Prediction of losses in the flow through the last stage of low‐pressure steam turbine

In this paper, the numerical modelling of the flow through the low‐pressure steam turbine last stage was presented. On the basis of predicted wet steam flow‐field, the aerodynamic as well as thermodynamic losses were estimated. For calculations of the wet steam steady flow‐field three numerical methods were employed. The first method was a streamline curvature method (SCM). The commercial CFD code (CFX‐TACflow) and an in‐house code, both solving the 3‐D RANS equations, were the next two methods. In the wet steam region, by means of all three methods, the equilibrium flow was modelled. Additionally, the in‐house CFD code was used for modelling of the non‐equilibrium steam condensing flow. In this work, the comparison of the cascade loss coefficient for stator and rotor and selected flow parameters for the stage were presented, compared and discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.