The rotor of a modern
steam turbine , which converts
steam (heat)
energy into
kinetic (mechanical) energy. The steam path is from the smallest blade, expanding through progressively larger blade elements. Steam turbines are used in
power plants to extract
mechanical work from
pressurized steam and benefit from their high efficiency and high power-to-weight ratio compared to other technologies, leading to their widespread deployment from
electricity generation to
marine propulsion.
Photo credit: Christian Kuhna