What is the primary function of a turbine in fluid systems?

What is the primary function of a turbine in fluid systems?

• A. Increasing the pressure of a fluid
• B. Filtering solids from a fluid
• C. Decreasing the pressure of a fluid while harvesting energy
• D. Heating the fluid

Answer: (C)

A turbine's main function is to extract energy from a flowing fluid by letting it expand and drop in pressure, converting part of that energy into shaft work. As the high-pressure fluid passes through the turbine blades, it does work on the blades, causing rotation and lowering the fluid’s enthalpy and pressure in the process. This is the essence of energy harvesting in turbines, whether the fluid is steam, gas, or liquid. This differs from simply heating the fluid (that would be a heater or boiler), or increasing its pressure (which is the job of a compressor or pump), or removing solids from a fluid (a filter or separator).

A turbine's main function is to extract energy from a flowing fluid by letting it expand and drop in pressure, converting part of that energy into shaft work. As the high-pressure fluid passes through the turbine blades, it does work on the blades, causing rotation and lowering the fluid’s enthalpy and pressure in the process. This is the essence of energy harvesting in turbines, whether the fluid is steam, gas, or liquid.

This differs from simply heating the fluid (that would be a heater or boiler), or increasing its pressure (which is the job of a compressor or pump), or removing solids from a fluid (a filter or separator).