Specifications of a Steam Turbine Power Plant
Many power plants operate by using steam turbines. While every plant is different, the steam turbines all follow the same principles that convert heat energy from steam into electrical energy, which is transported through wiring systems to people's homes and businesses. Most steam turbine plants are found alongside rivers where ready access to water is available.
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Steam Source
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Steam comes from heating water and boiling it, which turns it into its gas form. The method of heating water in power plants varies depending on the plant. Coal plants are popular, as are natural gas and nuclear plants. The underlying principle is the same -- water is turned into steam through heat, which powers turbines and creates electricity.
Impulse Turbine
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A simple turbine consists of a series of impeller blades and two nozzles that fire steam through them. As the steam moves the impulse turbine nozzles, the blades turn the turbine. This changes the energy from heat energy to mechanical energy.
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Reaction Turbine
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Reaction turbines are more efficient than impulse turbines because there is no "stopping" the steam like there is with an impulse turbine. Rather than having the nozzles mounted outside the impeller blades, the nozzles are mounted directly atop the impeller blades. As the steam filters out of them, it pushes the blades from the force of its exit, but also pushes the fixed blades adjacent to them, thus increasing its energy in relation to its pressure.
Generator
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The spinning turbine moves a shaft surrounded by a magnet. Wrapped around the shaft is a wire and as the wire spins within the magnet, it creates electromagnetic induction. Electromagnetic induction is the process of creating electricity from a combination of mechanical energy and magnets. Generators are present in all steam turbine power plants, as without them they are just steam turbines without electricity as their end result, which makes them something else entirely.
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