How Does a Steam Turbine Work?

What is a Steam Turbine?

A steam turbine is a device that converts the heat energy in captured, pressurized steam, and converts it to mechanical energy. The first historical example was the famous steam engine of Hero of Alexandria. This device was little more than a pot and spout on a rotating spit. When set over a fire, the water in the pot would boil, creating steam, which would then escape out the spout. The thrust generated by the escaping steam would turn the pot on the spit.

Electricity Generation

The main use for steam turbines today is in generating electricity. Turbines used for this have fan blades mounted on a rotor. The rising steam turns the blades, and thus the rotor. This rotary motion is then directly transferred to running a generator. This is how the heat energy of steam is turned to mechanical energy, and then into electricity. All thermal power plants--natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear and geothermal--operate on this principle.

Ship Propulsion

Another major use for steam turbines is in ship propulsion. The rotary motion of the turbine is used to turn the shaft of a propeller. This system is still in use on a variety of ocean-going ships today.

Resources

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