CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GAS TURBINE, A STEAM TURBINE, A WATER TURBINE AND AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

What is the difference between a gas turbine, a steam turbine, a water turbine and an internal combustion engine?

Turbine:

Turbine is a class of turbo machinery used to convert the energy in a flowing fluid into mechanical energy by the use of rotor mechanisms. Turbines, in general, convert either thermal or kinetic energy of the fluid into work.

Steam Turbine:

• The steam turbine uses pressurized steam from a boiler as the working fluid.

• The super-heated steam entering the turbine loses its pressure (enthalpy) moving through the blades of the rotors, and the rotors move the shaft to which they are connected.
• Steam turbines deliver power at a smooth, constant rate, and the thermal efficiency of a steam turbine is higher than that of a reciprocating engine but lower than gas turbine engines due to higher operating temperatures of the gas turbines (Gas turbines ~1500°C and steam turbines ~550°C).
• In modern days, primary use of the steam turbines is for the electrical power generation, but at the early 20th century steam turbines was used as the power plant for ships and locomotive engines. As an exception, in some marine propulsion systems where the diesel engines are impractical, such as aircraft carriers and submarines, the steam engines are still used.

Gas Turbine:

• Gas turbine engine or simply a gas turbine is an internal combustion engine, using gases such as air as the working fluid.

• Gas turbine engine, unlike the steam turbine, consists of several key components; those are the compressor, combustion chamber, and turbine, which are assembled along a rotating shaft, to perform different tasks of an internal combustion engine.
• Gas turbines can be used to produce torque, thrust (which powers the military fighter aircraft), or both in combination (used in turboprop engines).
• Gas turbines are more versatile, because many fuels can be used and working fluid, which has to be fed continuously, is readily available everywhere (air). Steam turbines, on the other hand, require large amounts of water for the operation and tend to cause problems in lower temperatures due to icing.
• They are preferred over other engines (mainly reciprocating engines) due to their high power to weight ratio, less vibration, high operation speeds, and reliability.

Internal Combustion Engine:

• The defining feature of an internal combustion engine is that useful work is performed by the expanding hot gases (generated by exothermic reaction of a fuel with an oxidizer) acting directly to cause movement, for example by acting on pistons, rotors, or even by pressing on and moving the entire engine itself.

• This contrasts with external combustion engines such as steam engines which use the combustion process to heat a separate working fluid, typically water or steam, which then in turn does work, for example by pressing on a steam actuated piston.
• Internal combustion engines are seen mostly in transportation. Several other uses are for any portable situation where you need an non-electric motor. The largest application in this situation would be an Internal combustion engine driving an electric generator. That way, you can use standard electric tools driven by an internal combustion engine.
• The advantages is the portability and the disadvantage is the pollution that they put out. Not only the obvious, air pollution, but also the Noise pollution, Some are so loud, that people need hearing protection to prevent damage their ears.
• Most internal combustion engines waste about 36 percent of the energy in gasoline as heat lost to the cooling system and another 38 percent through the exhaust. The rest, about six percent, is lost to friction. Thus most gasoline fueled internal combustion engines, even when aided with turbochargers and stock efficiency aids, have a mechanical efficiency of about 20 percent.

Water turbine:

• A water turbine is a rotary engine that takes energy from moving water. Now they are mostly used for electric power generation.

• The type of water turbine or hydro-power selected for a project is based on the height of standing water (referred to as head) and the flow, or volume of water, at the site, and there are a number of different hydro-power turbine types available that are suited to different heads and flows.
• Here a generator is placed at the top of a shaft that connects to the water turbine. As the turbine catches the naturally moving water in its blade and rotates, the generator receives the necessary force and begins to generate electrical energy.
• Hydroelectric power generation is by far the most efficient method of large scale electric power generation as the conversion process captures kinetic energy and converts it directly into electric energy hence there is no inefficient intermediate thermodynamic or chemical processes and no heat losses.
• The conversion efficiency of a hydroelectric power plant can be as high as 95% for large installations while for smaller plants with output powers less than 5 MW may have efficiency between 80 and 85 % which are much higher than the above three mechanisms.