Steam Turbine Generator Component

Steam Turbine Generator Components

* The steam turbine generator uses power from a steam turbine to generate electricity. It turns fuels such as coal and gas into electricity, using steam. Although the first steam turbine capable of generating electricity wasn't produced until 1884, steam turbines have been around since the third century BCE. There are many different designs of steam turbine generators, but all of them share the same basic components.

Boiler

* Every steam turbine uses a boiler to turn water into steam. A boiler is simply a large water reservoir with pipes running into it and out of it, and a heating element. In essence, it is a large tea kettle. Gas, oil, wood, coal, and municipal waste are typical fuels burned to heat the water. Nuclear power stations use steam turbine generators to turn the heat of nuclear fission into electricity.

Turbine

* After the water is heated into steam, it leaves the boiler through a reinforced pipe and travels to the turbine. The turbine is a spinning array of blades, angled to catch the steam entering it. The steam in the pipe is under high pressure. When it enters the roomier turbine it expands to fill the available space and speeds up as it spreads out. This pushes against the fans of the turbine, rotating it on its axle. Some steam turbine generators have one turbine, others have multiple stages of turbines of different sizes, to get more work out of the steam. There are several different styles of turbine blade, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.

Generator

* The rotating turbine then turns the axle of an electric generator. The generator is what actually produces the electricity. It is made up out of a coil of wire on an axle, surrounded by one or more high-powered magnets. As the coil is turned by the turbine, it experiences a constantly fluctuating magnetic field from the magnets. In accordance with Faraday's Law, this generates an electric current in the coil. Wires from the coil carry...