tive gas temperature of 1,200 degrees it can be assumed that the operation of a gas turbine and its life

is comparable with that of the steam turbine. As for liquid fuels, light oil can be burned without any doubt with practically the same reliability as natural gas and other gases. Heavy fuel oils, especially bunker C, tend to impose certain restrictions as far as the operation is concerned at least for the base-load machine, namely, periodic shutdowns are necessary to remove deposits from the blading by washing. In the areas where the desirability of burning two fuels is of importance, a special dual fuel burner can be applied. Such burners have been in successful operation already for many years. The true comparison of the gas turbine versus the steam turbine can only be made on the plant-to-plant basis. Such factors as smaller area, smaller foundation, lower cubical volume figure of the complete plant can then be evaluated in favor of gas turbine. As far as the maintenance is con-

cerned, the figures show that it is in the order of about one third that of a standard steam plant. This maintenance cost includes overhauling of the turbine every year, the necessary cleaning, etc. In peaking service especially, the faststart and remote-control possibilities offer special economical consideration.

Future Considerations
The obvious trend, as in the design of practically every machine, is to achieve larger and larger units with better efficiency. The largest unit built and operating so far is the Beznau II unit with an output of 27,000 kw. The world's largest power plant is in Livorno where two 25,000-kw gas turbines produce 50,000 kw. The next step will be the installation at Edmonton, Canada, which will have a capacity of 60,000 kw in two 30,000-kw units. Finally, the installation at Vancouver when built, is going to be the next world's largest gas-turbine power plant, probably for a long time, as it will have four 30,000-kw gas turbines,

with a total capability of 120,000 kw. There is enough accumulated experience to build units larger than 30,000 kw. A 50,000-kw unit can be readily built having the same space as a 30,000or 20,000-kw unit. It is ultimately possible even to build a 100,000-kw unit which will have approximately the same space and which would work on the principle of a combined steam- and gas-turbine cycle where the steam is generated at the supercritical conditions. An efficiency of over 45% of such cycle seems to be feasible. Although, today, gas turbines have found a place of permanent existence in different branches of industry, with these large sizes, the utilities will be the most obvious place for their application.

References
1. GAS TURBINRs. Brown Boveri Review, Baden, Switzerland, Jan.-Feb. 1957, pp. 18, 20, 24. 2. RBPORT ON BBZNAU-LA3ORST OP ITS KIND, H. Pfenninger. Power, New York, N. Y., Apr. 1956, p. 78. 3. OPERATING EXPBEIENCE wITE GAS TuIRBINBs, B. A. Kerez. Paper S234, Diesel Engines Users Association, London, England, p. 9.

Valve Point Loading of Turbines

GERALD L. DECKER
NONMEMBER AIEE

AARON D. BROOKS
NONMEMBER AIEE

A TURBINE loaded at a valve point, that is just before the next valve opens, is working at maximum efficiency at that loading. A turbine operating off a valve point is operating less efficiently because of the throttling of the steam passing through the throttled control valve. Therefore if all paralleled turbines are loaded on selected valve points except for one turbine free to move under governor control to meet smaller variations in steam or power demands, it follows that maximum efficiency in power generation will result. This paper shows why the precise loading of turbines at selected valve points determined by a digital computer, gives more power per pound of steam than would result if the same turbines were loaded at equal incremental steam rates, in accord with common practice.

Basic Steam Power Economics

In our Midland, Mich., plant, byproduct power is generated by passing 1,250 psi (pounds per square inch) super-

heated steam down through several turbine generators of 4,000 to 40,000 kw capacity, which extract or exhaust to meet process steam demands at various pressure levels. Process power demands generally exceed the by-product power generation. The balancing power is purchased from The Consumers Power Company, the utility serving this territory. Frequency is also controlled by the interconnection with the utility. Purchased power costs considerably more than by-product power. It is important to dispatch the steam to the various turbine generators in such a way as to maximize the by-product power generated while meeting process steam demands at the various pressure levels. Another reason the loading of paralleled noncondensing turbine generators is important, is that they average about onethird of the heat drop of a condensing unit. The loss of 1 to 2 Btu heat drop in a noncondensing machine is much more important than 2 to 3 Btu in a 300 to 400 Btu heat crop condensing unit. Noncondensing turbines are also generally

smaller in size than large modem condensing units. Since it takes about the same number of valves to control any size turbine, it fo3lows that needless throttling of steam through partially opened turbine control valves can and will waste considerable power in a larger number of lower heat drop turbines. The increase in power generation is estimated at 1.4 to 1.8% when loading a noncondensing turbine having a 100 Btu heat drop, at valve points instead of random loading on the actual looped performance curve. The net increase in a system of paralleled turbines will be lower, depending upon the number of turbines in the system, because one machine must be operated in between valve points to meet smaller load changes.
TURBINE VALVES AND VALVE POINTS

Fig. 1, showing a plot of steam flow versus efficiency for a noncondensing turPaper 58-166, recommended by the AIEI Power Generation and System Engineering Committees

1958. Manuscript submitted October 11, 1957; made available for printing December 9, 1957. GBRALD L. DECKRR and AARON D. BRooKs are with The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich. The authors wish to thank their co-workers at The Dow Chemical Company who co-operated in

and approved by the AIEE Technical Operations Department for presentation at the AIEE Winter General Meeting, New York, N. Y., February 2-7,

developing this problem.

