2008 SS Lane Victory Adventure Page Three

Did You Know? - In physical chemistry, and in engineering, steam refers to vaporized water. It is a pure, completely invisible gas (for mist see below). At standard temperature and pressure, pure steam (unmixed with air, but in equilibrium with liquid water) occupies about 1,600 times the volume of an equal mass of liquid water. In the atmosphere, the partial pressure of water is much lower than 1 atm, therefore gaseous water can exist at temperatures much lower than 100 C (see water vapor and humidity).

In common speech, steam most often refers to the white mist that condenses above boiling water as the hot vapor ("steam" in the first sense) mixes with the cooler air. This mist is made of tiny droplets of liquid water, not gaseous water, so it is no longer technically steam. In the spout of a steaming kettle, the spot where there is no condensed water vapor, where there appears to be nothing there, is steam.

Did You Know? - It takes 35 men to run the engine room! A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into useful mechanical work.

It has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine (invented by Thomas Newcomen and greatly improved by James Watt) primarily because of its greater thermal efficiency and higher power-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine generates rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator - about 80% of all electric generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the expansion of the steam (as opposed to the one stage in the Watt engine), which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible process. 

Did You Know? - The steam turbine itself is a devise to convert the heat in steam to mechanical power.

The difference between the heat of steam per unit weight at the inlet to turbine and the heat of steam per unit weight at the outlet to turbine represents the heat given out (or heat drop) in the steam turbine which is converted to mechanical power. The heat drop per unit weight of steam is also measured by the word enthalpy drop.

Therefore the more the conversion of heat per pound (or Kg) of steam to mechanical power in the turbine, the better is its performance or otherwise known as efficiency.

By condensing the exhaust steam of turbine, the exhaust pressure is brought down below atmospheric pressure from above atmospheric pressure, increasing the steam pressure drop between inlet and exhaust of steam turbine.

This further reduction in exhaust pressure gives out more heat per unit weight of steam input to the steam turbine, for conversion to mechanical power. Most of the heat liberated due to condensing, i.e., latent heat of steam, is carried away by circulating water inside the tubes.

Did You Know? - A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.

Did You Know? - Most boilers heat water until it boils, and then the steam is used at saturation temperature (i.e., saturated steam). Superheated steam boilers boil the water and then further heat the steam in a superheater. This provides steam at much higher temperature, and can decrease the overall thermal efficiency of the steam plant due to the fact that the higher steam temperature requires a higher flue gas exhaust temperature. However, there are advantages to superheated steam. For example, useful heat can be extracted from the steam without causing condensation, which could damage piping and turbine blades.

Superheated steam presents unique safety concerns because, if there is a leak in the steam piping, steam at such high pressure/temperature can cause serious, instantaneous harm to anyone entering its flow. Since the escaping steam will initially be completely superheated vapor, it is not easy to see the leak, although the intense heat and sound from such a leak clearly indicates its presence.

The superheater works like coils on an air conditioning unit, however to a different end. The steam piping (with steam flowing through it) is directed through the flue gas path in the boiler furnace. This area typically is between 1300-1600 degrees Celsius (2500-3000 degrees Fahrenheit).

Some superheaters are radiant type (absorb heat by radiation), others are convection type (absorb heat via a fluid i.e. gas) and some are a combination of the two. So whether by convection or radiation the extreme heat in the boiler furnace/flue gas path will also heat the superheater steam piping and the steam within as well.

It is important to note that while the temperature of the steam in the superheater is raised, the pressure of the steam is not: the turbine or moving pistons offer a "continuously expanding space" and the pressure remains the same as that of the boiler.

Did You Know? - A propeller is the most common propulsion on ships, imparting momentum to a fluid which causes a force to act on the ship .

The ideal efficiency of any size propeller is that of an actuator disc in an ideal fluid. An actual marine propeller is made up of sections of helicoidal surfaces which act together 'screwing' through the water (hence the common reference to marine propellers as "screws"). Three, four, or five blades are most common in marine propellers, although designs which are intended to operate at reduced noise will have more blades. The blades are attached to a boss, which should be as small as the needs of strength allow - with fixed pitch propellers the blades and boss are usually a single casting.

A driveshaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a mechanical device for transferring power from the engine or motor to the point where useful work is applied. Most engines or motors deliver power as torque through rotary motion: this is extracted from the linear motion of pistons in a reciprocating engine; water driving a water wheel; or forced gas or water in a turbine. From the point of delivery, the components of power transmission form the drive train.

Driveshafts are carriers of torque: they are subject to torsion and shear stress, which represents the difference between the input force and the load. They thus need to be strong enough to bear the stress, without imposing too great an additional inertia by virtue of the weight of the shaft.

On a power-driven ship, the driveshaft, or propeller shaft, usually connects the transmission inside the vessel directly to the propeller, passing through a stuffing box or other seal at the point it exits the hull.