25 Steam Turbine and Generator Inspection and Condition Assessment

The fundamental design concepts embodied in steam turbines and generators are fairly simple—allow high pressure steam to expand through a series of blades mounted to a rotating member to extract thermal energy from pressurized steam and convert it to mechanical energy in the form of torque. Then utilize this torque to rotate a large electromagnet past a series of conductors to produce current flow in the conductors—pretty simple. However, as simple as this seems, these are very complicated machines that involve essentially all aspects of engineering—statics and dynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, organic and inorganic chemistry, steam cycle chemistry, materials behavior (stress/strain), fracture mechanics, corrosion, erosion, electrical (power) engineering, electric circuits and circuit models, electromagnetics, control theory and controls, power system analysis, dielectrics and electrical insulation, tribology, and various forms of materials joining from glues and resins to soldering, brazing, and welding.