Estimation of performance of steam turbines using a simple predictive tool

Mechanical drive steam turbines are major prime movers for compressor, blower, and pump applications. Steam turbines are available for a wide range of steam conditions, power ratings and speeds. In this work, a simple predictive tool, which is easier than existing approaches, less complicated with fewer computations, is presented for rapid prediction of steam rate, turbine efficiency, and the inlet and exhaust nozzle diameters to determine the actual steam rate (ASR) and total steam requirements for both multi-stage and single-stage turbines. The proposed method predicts the above mentioned parameters for inlet steam pressures up to 12,000 kPa, turbine ratings up to 10,000 kW as well as the exhaust air over inlet air ratios of up to 0.55. The predictions from the proposed predictive tool have been compared with reported data and found good agreement with average absolute deviation hovering around 1.4%. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.