AUGUST 19-58

Decker, Brooks- Valve Point Loading of Turbines

481

AN TURBINE

.8' TURBINE UBN

z
m

A.

::aI-I70

kw

(A)

kw

~~~~~ ~

"AVERAGE OF THE L

LAJ

~~~~~ ~~~(BASIS OF USUAL SM

~~~~~~GUARANTEE

CURVE)

100

200

400 500 300 600 STEAM FLOW, 1000 lbs.,./ hr.

700

800
kw

(B)

kw

Fig. 1. Steam Row veus effciency; noi ncondensing turbine

bine, clearly shows the valve points and the significant reduction in efficiency between the valve points of a noncondensing turbine. Multiple valves in turbines are designed to control the steam to separate groups of nozzles in the first stage of the turbine. Such a control valve arrangement maintains a higher average efficiency over a wide range of loads by successively admitting steam to groups of nozzles to meet increasing loads. This permits all the nozzle groups, except the one under control, to operate at the full throttle pressure and temperature. The more valves a turbine has, the less the spread in efficiency between valve points. The valves are operated in sequence by a cam shaft or other device under the control of the governor.
INCREMENTAL EFFICENcY TEST Fig. 1 also shows why there may be a wide deviation from the turbine guarantee curve when testing a turbine generator. A turbine test point can be above or below the smooth average of the loops guarantee curve, depending on whether it is on a valve point, or in between valve points. If the full turbine performance curve is desired, it is necessary to establish the

Fig. 2. Typical turbine perfomance curves A-Typicdl smooth performance curves B-Incremental rete curves
2-hour tests. The calculations for noncondensing turbines also take much less time. The results obtained on incremental efficiency tests have made it much easier to pin down the reasons for unexpected variations from design curves. The accuracy of the results obtained are believed to be better than the standard 2-hour tests under the same conditions. Valve points can also be determined by mechanical inspection of the valves and linkage when the turbine is dismantled and the valve position indicator calibrated accordingly.
TURBINES WITH INCREASING INCREMENTAL STEAM RATES

approximately 3% of the maximum steam flow. Equilibrium conditions are reached very quickly on each increase because of the small change in throttle flow. The test supervisor personally checks to make sure that at least five consistent readings have been obtained before it is decided to change load. Five consistent readings will define the point with good accuracy. This procedure is continued until the maximum steam flow is reached. The allowable variation in pressure and temperature varies with the effect it may have on the test results. Continuous readings at 2 minute intervals are taken during the entire test regardless of the incremental load changes. In other words, once the test is begun, all the test personnel continue their assigned duties until the entire test is completed. When the tests are calculated, the readings during a load change are disregarded.
ADVANTAGES TESTING
01?

INCREMENTAL

complete looped efficiency curve by running an incremental efficiency test. Such a test has sufficient load points to plot a looped efficiency curve similar to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 also shows why routine station check tests are more useful and easily compared with earlier tests, if the turbine is loaded at valve points.
INCREMENTAL TEST PROCEDURE The test is usually begun at low load. After 20 minutes of consistent readings are obtained, a small increase is made of

to enable a more accurate plotting of the full steam flow versus efficiency curve and the steam flow versus kilowatt curve. These looped curves show the valve points. In running the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2-hour turbine test, it is difficult to get in more than three tests in one day. It takes several days to get the number of test points necessary to plot the complete curve. Quite often in running tests on different days, some errors will change from one day to the next. There are no day-to-day bias errors in an incremental test. The cost of running an incremental test is considerably less than running several

Incremental testing gives enough points

Fig. 2 shows typical smooth performance curves and the corresponding incremental steam rate curves for two general types of turbines. There are other modifications of these two general types of performance curves. It is not necessary to discuss them to show the advantages of valve point over equal incremental steam rate loading. The incremental steam rate curve immediately below the average performance curve shows the rate of change of steam flow with respect to power generated. Mathematically, the incremental steam rate is the first derivative of the performance curve. Graphically the incremental steam rate is the slope of the tangent of the performance curve at any given point. The incremental steam rate curve can closely be approximated by reading the change in M lb/hr (millions of pounds per hour) steam flow for a given change in kilowatts, dividing and plotting the result at the mid-point of the kilowatt increment.
AUGUST 1958

482

Decker, Brooks- Valve Point Loading of Turbines

M /hr.

