Sealing designs and analyses for steam turbines

This chapter presents a bird’s-eye view of the sealing technology currently in use and explains the technology required for sealing and repair design. Furthermore, as the research and development of new sealing technologies using flow analysis is advancing, typical examples are introduced. In contrast to the traditional designs that are based on one-dimensional leak flow prediction formulas, the findings of the analyses and experiments using three-dimensional and unsteady computational fluid dynamics and measurements are reflected in recent seal designs. The purpose of this chapter is to give technical explanations for steam turbine sealing designs that reduce leakages and minimize the negative impact of leakages on the performance and operations of steam turbines.