Steam turbine drivers for the feed pumps

There are certain power efficiency advantages in driving pumps, blowers or exhaust fans within the boiler facility with a small steam turbine. While VFD disturbs the power grid by using additional electric energy, steam turbine makes use of the ‘free’ steam energy that is otherwise blown out of the chimney. Downstream of the utilization steam turbine low-pressure steam may be used for process or heating purposes.

Advanced level of engineering development allows manufacturing of steam turbines to fit literally any operating specifications. There is a direct financial impact of switching from VFD to steam turbines: our calculations demonstrate that operational expenses will decrease to (or by – it is unclear from the original text) 38 rubles per kilowatt. There are cost-related savings on the VFDs that have to be considered as well. As soon as a good level of power auditing is considered by a business organization, a power savings problem is on the agenda. A steam turbine is an effective solution to this problem.

There is yet another aspect to using a steam turbine – an environment one. The only by products of the steam boiler is the residue low pressure steam that may be used as a source of heat for centralized heating and hot-water for consumers and ash which is a base for fertilizer. Residues of gas-generating units will also include phenols, acetones and tar water.

Steam turbines are among the simplest hardware to service and maintain.

The operating principle of the steam turbine is quite an easy one to grasp: high-pressure steam that is produced in the boiler is directed to the turbine blades that rotate the shaft. The shaft transfers the rotation speed to the generator where its mechanical power is transformed into an electric one.

The amount of electric power produced depends on the pressure differential between the steam entering and exiting the turbine A single turbine will yield up to 1000 MW.

Steam turbines - advantages
• works with a variety of fuels – solid, liquid, gaseous
• high power output by an individual unit
• a choice of the heat-transferring media
• range of power output
• impressive durability and service life

Steam turbines - disadvantages
• large inertia of the steam turbines (long startup and shutdown times)
• expensive hardware
• low electricity output compared to the heat energy consumed
• rare but expensive service
• lower environment friendliness if fueled by heavy oil fuels or coals