Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that gets thermal energy from pressurised steam. It uses the energy to do mechanical work by rotation. It is usually connected to a generator to produce electricity. The heat to produce steam comes from burning a fuel such as coal, from burning trash in an incinerator, from the waste heat of other industrial processes, from a nuclear reactor, or from a natural source such as sunlight or geothermal heat.
Sizes
There are many sizes of steam turbines, from small ones (less than 0.75 kW) for pumps and other devices, to larger ones (1,500,000 kW) for producing electricity.
Steam Turbine Media
A 250 kW industrial steam turbine from 1910 (right) directly linked to a generator (left)
A steam turbine without its top cover
Schematic diagram outlining the difference between an impulse and a 50% reaction turbine
Diagram of an AEG marine steam turbine circa 1905
A low-pressure steam turbine in a nuclear power plant. These turbines exhaust steam at a pressure below atmospheric.
Starboard steam turbine machinery arrangement of Japanese Furutaka- and Aoba-class cruisers
A two-flow turbine rotor. The steam enters in the middle of the shaft, and exits at each end, balancing the axial force.
A selection of impulse turbine blades
Blade Profile
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