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Machine Improvements from Directed-Lube Journal Bearings

Performance Comparison of LEG and Flooded Bearings

More Causes and Remedies of Fluid Film Bearing Failure

Thrust & Journal Bearing System

Fluid Film Shoe Temperature Patterns

Temperature Measurement in Fluid Film Bearings

Using Kingsbury Design Features

How to Estimate Babbitt Temperature

Oil Discharge Configurations in Fluid Film Bearings

Fluid Film Bearing Instrumentation

Evaluation Of a High Speed, Light Load Phenomenon In Tilting-Pad Thrust Bearings

Special Design Features To Increase Rated Load Or Reduce White Metal Temperatures

A Study Of Parameters That Affect Pivoted Shoe Journal Bearing Performance In High-Speed Turbomachinery

Test Results Comparing the Effect of Reverse Rotation on Offset Pivot Journal Bearing Pad Temperatures

Journal Bearing Vibration and SSV Hash

Getting To The Bottom Of Vibration Issues

High Thrust Bearing Temperatures Due to Varnish

Dealing With Bearing Misalignment Issues

Preventing equalizing thrust bearing misalignment

Preventing electrical pitting damage in bearings

GE Vernova recently acquired Woodward’s heavy-duty gas turbine combustion parts business located in Greenville, SC. Per the definitive agreement, GE Vernova will obtain all assets at Woodward’s Greenville site, which is focused on supplying parts and services for the company’s gas turbine manufacturing operations and supports its investments in United States manufacturing, jobs, and domestic supply chain. The transaction is expected to close in early 2025.

“We are excited to acquire and integrate this capability for our domestic supply chain as we continue to see increasing demand for our heavy-duty gas turbines and upgrades globally,” said Eric Gray, President & CEO, GE Vernova’s Gas Power business. “Welcoming these experts to our Greenville, SC team will further enable us to address this growing demand from our customers and meet the electrification needs of our country while serving as an indicator of our commitment to the industry and the community.”

Currently, GE Vernova’s presence in Greenville includes manufacturing and testing gas turbines, delivering international engineering support, and additional work. The acquisition’s financial terms are not disclosed and it is subject to specific closing conditions, but GE Vernova is collaborating with the Woodward team to transition Greenville-based employees.

“We are pleased to sign this agreement with GE Vernova,” said Chip Blankenship, Chairman and CEO of Woodward. “This targeted transaction is good for our customer and members and will allow us to focus resources on products that will drive the most value as part of Woodward. I am grateful for our Greenville members’ longtime dedication to Woodward and to serving the customer. They will have opportunities to continue their great work as GE Vernova takes on ownership of the operations.”

In early November, Tongyeong Eco Power’s combined-cycle power plant began commercial operation in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. 

 with its HA equipment and signed a 17-year maintenance service contract for turbines and generators and delivered:

The Tongyeong power plant, located in Anjeong Industrial Park, is a 1-GW LNG-fueled site with one 200,000 m

 LNG storage tank. It provides the equivalent electricity required to power approximately one million South Korean households.

GE Vernova’s HA gas turbines can burn multiple fuels including blends of hydrogen and natural gas, offering many pathways to minimize CO

 emissions. For example, the turbines can save more than 3.3 metric tons of CO

 emissions per year, per unit compared to an average coal-fired plant of the same size—equivalent to eliminating approximately 680,000 cars from the road.

Gas Turbine Manufacturing and Technology Center

 in Greenville, SC, containing over 1.7 million square feet of manufacturing space and laboratories. The grounds contain a gas turbine technology center, a repair center, combustion manufacturing, an outage simulator, a variety of test stands, and the gas turbine technology, combustion, and static load labs. Employees led the tour, showcasing the company's lean methodology to eliminate waste across these operating segments. 

GE Vernova will acquire all heavy-duty gas turbine combustion assets from Woodward’s Greenville site after the transaction closes in early 2025.

GE Vernova Acquires Woodward's Gas Turbine Combustion Parts Business

After experiencing a 12.6% increase in MW capacity and a 3% increase in total units sold in 2023, 2024 numbers shine even brighter: MW reported orders were up 32.4%, and unit orders were up 4.1%.

“Order activity is up significantly in 2024, primarily driven by large jumbo unit orders for the electric power utility segment, but aeroderivative orders remain strong as well,” said Tony Brough, President of Dora Partners & Company.

The industrial gas turbine market is being impacted by several factors, according to Brough, including the price of natural gas, LNG, and, of course, the rapid development of data centers and artificial intelligence (AI), which is driving up power demand. 

2024 marked the highest unit number and MWs (nearly 500 units and almost 60 MW) reported globally since 2002, up from more than 40,000 MW in 2023.

Mark Axford, President of Axford Consulting, estimated an additional 30,000 MW of unreported orders, known as reservation agreements, bringing total orders booked for 2024 to more than 80,000 MW. He predicts gas turbine orders will increase by 7 – 10% in 2025.

The combined sales of GE Vernova and Baker Hughes, featuring gas turbines manufactured by GE Aerospace, place the two industry leaders at the front of the pack with approximately 85% market share for aeroderivative gas turbines.

