The working principle of a steam turbine generator is based on the electromagnetic induction principle, converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. The specific process is as follows:
Overheated steam produced by the boiler enters the steam turbine to expand and do work, propelling the turbine blades to rotate.
The rotation of the steam turbine blades drives the generator rotor to spin.
After direct current is introduced into the stator winding of the generator, a rotor magnetic field, or main magnetic field, is established. As the turbine generator rotor rotates, the magnetic flux emanates from one pole of the rotor, passes through the air gap, the stator core, and another air gap, then enters the adjacent opposite pole of the rotor, thereby forming the main magnetic flux loop.
As the generator rotor rotates with the turbine, when the generator poles rotate one full cycle, the main pole's magnetic lines are sequentially cut by the U, V, and W three-phase windings (wires) installed in the stator iron core. According to the law of electromagnetic induction, a three-phase alternating electromotive force with different phases is induced in the stator three-phase windings, thereby generating current.
Features include:
Turbine generators are a type of synchronous generator, driven by the turbine as the prime mover to rotate the rotor.
Turbine generators typically operate at 3,000 RPM (50 Hz) or 3,600 RPM (60 Hz).
High-speed turbine generators typically have a smaller rotor diameter and a larger length (i.e., slender rotors) to reduce mechanical stress caused by centrifugal force and to minimize windage wear. This slender design limits the rotor size of large high-speed turbine generators.
Turbine generators are primarily used in thermal power plants or nuclear power plants.
