Electrostatic method and device to increase power output and decrease erosion in steam turbines
First Claim
1. A method to increase the power output of a turbine havingrows of turbine blades,working fluid flowing through said turbine,a phase transition zone, anda saturation line,wherein said saturation line and at least part of said phase transition zone are located upstream of at least one row of said turbine blades,which method comprisesproviding charged particles in said part of said phase transition zone that is located upstream of at least one row of said turbine blades,whereby said charged particles serve as condensation nuclei, a very large number of small droplets are nucleated, subcooling of the working fluid is decreased, more power is generated, and erosion of turbine blades by coarse droplets is decreased.
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Abstract
The wet steam exiting a low pressure steam turbine does not rapidly attain thermodynamic equilibrium because insufficient condensation nuclei are present in the phase transition zone inside the turbine. Therefore, the steam is subcooled, decreasing the power generated by the turbine, and the liquid water carried by the steam consists of relatively coarse droplets which strike the surface of the turbine blades causing erosion. Corona electrodes installed inside the turbine before the saturation line create electrically charged particles which serve as condensation nuclei, decreasing subcooling, and producing a large number of fine droplets. Thereby, thermodynamic equilibrium is more closely approached, more power is generated, and smaller water droplets cause less erosion inside the turbine.
10 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method to increase the power output of a turbine having
rows of turbine blades, working fluid flowing through said turbine, a phase transition zone, and a saturation line, wherein said saturation line and at least part of said phase transition zone are located upstream of at least one row of said turbine blades, which method comprises providing charged particles in said part of said phase transition zone that is located upstream of at least one row of said turbine blades, whereby said charged particles serve as condensation nuclei, a very large number of small droplets are nucleated, subcooling of the working fluid is decreased, more power is generated, and erosion of turbine blades by coarse droplets is decreased.
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11. A turbine having
a working fluid flowing through said turbine, an electrical ground, rows of turbine blades, and a phase transition zone, wherein the improvement comprises further providing one or more corona electrodes isolated from said electrical ground and located upstream of at least one row of said turbine blades.
Specification