Part 11

(4) Starting of air pump, vacuum being raised as high as possible within condenser.

(5) Sealing of turbine glands, whether of liquid or steam type, no adjustment of the quantity of sealing fluid being necessary, however, at this point.

(6) Adjustment of valves on and leading to the water-weighing tanks.

(7) Opening of main exhaust valve or valves between turbine and condenser.

(8) Starting up of turbine and slowly running to speed.

(9) Application of load, and adjustment of gland-sealing steam.

In a self-contained system, where the oil pump is usually driven from the turbine spindle, this would of course be impossible. In the gravity and allied systems, however, it should always be the first operation performed. The tests for oil consumption, described previously, having been carried out, it is assumed that suitable means have been adopted to restrict the total oil flow through the bearings to a minimum quantity.

The running to speed of large turbo-alternators requires considerable care, and should always be done slowly; that is to say the rate of acceleration should be slow. It is well known that the vibration of a heavy unit is accompanied by a synchronous or non-synchronous vibration of the foundation upon which it rests. The nearest approach to perfect synchronism between unit and foundation is obtained by a gradual rise in speed. A machine run up to speed too quickly might, after passing the critical speed, settle down with little visible vibration, but at a later time, even hours after, suddenly begin vibrating violently from no apparent cause. The chances of this occurring are minimized by slow and careful running to speed.

Whether the machine being tested is one of a number running in parallel, or a single unit running on a steady water load, the latter should in all cases be thrown on gradually until full load is reached. A preliminary run of two or three hours--whenever possible--should then be made, during which ample opportunity is afforded for regulating the conditions in accordance with test requirements. The tester will do well during the last hour of this trial run to station his recorders at their several posts and, for a short time at least, to have a complete set of readings taken at the correct test intervals. This more particularly applies to the electrical water, superheat and vacuum readings. In the case of a turbo-alternator the steadiness obtainable in the electrical load may determine the frequency of readings taken, both electrical and otherwise. On a perfectly steady water-tank load, for example, it may be sufficiently adequate to read all wattmeters, voltmeters, and ammeters from standard instruments at from one- to two-minute intervals. Readings at half-minute intervals, however, should be taken with a varying load, even when the variation is only slight.

The water-measurement readings may of course be taken at any suitable intervals, the time being to an extent determined by the size of the measuring tanks or the capacity of the weighing machine or machines. When designing the measuring apparatus, the object should be to minimize, within economical and practical range, the total number of weighings or measurements necessary. Consequently, no strict time of interval between individual weighings or measurements can be given in this case. It may be said, however, that it is not desirable to take these at anything less than five-minute intervals. Under ordinary circumstances a three- to five-minute interval is sufficient in the case of all steam-pressure, vacuum--including mercurial columns and barometer--superheat and temperature readings.

Gland and Hot-Well Regulation

There are two highly important features requiring more or less constant attention throughout a test, namely the gland and hot-well regulation. For the present purpose we may assume that the glands are supplied with either steam or water for sealing them. All steam supplied to the turbine obviously goes to swell the hot-well contents, and to thus increase the total steam consumption. The ordinary steam gland is in reality a pressure gland. At both ends of the turbine casing is an annular chamber, surrounding the turbine spindle at the point where it projects through the casing. A number of brass rings on either side of this chamber encircle the spindle, with only a very fine running clearance between the latter and themselves. Steam enters the gland chamber at a slight pressure, and, when a vacuum exists inside the turbine casing, tends to flow inward. The pressure, however, inside the gland is increased until it exceeds that of the atmosphere outside, and by maintaining it at this pressure it is obvious that no air can possibly enter the turbine through the glands, to destroy the vacuum. The above principle must be borne in mind during a test upon a turbine having steam-fed glands. Perhaps the best course to follow--in view of the economy of gland steam consumption necessary--is as follows:

During the preliminary non-test run, full steam is turned into both glands while the vacuum is being raised, and maintained until full load has been on the turbine for some little time. The vacuum will by this time have probably reached its maximum, and perhaps fallen to a point slightly lower, at which hight it may be expected to remain, other conditions also remaining constant. The gland steam must now be gradually turned off until the amount of steam vapor issuing from the glands is almost imperceptible. This should not lower the vacuum in the slightest degree. By gradual degrees the gland steam can be still farther cut down, until no steam vapor at all can be discerned issuing from the gland boxes. This reduction should be continued until a point is reached at which the vacuum is affected, when it must be stopped and the amount of steam flowing to the gland again increased very slightly, just enough to bring the vacuum again to its original hight. The steam now passing into the glands is the minimum required under the conditions, and should be maintained as nearly constant as possible throughout the test. Practically all steam entering the glands is drawn into the turbine, and thence to the condenser, and under the circumstances it may be assumed the increase in steam consumption arising from this source is also a minimum.

