Ljungström turbine
The Ljungström turbine is a special steam turbine and was developed at the beginning of the 20th century by the Swedish brothers Birger (1872–1948) and Fredrik Ljungström (1875–1964). The machine is made of steam in a radial flow through and direction from the inside to the outside consists of two halves, which rotate in opposite directions. As a result, each blade of one half of the turbine also serves as a guide blade for the other half. The different direction of rotation of the two halves is either compensated for by a downstream gear or taken from two separate generators when generating electrical energy . The Ljungström turbine can be used either on a condenser or to feed a district heating network and can therefore be used flexibly. It was therefore often used in large industrial plants that could use both the exhaust steam from this engine for combined heat and power and its electrical energy .
In principle, the maximum output is around 32 MW , as the two turbine halves cannot be built as large as you want. Coupled with a Parsons turbine , its output can be increased to 50 MW. Since the current steam power plants have a significantly higher output, the Ljungström turbine is no longer built today.
The Ljungström turbine is also known under the name "Stal turbine" . Stal stands for S venska T urbinfabriks A ktiebolaget L jungström .
Ljungström 50 MW electrical generator unit, 1932
A discarded Ljungström turbine from the Ilseder Hütte
A rotor for a Ljungström turbine with internal radial and external axial blades
The inventor
The Ljungström brothers were very creative and typical inventors of the 19th century for their time . They not only invented the type of turbine named after them , but also an early form of the bicycle .
literature
- Sigvard Strandh: The machine: history, elements, function. An encyclopedic non-fiction book. Herder Verlag, 1980. ISBN 3-451-18873-2 (Ljungströmturbine pp. 133 to 135, Svea-Fahrrad p. 220 and Fig. 221)
