Unsteady Wet-Steam Flows Through Low Pressure Turbine Final Three Stages Considering Blade Number

Unsteady three-dimensional wet-steam flows through stator–rotor blade rows in the final three stages of a low-pressure steam turbine, taking the blade number into consideration, are numerically investigated. In ASME Turbo Expo 2014, we presented the numerical results of the unsteady flow assuming the same blade number. Here, this previous study is extended to flow simulations using the real blade number. The flows under three flow conditions, with and without condensation and considering the same and real blade numbers are simulated, and the numerical results are compared with each other and with the experimental results. Finally, the effect of the blade number on unsteady wet-steam flows in real low-pressure steam turbines is discussed.