4.21 and 4.22 show these systems in operation for nuclear station cooling. Indirect units use a surface or jet condenser at the turbine to condense exhaust steam. Water from the condenser is pumped to the dry tower for cooling and recirculation back to the condenser. In the direct system, steam is condensed in cooling coils without interfacing with a condenser. 

The amount of energy that the steam turbine extracts from the steam depends on the enthalpy drop across the machine. The enthalpy of the steam is a function of its temperature and pressure. One can use a Mollier diagram as a graphic tool to determine the amount of energy available under a particular set of conditions. If in Figure 2.131 the inlet conditions correspond to point and the outlet conditions to point P2, a line drawn between these two points is called the "expansion line" and represents the operation of the turbine as it is extracting energy from the steam. In an ideal turbine, the steam would expand at a constant entropy (isentropically) and the condition of the exhaust steam, from an ideal machine (which has no losses), would correspond to point 3. 

The conditions of steam generation in the boiler are the same as in Example 8.1 8,600 kPa and 500°C. The exhaust pressure of the turbine, lOkPa, is also the same. The saturation temperature of the exhaust steam is therefore 45.83°C. Allowing for slight subcooling of the condensate, we fix the temperature of the liquid water from the condenser at 45°C. The feedwater pump, which operates under exactly the conditions of the pump in Example 7.10, causes a temperature rise of about 1°C, making the temperature of the feedwater entering the series of heaters equal to 46°C. 

A turbine operates adiabatically with superheated steam entering at T, and P, with a mass flow rate m. The exhaust pressure is P2 and the turbine efficiency is i). For one of the following sets of operating conditions, determine the power output of the turbine and the enthalpy and entropy of the exhaust steam. 

Compressed asbestos ring-type gaskets may be specified for the following typical services and operating conditions hydrocarbon (100 psi and 600°F), exhaust steam (40 psi and 290°F), steam condensate (15 psi and 240°F), air at 50 psi and 100 psi and ambient temperature, natural gas at 50 psi and ambient temperature, and water (fire, process, utility and sanitary) at 100 psi and ambient temperature. 

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