Patent ID: 8313292

Claim:
A method of providing a nozzle/blade configuration to accommodate different steam conditions from a steam source for supplying steam to the steam turbine, the method comprising: providing a steam turbine including a steam turbine stage comprising: a rotor for detachably supporting a blade assembly; an outer diaphragm ring structure including an inwardly facing diaphragm surface defining a first diaphragm radius; an inner diaphragm ring structure including an outwardly facing diaphragm surface defining a second diaphragm radius; a radial diaphragm gap defined between the inwardly and outwardly facing diaphragm surfaces for receiving a nozzle assembly; providing at least two sets of paired nozzle/blade assemblies for the steam turbine stage, each set of the nozzle/blade assemblies comprising: a nozzle assembly comprising a plurality of nozzles defining a nozzle height for a nozzle passage and a nozzle diameter, the nozzle diameter comprising a radial location of the nozzle passage relative to a rotational axis of the rotor; a blade assembly comprising a plurality of rotor blades, each rotor blade including an airfoil having an airfoil height and an airfoil radial location corresponding to the nozzle height and nozzle diameter, respectively; determining a steam condition at the steam source; selecting a set of the paired nozzle/blade assemblies with reference to the steam condition at the steam source; and installing the selected nozzle assembly in the diaphragm gap and installing the selected blade assembly on the rotor to effect an optimized operation of the steam turbine with reference to the steam condition at the steam source.