Steam turbines for ultrasupercritical power plants

Conference · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:20018807

Retzlaff, K M; Schlottner, G

The ongoing concern about global warming and the resulting agreement between industrialized nations to reduce CO{sub 2} and other green house gases has put renewed emphasis on improving the thermal efficiency of fossil fired power plants. Some of the improvements will be achieved due to increased use of more efficient combined cycle units. At the same time, the steam turbine technology for ultra-super-critical steam conditions has matured over the last 5--10 years such that it presents a viable and attractive option for new power plant construction. The improvement in overall performance of steam turbines for thermal power plants has been brought about largely through two kinds of advancements. The first type of advancement is improvement in mechanical efficiency by reducing aerodynamic and leakage losses as the steam expands through the turbine. The second type of advancement is the improvement in thermodynamic efficiency by increasing the temperature and pressure at which heat is added to the power cycle. The focus of this paper will be predominantly on the later type of efforts to advance the state-of-the-art in steam turbine technology. GE is also employing advanced aerodynamic steam path technology which will significantly contribute to the overall high level of efficiency of ultra-super-critical power plants.

• Research Organization: GE Power Systems (US)
• OSTI ID: 20018807
• Report Number(s): CONF-9806214--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ENERGY LOSSES
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
PERFORMANCE
STEAM TURBINES
SUPERCRITICAL STATE
THERMAL EFFICIENCY