Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-04-20 Origin: Site
A steam turbine is the core power equipment that converts high-temperature steam thermal energy into mechanical energy. It serves as a critical component in industries such as thermal power generation, nuclear energy, and petrochemicals.
In March 2026, the world's first 630°C ultra-supercritical 1000MW steam turbine, developed by Dongfang Electric for the Datang Yuncheng power project, completed commissioning and was officially put into operation.
The unit sets a new global record for steam parameters in coal-fired power plants, featuring high efficiency, lower coal consumption, and strong load regulation capability. Its commissioning marks a major leap in China's high-end turbine technology—from following global leaders to becoming a leader—effectively breaking the long-standing technological monopoly held by foreign manufacturers in high-parameter turbine systems.
After commissioning, the unit achieved thermal efficiency exceeding 50%, saving approximately 208,000 tons of standard coal annually and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 540,000 tons per year, delivering significant environmental and economic benefits.
The development and manufacturing of the 630°C ultra-supercritical steam turbine presented three world-class engineering challenges, making it far more complex than conventional ultra-supercritical units.
Traditional high-pressure turbine rotors cannot withstand long-term operation at 630°C. Under such extreme temperatures, materials are prone to creep deformation, fatigue damage, and strength degradation, which can significantly affect turbine lifespan and operational safety.
Previously, only a few countries mastered the production of high-temperature alloys required for steam turbine rotor shafts and HP/IP rotor assemblies, creating technological barriers for independent development. China faced major challenges in alloy composition design, forging processes, and material reliability for key components such as the turbine rotor, HP casing, and turbine shaft.
The turbine unit is equipped with 1450 mm last-stage blades, which must withstand enormous centrifugal forces, wet-steam erosion, and high-frequency vibration during long-term operation.
Traditional manufacturing processes often lack sufficient precision and stability, resulting in blade profile deviations and unstable dynamic performance. These issues not only reduce turbine efficiency but can also lead to serious safety risks such as blade fracture.
Additionally, conventional blade designs struggle to maintain stability under low-load operation, making it difficult to meet modern power grid requirements for deep peak load regulation.
Under 630°C ultra-high pressure operating conditions, irreversible heat transfer inside the turbine increases significantly, resulting in greater thermal losses.
At the same time, units operating under variable load conditions often face slow response times and unstable performance. Achieving both high efficiency and stable operation across full-load conditions—while maintaining reliable performance of critical components such as steam turbine rotors, turbine journal bearings, thrust bearings, and shaft sealing systems—was one of the most critical challenges during development.
To address these challenges, the R&D team collaborated with domestic universities and research institutions to overcome multiple technical barriers and establish a fully independent solution with proprietary intellectual property, effectively breaking foreign technological dominance.
Engineers independently developed a new C630R high-temperature alloy material along with a specialized forging process.
By optimizing the alloy composition ratio, the new material significantly improves high-temperature strength, creep resistance, and fatigue life, reaching internationally advanced standards. Through innovative forging techniques, key challenges such as forming thick-walled high-temperature components and welding dissimilar steels were successfully resolved.
As a result, critical components—including the steam turbine rotor shaft, turbine rotor assemblies, and turbine casings (HP casing, IP casing, and LP casing)—can now be fully manufactured domestically, ending China's reliance on imported high-end high-temperature alloys.
The turbine adopts an advanced three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) optimization design combined with high-precision CNC manufacturing technology.
This approach ensures precise blade profile accuracy and reduces steam flow losses within the turbine. In addition, innovative damping structures and erosion-resistant coatings were introduced to enhance blade resistance to vibration and wet-steam erosion.
These improvements significantly enhance blade dynamic performance, allowing the turbine to operate efficiently under deep peak load regulation and low-load conditions, thereby improving both efficiency and operational safety.
The unit employs a power-balanced dual-machine regenerative heating system, combined with optimized internal flow channel structures, effectively reducing irreversible thermal losses.
An independently developed steam-electric dual-drive control logic, integrated with an intelligent control system, enables rapid and precise adjustment of turbine speed and load. This significantly improves stability during variable operating conditions.
In addition, a full-condition online monitoring system continuously tracks key parameters—including vibration, temperature, and pressure—to provide early warning of abnormal conditions. This system ensures reliable performance of critical rotating components such as the steam turbine rotor, turbine journal bearing, thrust bearing, and shaft labyrinth seal, guaranteeing safe and stable long-term operation.
The successful commissioning of the world's first 630°C ultra-supercritical steam turbine represents a major technological breakthrough for China's turbine industry and marks an important milestone in the localization of high-end power equipment.
The application of this technology significantly improves the efficiency of coal-fired power generation while reducing pollutant emissions, laying a solid foundation for the large-scale deployment of ultra-supercritical steam turbine technologies in China.
Looking ahead, continued technological optimization will further support energy efficiency improvements and carbon reduction in the power sector, strengthening China's global influence in the field of energy equipment manufacturing and providing strong support for achieving the country's carbon neutrality and energy security goals.
