Early precursors

The first device that can be classified as a reaction steam turbine is the aeolipile proposed by Hero of Alexandria, during the 1st century ce. In this device, steam was supplied through a hollow rotating shaft to a hollow rotating sphere. It then emerged through two opposing curved tubes, just as water issues from a rotating lawn sprinkler. The device was little more than a toy, since no useful work was produced.

Another steam-driven machine, described in 1629 in Italy, was designed in such a way that a jet of steam impinged on blades extending from a wheel and caused it to rotate by the impulse principle. Starting with a 1784 patent by James Watt, the developer of the steam engine, a number of reaction and impulse turbines were proposed, all adaptations of similar devices that operated with water. None were successful except for the units built by William Avery of the United States after 1837. In one such Avery turbine two hollow arms, about 75 centimetres long, were attached at right angles to a hollow shaft through which steam was supplied. Nozzles at the outer end of the arms allowed the steam to escape in a tangential direction, thus producing the reaction to turn the wheel. About 50 of these turbines were built for sawmills, cotton gins, and woodworking shops, and at least one was tried on a locomotive. While the efficiencies matched those of contemporary steam engines, high noise levels, difficult speed regulation, and frequent need for repairs led to their abandonment.

Development of modern steam turbines

No further developments occurred until the end of the 19th century when various inventors laid the groundwork for the modern steam turbine. In 1884 Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, a British engineer, recognized the advantage of employing a large number of stages in series, allowing extraction of the thermal energy in the steam in small steps. Parsons also developed the reaction-stage principle according to which a nearly equal pressure drop and energy release takes place in both the stationary and moving blade passages. In addition, he subsequently built the first practical large marine steam turbines. During the 1880s Carl G.P. de Laval of Sweden constructed small reaction turbines that turned at about 40,000 revolutions per minute to drive cream separators. Their high speed, however, made them unsuitable for other commercial applications. De Laval then turned his attention to single-stage impulse turbines that used convergent-divergent nozzles, such as the one shown in Figure 3. From 1889 to 1897 de Laval built many turbines with capacities from about 15 to several hundred horsepower. His 15-horsepower turbines were the first employed for marine propulsion (1892). C.E.A. Rateau of France first developed multistage impulse turbines during the 1890s. At about the same time, Charles G. Curtis of the United States developed the velocity-compounded impulse stage.

By 1900 the largest steam turbine-generator unit produced 1,200 kilowatts, and 10 years later the capacity of such machines had increased to more than 30,000 kilowatts. This far exceeded the output of even the largest steam engines, making steam turbines the principal prime movers in central power stations after the first decade of the 20th century. Following the successful installation of a series of 68,000-horsepower turbines in the transatlantic passenger liners Lusitania and Mauretania, launched in 1906, steam turbines also gained preeminence in large-scale marine applications, first with vessels burning fossil fuels and then with those using nuclear power. Steam generator pressures increased from about 1,000 kilopascals gauge in 1895 to 1,380 kilopascals gauge by 1919 and then to 9,300 kilopascals gauge by 1940. Steam temperatures climbed from about 180 °C (saturated steam) to 315 °C (superheated steam) and eventually to 510 °C over the same time period, while heat rates decreased from about 38,000 to below 10,000 Btus per kilowatt-hour.

Recent developments and trends

By 1940, single turbine units with a power capacity of 100,000 kilowatts were common. Ever-larger turbines (with higher efficiencies) have been constructed during the last half of the century, largely because of the steadily rising cost of fossil fuels. This required a substantial increase in steam generator pressures and temperatures. Some units operating with supercritical steam at pressures as high as 34,500 kilopascals gauge and at temperatures of up to 650 °C were built before 1970. Reheat turbines that operate at lower pressures (between 17,100 to 24,100 kilopascals gauge) and temperatures (540–565 °C) are now commonly installed to assure high reliability. Steam turbines in nuclear power plants, which are still being constructed in a number of countries outside of the United States, typically operate at about 7,580 kilopascals gauge and at temperatures of up to 295 °C to accommodate the limitations of reactors. Turbines that exceed one-million-kilowatt output require exceptionally large, highly alloyed steel blades at the low pressure end.

Slightly more efficient units with a power capacity of more than 1.3 million kilowatts may eventually be built, but no major improvements are expected within the next few decades, primarily because of the temperature limitations of the materials employed in steam generators, piping, and high-pressure turbine components and because of the need for very high reliability.

Although the use of large steam turbines is tied to electric power production and marine propulsion, smaller units may be used for cogeneration when steam is required for other purposes, such as for chemical processing, powering other machines (e.g., compressors of large central air-conditioning systems serving many buildings), or driving large pumps and fans in power stations or refineries. However, the need for a complete steam plant, including steam generators, pumps, and accessories, does not make the steam turbine an attractive power device for small installations.