Page 16 - Steam Turbines Design, Applications, and Rerating

Preface xv

data and organize it into a text that acquaints the reader with the topic
by using overview and summary materials. The information progresses
through more detailed and more design-oriented write-ups and on to
scoping studies and application and selection examples. Some of these
are shown in both English and metric units; others were left in the
method chosen by the original contributor.
The reader will note that we stayed away from an excessively math-
ematical treatment of the subject at hand. Instead, the focus was
clearly on giving a single-source reference on a wide range of material
that will be needed by the widest possible spectrum of machinery
users. These users range from plant operators to mechanical technical
support technicians, reliability engineers, mechanical and chemical
engineers, operations superintendents, project managers, and even
senior plant administrators.
Finally, the publishers and coauthors wish to point out that this book
would never have been written without the full cooperation of a large
number of highly competent steam turbine manufacturers in the
United States and overseas. It was compiled by obtaining permission
to use the direct contributions of companies and individuals listed in
the figure sources and bibliography. These contributions were then
structured into a cohesive write-up of what the reader should know
about mechanical drive steam turbine technology as of 2008 and
beyond. The real credit should therefore go to the various contributors
and not the coauthors, who, in some instances, acted only as compiling
editors. In line with this thought, we would be most pleased if the
entire effort would serve to acquaint the reader with not only the topic,
but also the names of the outstanding individuals and companies
whose contributions made it all possible.
We wish to give special thanks to Seema, Reshma, and Masuma
Singh for much-valued assistance. Their proofreading efforts and
resulting suggestions greatly improved this text.

Heinz P. Bloch
Murari P. Singh