Patent ID: 8021103

Claim:
A steam turbine, comprising: a rotary component including a plurality of circumferentially spaced buckets that are spaced at axial positions, each of the plurality of buckets having a tip with an adjacent cover that includes one or more seal teeth; a stationary component including a plurality of diaphragms each having a diaphragm outer ring and an inner diaphragm ring separated by a mounting partition, the plurality of diaphragms are axially positioned between adjacent rows of the plurality of buckets, each row forms a turbine section that defines a portion of a steam flow path through the turbine, each diaphragm outer ring having a passage formed therein that connects a high pressure end to a low pressure end; and a gap closure component located about the rotary component and the stationary component to seal a portion of a steam leakage path, the gap closure component including a plurality of gap closure devices, each of the plurality of gap closure devices located about each respective diaphragm outer ring and one or more seal teeth of a bucket cover, each of the plurality of gap closure devices activated by a pressure differential formed across the passage of a respective diaphragm outer ring that provides a seal of the steam leakage path through the one or more seal teeth of the bucket cover and the diaphragm outer ring.