Title of thesis: Replacement of less efficient impulse type steam turbine with a reaction type to increase the efficiency of the turbo-generator plant

Companies that operate in the energy segment of electricity production and thermal energy use are focused on ensuring the highest possible efficiency and benefits of invested energy. Companies are fighting to develop devices that have the best possible efficiency, while new and new components are being developed.

As a result, the achievement of greater utilization of the invested energy in the transfer of thermal energy to mechanical energy is also the core of the findings in the given diploma thesis. As a result, mechanical energy becomes the driver for the electrical generator and electricity as a product.

The thesis will present the theory of the utilization of thermal energy in favor of the use of water steam as a medium that drives steam turbines and transformation into mechanical energy. The essence of the assignment is the presentation of a project carried out in a pulp mill in Italy, where I worked as a project manager for a supplier of turbo generator plant equipment. In its entirety, the turbo generator equipment is part of the combined cycle of power generation, whereby the client also replaced the gas turbine.

The equipment that was implemented in the production plant includes a turbo-generator plant and uses a reaction-type steam turbine as a drive. Reaction turbines use stator nozzle technology to transfer the rotational force to the rotor part of the turbine. Due to the high revolutions of the rotor, the construction is made in the form of a drum in such a way that the demanding limit values of rotor entanglement at speeds over 10,000 revolutions per minute are met.

The electric generator has a rated speed of 1,500 revolutions per minute, and for this purpose, a gear is used, which transfers torque and power from the steam turbine shaft to the electric generator shaft with very low losses. The implementation of the upgrade of the turbo generator plant provides the client with a greater utilization of the energy invested and, as a result, a greater value of the final product, which in our case is electricity for powering energy-consuming equipment in the production plant of the paper mill, using both electricity and water steam of the plant.

The output steam from the turbine has a pressure of 4.0 bara and is used in the further process of the plant in the production of the final paper product.