A Review of Steam-Turbine Development

Abstract

The paper is chiefly concerned with the effects which the use of steam at higher pressures and temperatures has had upon the efficiencies of steam turbines and upon the materials used in the construction of their parts. The use of high-back-pressure steam turbines, to be installed in connection with boilers of higher pressure in such a way as to exhaust into the steam mains and turbines of existing plants, is carefully analyzed for units of 10,000- and 30,000-kw. capacity, and the effects on the efficiency are graphically presented. A discussion of materials for use with the higher pressures and temperatures is included, with some curves showing the results of investigations made by the Allis-Chalmers Co. on various metals and the characteristics which should be possessed by a metal suitable for use at 1000 deg. fahr. The paper also contains some comments on corrosion and erosion of turbine blades, and shows the effects of these destructive forces on blades of different composition.