Mechanical Engineering Handbook: Power Equipment Volume

Author: Chief Editor: Wang Xiaofei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-07-01
Features: The Mechanical Engineering Handbook (Second Edition) consists of 18 volumes and 152 chapters, divided into sections such as Basic Principles, Engineering Materials, Design, Processes and Equipment, Electrical and Electronic Instruments, General Mechanical Products, and Specialized Mechanical Products. This volume is part of the General Mechanical Products section, which is divided into 7 parts. Part 1 is an overview of power equipment, introducing its role, significance, basic content, key technical issues, and development trends, while also discussing optimization, reliability, operability, economy, and environmental protection from the perspective of power system integration. Parts 2 to 6 cover boilers, steam turbines, internal combustion engines, gas turbines, and water turbines, respectively, introducing the basic principles, structures, performance, and characteristics of these major power equipment, as well as key technical issues in their design and use. Part 7 focuses on industrial power, summarizing the common technical issues of various industrial power systems with energy efficiency as the main theme. This handbook is primarily intended for a broad range of mechanical and electrical engineering technicians with intermediate to advanced technical skills, serving as a reference for comprehensive research and problem-solving in their field and related disciplines. It can also be used as a reference for university teachers and students and other relevant personnel.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1: Classification, Current Status, and Development Trends of Power Equipment
1. Classification of Power Equipment
1.1 Definition of Power Equipment
Any production and living activity in human society requires energy, which is provided by energy sources. The definition and classification of energy sources can be found in the Comprehensive Technology and Management volume, Part 9, Energy Conservation Technology. Primary energy sources in nature generally need to be converted to the forms of energy required by humans, such as mechanical energy, electrical energy, heat, or conveniently usable combustible gases, etc. Any mechanical device that converts natural energy into mechanical energy is called a power machine or equipment, which is the narrow definition of power equipment commonly used in the engineering field. Steam turbines, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, water turbines, and wind turbines are all typical power equipment. Mechanical energy is often not the final form of energy required for production and daily life, and the conversion of other forms of energy into mechanical energy also requires mechanical devices, such as the conversion of chemical energy in fuels through heat. In modern power systems, these processes are often closely linked with mechanical devices, forming complex systems such as steam boilers, gas generators, fans, compressors, and pumps, etc. These devices can also be included in the category of power equipment in the engineering field, which is the broad definition of power equipment. In this handbook, following the conventions and industry classifications of China's mechanical engineering community, energy conversion devices in the reverse process of power machinery, such as fans, pumps, and heat exchangers, are classified into general mechanical volumes; while mechanical equipment mixed with production processes are classified into specialized mechanical equipment, such as chemical process machinery, aerospace propulsion systems, ship propulsion systems, and nuclear power equipment, etc. Therefore, the power equipment defined in this volume refers only to machinery, equipment, and systems that directly or indirectly convert primary energy into mechanical energy. Industrial boilers that directly generate steam and gas generators that produce gas are still included in this volume due to their similar working principles and mechanical structures to other power equipment.
1.2 Role and Significance of Power Equipment in Social Development
In the mid-1760s, the steam engine, which used coal as the main energy source to replace firewood, emerged as the second generation of power machinery, triggering the Industrial Revolution and promoting significant social development. Human society began to enter the industrial era. Therefore, the period from the mid-1760s to the early 1890s is known as the steam engine era. In the 1890s, internal combustion engines, steam turbines, and generators appeared. Due to their bulkiness and low thermal efficiency, steam engines were gradually phased out. Internal combustion engines quickly gained dominance in transportation power, military equipment, and mobile power sources. The emergence and rapid large-scale and modernization of steam turbine power stations led to the widespread application of electricity in both production and daily life, rapid technological development, and the rapid spread of mechanization, electrification, and automation, marking the true entry of human society into the era of large-scale industrialization. With the rapid development of the petroleum industry and the widespread use of internal combustion engines (including gas turbines that emerged in the 1940s), many industries that used coal as fuel and raw materials switched to petroleum, leading to a major shift in the world's energy consumption structure starting in the 1950s—transitioning from a coal-dominated structure to one dominated by oil and natural gas. From the 1950s, the proportion of coal in primary energy fell below 50% and continued to decline to around 30% by the end of the century. This period was characterized by internal combustion and electrification as industrial features. The widespread use of internal combustion engines and the establishment of large power grids dominated by large hydropower and thermal power stations drove the rapid development of mechanization, electrification, and automation. The emergence and rapid application of computers in various fields facilitated the transition of human society from the industrial age to the information age. Knowledge products, the information industry, and high-tech products are gaining increasingly important roles. It can be said that the high development of power equipment contributed to this significant transformation and progress, while the transition to the information age also poses new requirements for power equipment. Given the extensive consumption of fossil fuel reserves worldwide and the severe pollution caused by their use, the efficient and low-pollution use of fossil fuels has become an urgent task. Power equipment is moving towards large-scale operation, adopting high parameters, and employing precise design techniques to high efficiency. As a result, parameter optimization, system matching, and composite machinery guided by the concept of total energy utilization systems have emerged. At the same time, environmental protection technology and power equipment technology are intersecting, with technologies such as clean coal technology, low-noise impeller machinery, low-pollution-emission internal combustion engines, and waste utilization systems gradually infiltrating the research and development process of power equipment. Further, the energy structure dominated by fossil fuels will gradually transition to one dominated by clean and renewable energy, marking the third major transformation in the world's energy consumption structure and social development. Solar energy and nuclear fusion energy are promising next-generation energy sources, but their corresponding power equipment development is still needed to realize this. As this is a rather long development process, from the present moment, it is still only in the preliminary preparation stage. At present, the main goal remains the development of efficient and low-pollution power equipment.
1.3 Classification of Power Equipment
Power equipment comes in a variety of types and is used in various industries for production and daily life. It can be classified based on different energy conversion methods, working principles, structural characteristics, and applications.