ACTUAL CURVE VALVE ( POINTS AVERAGE CURVE kw

/hr.

'B' TURBINE

kw

(A)
DECREASING RATE BETWEEN VALVE POINTS
dM d kw

I(B)
)\I
dM d kw

DECREASING RATE

>AVERAGE RATE
IS INCREASING
kw
kw

(C)
Fig. 3. Comparison of actual and smooth curves A-Actudl turbine performance curve B-Average performance curve C-Incremental rate curves

Turbines like A which have performance curves concave upward as shown, will always have incremental steam rates which increase with load. Two or more paralleled turbines having performance curves similar to A, would be loaded at equal incremental steam rates, in order to maximize the power generation over a given process steam base. Analog computers are available to automatically operate on the incremental curves of each operating turbine and load all the turbines until the first derivatives or incremental steam rates are equal. This method of loading does not give absolute values. It must be supplemented by a program which predetermines the correct number and size of machines to operate. Equal incremental steam rate loading also presupposes that the turbine operates on the smooth, average performance curve similar to A, and does not recognize the existence of valve points in the machine where the efficiency is higher than the average smooth curve.
TURBINES WITH DECREASING INCREMENTAL RATES

that if these two machines were loaded at equal incremental rates, A would increase in load when B unloads, and viceversa. Both turbines could never be fully loaded at equal incremental steam rates. It is thus obvious that equal incremental steam rate loading is not the sole criterion for economy loading of paralleled turbines, if one or more of the machines has a decreasing incremental steam rate with increasing load.
ACTUAL TURBINE PERFORMANCE Fig. 3, shows the actual test curve of a

turbine with valve points, where there is

minimum or no throttling of the steam, and maximum efficiency and power gen eration. The performance curves of turbine B are repeated on this slide to show that the actual turbine performance curve between valve points is concave downward like turbine B. Thus the in cremental steam rate decreases with ilcreasing load between valve points. Thus despite the fact that the average of the loops performance curve showtn dotted has an increasing incremental rate with increasing load, the actual incremental rate decreases with increasing load between valve points. This means that all types of turbines actually have decreasing incremental steam rates between valve points. Therefore, equal incremental loading of paralleled machines using the actual curves will not readily yield the maximum power generation. Inspection of the incremental rate curve of the actual looped-valve point curve, shows there is a discontinuity at the valve point followed by a decreasing rate until the next valve point is reached. Because of discontinuities in the incremental rates just off the valve points, in the past it has not been considered practical to use the incremental rate curves in this form for load division. Instead, the average incremental curves and equal incremental rate loading have been used to simplify load division and dispatching. Since there is no direct mathematical solution for the optimum loading of three or more paralleled turbines on valve points, it is necessary to try all possible or practical loading combinations and compare the power generation per pound of steam.

Table 1. Typical Print Out oF Digital Computer

Turbine
Valve Points
A
0 0 0 0

M Lb/Hr Throttle Steam

D 3 2 3 2 3
2

B 3 3

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

D 703 798 703

Mt
28.242 28.227

Choice
1 2

Mt
2013

Kwt
56,821

0 O 0

5 4

640

525

525

There is a second general type of turbine performance curve similar to that of turbine B. The average performance curve is concave downward, so the incremental steam rate decreases with increasing load. Inspection of the incremental steam rate curves of turbines A and B, shows

0 0 0 0 0 0
0

3 3 3 5

0 0 0 0 0 0

5 4 3 4 3
4

3 3 5 3

Moving

2 3 3 2

3 2

525 525

680

'798
703 700 690

790 690 670 640

2018

525

640 640

680

2 2 3 2 3
2

2
4

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

525
640

580

525

0 0

525 580 525

640 580

710 810 703 700

820 680 830 770 680

660

670

580 525

798 703 798 798 703 703 798 798 703 703 703 798 703 798 703 703 850

28.165

28.274

28.112 28.298 28.298

28.200 28.246 28.184

4 1 2

28.163 28.159 28.317 28.293 28.216 28.173 28.250 28.213 28.205 28.198

3 4 1 2 3

4 1 2

4 1 2 3 4

2018 2026 2026 2023 2023 2033 2038 2033 2038 2046 2043 2048 2048 2058 2058 2053 2055

2013

57,426 57,439 57,257 57,389 57.938 57,804 57,787 57,699 58,139 58,064

56,993 56,698 56,731 57,333 57,333 57,199 57,050

57,905

57,948

AUGUST 1958

Decker, Brooks- Valve Point Loading of Turbines

483

hi Z

500j.400 a: t 300 :I
100
RC]O
-

r -T.I

--.1F OFF
-TW s t 1
I

-1
M_

D:

1-

700 6004
-

II I
-I

--L I-

rI9 - rL T ,I

a:

,,B:00 -3 700 -2
:E

IIpI I I III
I.,
I
l.5

I
AI

I-

500 900
4

zi , Soo - 3

;700
600
500

a.

-2

0o

1.4

TF1.6

IT I

L.----lrX
.

a shift in steam loading, unless it remains or averages the best for at least five incremental changes. The accuracy of the print out is the same as the data. The final values are absolute, and definitely show the loading on every turbine including whether it should be on or off. These solutions hold for a long time and do not have to be continuously resolved like analog computer.

