5 An Overview of Steam Turbines Available to Purchase

A steam turbine may be defined as a form of heat engine in which the energy of the steam is transformed into kinetic energy by means of expansion through nozzles, and the kinetic energy of the resulting jet is in turn converted into force doing work on rings of blading mounted on a rotating part. The basic idea of steam turbines was conceived as early as 120 BC, yet it was in 1883 that the first practical steam turbine was developed by De Laval.

A typical steam turbine power plant is divided up into its heat sources, the boiler or steam generator and the turbine cycle, which includes the turbine, generator, condenser pumps, and feedwater heaters. The steam turbine operates on the Rankine Cycle. They can be further divided into a non-condensing or condensing cycle.