Redesign of Steam Strainer

Sammanfattning: This thesis was done at Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB in Finspång. Placed in the inlet to a steam turbine is a filter, a steam strainer, which separates particles and larger objects from the steam. These particles and objects will cause solid particle erosion in the actual turbine if they pass by. The strainer is exposed to large pressure drops when clogged, i.e., static loads which require a good creep resistance in the material. The temperature of the steam in the turbines is increased in order to deliver more energy; today’s turbines are dimensioned for almost 600°C. The material in parameters, such as the strainer, should also be adjusted to the higher temperatures. Today’s temperature is suspected to be the cause of damage in the strainer because the present material might get brittle at higher temperatures. The purpose of the thesis is to find a new material for the strainers and also to find a new concept for how to manufacture them. There are nine sizes of steam strainers but only five of them are exposed to the highest temperatures and pressure drops, which make only these five interesting to examine in this thesis. The concepts were chosen according to the method of Ulf Liedholm (1999), Systematic Concept Development. The thesis did not end up with only one concept because not all possible methods were tested but the suggestions are all based on a strainer built out of membranes as before. The discussed methods to join the membranes are EB-welding, laser welding and brazing. An investigation to find if it was possible to improve the strength of the strainer by simple design changes and a calculation of what percentage of clogging the strainer would hold for was also done. The chosen material was a creep resistant, alloy special steel. Three suggestions on concepts were presented. The improvements in strength from simple changes in design were too small and too costly but are enclosed as an appendix in this report. Calculations on the strength were done without regard taken to fatigue caused by possible vibrations, so-called high cycle fatigue. What would be interesting to do as a future work based on this thesis is, of course, to test the three manufacturing methods and evaluate them thoroughly but also to discuss other ways of improving the strength through design changes. These should be done regarding the flow. Also high cycle fatigue should be considered.