A Study of Steam Turbine Throttle Flow from Measured First Stage Shell Pressure

증기터빈 1단 Shell 압력측정에 의한 교축유동 고찰

Industrial Steam Turbine first stage shell pressure is related to throttle flow. Theoretically, first stage shell pressure could, therefore, be measured and used as an index of turbine throttle flow. However, accurate flow measurements show that this pressure is not a reliable index of the actual flow. Data analysis of steam turbinessubjected to ASME acceptance tests shows that the use of first stage shell pressure as an index of throttle flow produced errors as large as 9.6 %. The mean of the errors was +2.2% with a standard deviation of ${\pm}$2.8 %. Applications that require an accuratedetermination of turbine steam flow, such as turbine acceptance testing, should, therefore, not rely on this method. Therefore, First stage shell pressure measurement serves as a valid and economical indicator of turbine throttle flow in cases where a high degree of accuracy in throttle flow measurement is not required but repeatability is desired, such as for boiler control. Generally speaking, Steam turbine first stage shell pressure may also be a very useful monitor of turbine performance when used with certain other turbine measurements.