Superheated steam power plant with steam to steam reheater

Claim 1

A power plant comprising in combination means for supplying superheated steam, a first turbine receiving said superheating steam and exhausting steam at a lower pressure and temperature, a second turbine receiving exhaust steam from said first turbine, said turbines being connected to a load, a reheater disposed between said first and second turbine to reheat the steam flowing from said first to said second turbine, said reheater utilizing superheated steam from within said power plant as the heating medium, a desuperheater disposed to desuperheat the superheated steam from within said power plant before it enters said reheater, a controller responsive to the pressure of said steam entering said desuperheater, the temperature of the steam leaving said desuperheater, the temperature of the steam entering said second turbine and said load to control said desuperheater and throttling means disposed to throttle the steam from within the power plant before it enters the desuperheater, said controller also controlling said throttling means, whereby the reheater may be operated with low temperature gradients reducing thermal shock and extending the life of the reheater.