lT _-

I
2.3

1-

2.1 2.0 2.2 1.9 I.8 TOTAL 1250 lb. STEAM, MILLION Ibs./hr.
1.7

2.4

2.5

Fig. 4. Load dispatching by valve points: 1,250-400 pound zone

DIGITAL COMPUTER IS A "NATURAL" FOR PROBLEM A digital computer is a "natural" for a

problem like this, because of its ability to do a large number of simple, repetitive additions, divisions, comparisons, etc., in a short period of time. The incremental rate curves are not needed or used in load division with a digital computer, because it solves the problem the hard way, using absolute values of kilowatts and steam flow. The combinations of turbines and valve points which will give the most power per pound of steam for the complete loading range are determined by programming the computer to add the steam flow and power generated by turbine A at valve point 1 to valve point 1 for turbine B, turbine C, etc., then divide the totals to obtain the kilowatts per pound per hour of steam. Repeat for turbine A, valve point 2 and valve point 1 on the other machines, until all practical combinations of turbines and valve points have been calculated. The digital computer is then programmed to arrange all combinations in order of increasing kilowatts per pound per hour steam flow for each total steam flow, and then print out the first four or more choices for each total steam flow.

The computer machine time exclusive of programming for all the best four to eight loadings with only one turbine moving will vary from several hours for a limited memory capacity computer to a few minutes for larger, more modern machines.

COMPUTER PRINT OUT Table I shows typical print-out data for four turbines from a computer. It covers the first four choices of loadings for total steam demands from 2,013,000 to 2,058,00() lb/hr. The first four columns show the valve points for the various turbines. The blank column is the moving turbine meeting the sinaller steam changes. The next four columns show the M lb/hr of steam from each turbine. The next column is the total kilowatts divided by steam. This is followed by the choice, total steam flow M, and finally total kilowatts. In the print out of loading data there are frequent shifts of one or two positions in the best loading combinations, particularly when valve points are about to change. Since frequent major load shifts in steam between machines should not be made unless there is significant change in kilowatts, we found it desirable to limit
0

ACTUAL DISPATCHING The final sheet given to the dispatchers is plotted as shown in Fig. 4. This shows the most economical loadings for four topping turbines operating between 1,250 psi and 400 psi for total steam demands between 1,400,000 and 2,460,000 psi/hr. Similar sheets are required for other combinations with boilers or turbines off for maintenance. To determine which turbine should be assigned to move on pressure control, the computer can be programmed to print out the best four or more choices with any turbine moving. In actual practice, a transparent plastic cursor showing the valve points is provided to aid the dispatcher in reading the value points at any total steam demand. Other systems of displaying or using the most efficient valve point loadings can be developed to best suit particular situations.

Summary and Conclusions

Paralleled turbines should be loaded at selected valve points to maximize the power generation per pound of steam in preference to equal incremental steam rate loading using smooth average curves. The fact that turbines should spend a major portion of their useful working life on valve points instead of in between them, poses a logical question for the turbine and equipment manufacturers. Can valves, valve gear, governors and automatic dispatching equipment be adapted or redesigned to better fit and achieve this more precise and efficient valve point loading system for paralleled turbines?

Discussion
Philadelphia, Pa.): The authors of this significant economic saving is possible by valve point loading of turbines operated in parallel to serve an industrial power system. The test procedure presented is straightforward and
paper have demonstrated that a

F. H. Light (Philadelphia Electric Company,

requires a minimum of instrumentation. Similar testing procedures have been used to determine the valve points on utility turbines. For turbines having cam operated spring loaded control valves, the valve lifts are measured by a feeler gage. These are correlated with throttle flow and turbine stage pressures measured while the turbine load is raised in small increments through its entire operating range. For turbines

having hydraulic systems, with no direct access to the control valves, a slightly different technique is required. Here pressure gages are connected to each steam admission zone and the observed pressures in these zones is correlated with the pressure immediately following the first stage of

blading to determine the opening of the control valves. The valve point load information obtained from this preliminary

484

Decker, Brooks- Valve Point Loading of Turbines

AUGUST 1958