Back Pressure Steam Turbines – Powering Your Process

In this post, we explain briefly about the backpressure turbines.

Back pressure turbines are one of the simplest forms of steam turbines. They are generally used in process applications.

In this type of turbine, the steam enters at a certain pressure and temperature and, after having its thermal energy used and converted into mechanical work, it leaves the turbine exhaust at a positive pressure, that is, higher than the local atmospheric pressure, and then is intended for use in the respective industrial process.

Back pressure turbines are generally used in sugar and alcohol plants, refineries, pulp and paper factories, food industries, and several other industries where steam is used for the process.

The turbine exhaust pressure is generally sized as a function of the pressure required in the process.

For example, in sugar and ethanol plants, the exhaust pressure of the turbines is usually dimensioned for 1.5 kgf/cm² g.

Returning to the specific issue of turbines, the energy converted into mechanical work runs their rotor shaft, which in turn can drive a generator, or even a mill, or any type of rotating equipment.

In this case, it’s important to point out that the application of backpressure turbines to drive machines or generators ends up linking the use of steam in the process to the drive of the respective machine or power generator. So, if there is no demand for steam in the process, logically this steam will not circulate through the turbine and consequently it will not be possible for the turbine to rotate its rotor and drive the coupled machine.

And the opposite is also valid: if there is no load for the generator or the driven machine, it’s not possible to turn the turbine.

Wortice back pressure turbines meet this type of application with efficiency and low operating cost.

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