Abstract :
IN the modern interconnected power system the steam turbine governor plays a very important role. Its performance has an important bearing on system stability, effect of load swings, tie line load control, frequency regulation, and other related phenomena. Consequently, within the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the subject of steam turbine governor performance. Numerous papers1 dealing with this subject presented at recent AIEE and ASME meetings provide ample evidence of this increased interest. These papers and the discussions which they have elicited reveal a need for improved means of obtaining complete and accurate measurements of turbine governor performance characteristics. Operating engineers and turbine governor designers alike have felt the need for better measuring instruments. The principal concern of the central station engineer is the maintenance of a high quality of service for his consumers with the minimum operating cost. Accurate measurements of governor characteristics will often reveal imperfect operation and suggest means for improving performance or for increasing operating efficiency. The designer, on the other hand, is concerned with meeting the customer´s requirements as to the operating characteristics of the governor. He must also contend with such design problems as the stability of the governor as a speed regulator, and the elimination of spurious effects such as may be caused by friction, mechanical imperfections in fly-ball governors, and by fluctuations in oil supply pressure in hydraulic governors. As a result of the designer´s more recent efforts, the modern turbine governor has been developed to a point where existing measuring instruments are no longer adequate for determining its performance. The art of turbine control has, in fact, progressed to a stage where further major improvements are dependent to a considerable extent upon greatly improved instrumentation.
