Optimisation of a Steam Turbine Blade Path

The vast majority of the world's electricity is generated by converting thermal energy into electric energy by use of a steam turbine. Siemens are one of the worlds leading manufacturers of such
turbines, and aim to design theirs to be as efficient as possible. Using an internally built software, Siemens can estimate the efficiency which would result from a turbine design. In this presentation, we present the approaches that have been taken to improve turbine design using mathematical optimisation software. In particular, we focus on the failings of the approach currently taken, the obstacles in place which make solving this problem difficult, and the approach we intend to take to find a locally optimal solution.