There is one mechanical feature which has an important bearing upon the foregoing question, and which it is one of the tester's duties to investigate. This is illustrated in Fig. 71, which shows a turbine spindle projecting through the casing. The gland box is let into the casing as shown. Brass rings A calked into the gland box encircle the shaft on either side of the annular steam space S. As the clearance between the turbine spindle and the rings A is in a measure instrumental in determining the amount of steam required to maintain a required pressure inside the chamber, it is obvious that this clearance should be minimum. An unnecessarily large clearance means a proportionally large increase in gland steam consumption and vice versa.

When the turbine glands are sealed with water, all water leakage which takes place into the turbine, and ultimately to the condenser hot-well, must be measured and subtracted from the hot-well contents at the end of a test.

The foregoing remarks would not apply to those cases in which the gland supply is drawn from and returned to the hot-well, or a pipe leading from the hot-well. Then no correction would be necessary, as all water used for gland purposes might be assumed as being taken from the measuring tanks and returned again in time for same or next weighing or measurement.

General Considerations

There are a few principal elementary points which it is necessary always to keep in mind during the conduct of a test. Among these are the effects of variation in vacuum, superheat, initial steam pressure, and, as already indicated, in load. There exist many rules for determining the corrections necessitated by this variation. For example, it is often assumed that 9 degrees Fahrenheit, excess or otherwise, above or below that specified, represents an increase or reduction in efficiency of about 1 per cent. It is probable that the percentage increase or decrease in steam consumption, in the case of superheat, can be more reliably calculated than in other cases, as, for example, vacuum; but the increase cannot be said to be due solely to the variation in superheat. In other words, the individuality of the particular turbine being tested always contributes something, however small this something may be, to the results obtained.

These remarks are particularly applicable where vacuum is concerned. Here again rules exist, one of these being that every additional inch of vacuum increases the economy of the turbine by something slightly under half a pound of steam per kilowatt-hour. But a moment's consideration convinces one of the utter unreliability of such rules for general application. It is, for instance, well known that many machines, when under test, have demonstrated that the total increase in the water rate is very far from constant. A machine tested, for example, gave approximately the following results, the object of the test being to discover the total increase in the water rate per inch decrease in vacuum:

From 27 inches to 26 inches, 4.5 per cent.

From 26.2 inches to 24.5 inches, 2.5 per cent.

This illustrates to what an extent the ratio of increase can vary, and it must be borne in mind that it is very probable that the variation is different in different types and sizes of machines.

There can exist, therefore, no empirical rules of a reliable nature upon which the tester can base his deductions. The only way calculated to give satisfaction is to conduct a series of preliminary tests upon the turbine undergoing observation, and from these to deduce all information of the nature required, which can be permanently recorded in a set of curves for reference during the final official tests.

In conclusion, it must be admitted that many published tests outlining the performances of certain makes of turbine are unreliable. To determine honestly the capabilities of any machine in the direction of steam economy is an operation requiring time, and unbiased and accurate supervision. By means of such assets as "floating quantities," short tests during exceptionally favorable conditions, and disregard of the vital necessity of running a test under the proper specified conditions, it is comparatively easy to obtain results apparently highly satisfactory, but which under other conditions might be just the reverse. These considerations are, however, unworthy of the tester proper.

VII. AUXILIARIES FOR STEAM TURBINES

Contributed to Power by Thomas Franklin.

The Jet Condenser

The jet condenser illustrated in Fig. 72 is singularly well adapted for the turbine installation. As the type has not been so widely adopted as the more common forms of jet condenser and the surface types, it may prove of interest to describe briefly its general construction and a few of its special features in relation to tests.