Thermodynamic wetness loss calculation in a steam turbine rotor tip section: Nucleating steam flow

Rapid expansion of steam in the last stages of a steam turbine causes condensation. The formation of liquid droplets due to condensation results in wetness losses, which include aerodynamic losses (due to friction between liquid droplets and the vapour), thermodynamic losses (due to irreversible heat addition), and braking losses (due to the impact of liquid droplets on the blade). The thermodynamic loss contributes up to 80% to the wetness losses when the diameter of the droplets formed is less than 1 μm. In this study, the thermodynamic loss in a two-dimensional steam turbine rotor tip section is numerically investigated for various operating and off-design conditions. A pressure based, Eulerian-Eulerian approach is used to model the non-equilibrium condensation process. The entropy change due to condensation is used to compute the thermodynamic losses.