"Silovye Mashiny" manufactured two sets of high-pressure control valves for the modernization of K-1200-6.8/50 steam turbines. The new equipment is designed to improve the reliability of turbogenerator operation and is already undergoing implementation.
The devices will become part of the updated automatic control and protection system for turbine units. They are key elements of steam distribution and are responsible for changing the steam supply through the turbine depending on the operating mode.
The equipment is designed for operation in challenging conditions — at a working medium temperature of about 300 °C and pressure drops from 6.8 to 8.1 MPa. Special heat-resistant steels, resistant to high loads and temperature deformations, are used for manufacturing.
The main change was the replacement of the traditional piston design with a spool valve variant with variable underload windows. This solution eliminated the occurrence of axial valve vibrations in intermediate opening modes and improved the overall vibration state of the turbine.
In addition, the new design does not use piston rings, which made the production and assembly of the equipment simpler, and operation more reliable. The updated control valves are expected to increase the stability of turbine units' operation under various load conditions.