Pressure losses reduction in a steam turbine compact valve

Valves are integral parts of modern steam turbines. They provide flexible operations and fast load changes which have become more often due to the increasing share of renewable energy. Along with this, the low pressure loss is required for guaranteed operation conditions. This paper is concerned with investigation of pressure losses in the compact valve, which is used as a valve for the intermediate-pressure turbine part, and its geometry modification to lower overall pressure losses. The investigation is based on results of numerical simulations which were carried out in the Doosan Skoda Power Company using a package of ANSYS software tools. Source of increased pressure losses in the compact valve is identified and a way of its reduction is proposed based on the comparison of the current results with data from a typical control valve model. Data analysis is provided in the paper.