“GE Vernova’s numbers were solid in 2024 as it regained the no. 1 spot for advanced-frame gas turbines—Mitsubishi was no. 1 in 2022 – 2023,” Axford said. In 2024, GE Vernova booked 22 GW of gas turbine orders and is upping its gas turbine factory capacity in Greenville, South Carolina, from 55 heavy-frame gas turbines to 70 - 80 per year in 2026.

Overall, advanced-frame (> 225 MW) gas turbine orders were approximately 80% of all orders (MWe). The top OEMs were GE Vernova (7F.05, 7H, 9F, and 9H), Mitsubishi (F, G, and J series), Siemens Energy (F and H series), Ansaldo Energia (94.3A), and Doosan (DJT 6; ~ 2.5%).

Packaged gas turbines have increased 12 - 18% over the past five years, while gas turbine components experienced up to 25% increases, according to Dora Partners & Company. Field service labor also increased by 10 - 20% in the past five years.

Brough reported the total value of packaged units—electric power utility (EPU) and oil and gas (O&G) model units—will reach $163 billion over the next 10 years. Aeroderivative engine sets will reach $26.5 billion, and GE Vernova/Baker Hughes aeroderivatives will hit $21 billion. Over the next decade, Siemens Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and GE/Baker Hughes will dominate the 300+ MW market, accounting for more than 30% of the total value of engine-set units. The total aftermarket value will reach $302 billion in the next 10 years.

Brough named five drivers for the industrial gas turbine market, including grid-scale battery storage, coal plant retirements, rapid data center and AI development, grid-scale renewable energy expansion, and natural gas pricing and LNG.

Over 150 GWs of grid-scale battery storage have been installed globally, most in the last eight to nine years. In the next three years, 490 new U.S. plants are planned, adding more than 62 GWs of capacity. He said the market will be impacted by a decline in large power plants and jumbo frame turbines, with reliance shifting to smaller gas turbines and renewables to recharge, with an uptick in 40 – 100-MW gas turbines and recharge/hybrid systems.

Axford noted that solar and batteries are nearing economic feasibility without subsidies, given their short delivery times compared to gas turbine combined-cycle power, and that solar panel and battery prices are falling.

Coal still accounts for 33% of all electricity produced worldwide. In fact, global capacity struck an all-time high of 2,175 GWs but is expected to plateau in 2027, according to the International Energy Agency.

Dora Partners & Company expects large power plants and jumbo-frame turbines—specifically F, G, H, and J technologies—to increase. Gas turbines in the 40 – 100 MW range will also increase. “Mobile power and peaking will see an increase in demand, and, to a lesser degree, < 20 MW demand will be slightly up,” Brough said.

AI and data center buildouts are rocking the power industry and giving gas turbines “sold-out” status. U.S. utilities and developers “are racing to install baseload gas turbine combined-cycle power, but they can’t get it fast enough,” Axford said. Large gas turbine supply is essentially sold out for the next three to four years.

As Axford put it, gas turbines have gone wild. New orders are now shipping in 2027, 2028, and 2029, and gas turbine and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) prices are up sharply. According to Brough, pricing is expected to continue increasing by approximately 5 - 10% over the next 12 - 18 months, with lead times for new units up to 36 - 48 months.

Data centers will also continue to boom. The World Economic Outlook (WEO) reports that well over 11,000 data centers are serving digital commerce and AI computing, with each center averaging an electrical load of approximately 4 MWs—and that’s only expected to increase to meet demand. Nearly 1,400 more are planned in the United States alone. Virginia, Texas, and Georgia have the highest potential for data center buildouts, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Brough said data center buildouts and AI will impact the market the same way coal plant retirements will, but with an increase in onsite power, too.

According to Dora Partners & Company, solar PV’s global capacity is now over 1,800 GW, and the WEO forecasts that global capacity will [

] more than double over the next five years.

Brough said this market driver will also increase mobile, onsite, and peaking power, but “large power plant and jumbo-frame turbines will decline with a slight dilution of F, G, H, and J technologies.”

“In 2024, the United States was the no. 1 LNG exporter,” Axford said. By December 2028, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects U.S. LNG exports will increase by 80%.

In terms of natural gas, the cost per MMBTU is expected to remain largely “affordable” in the United States, according to Brough, which supports the use of gas turbines. Plus, “government policy is expected to keep it that way over the next four years.”

He said large power plants/jumbo-frame turbines and gas turbines in the 40 – 100 MW range will increase.

2024 was a strong year for GE/Baker Hughes’ LM6000 and LM2500+G4.

“GE/Baker Hughes LM2500+ remains one of the most popular models in the world for the last 25 years,” Brough said. It has 1,458 units in fleet and accounted for 44% of the aeroderivative market (EPU and O&G models) over the past five years, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1%. However, he said the Solar Titan 250 has displaced the LM2500 base engine business, and the introduction of the Solar Titan 350 poses a strong challenge to the 35+ MW LM2500+.

In 2024, GE/Baker Hughes LM6000 boasted 45 unit orders, but the LMS100 and LM9000 came up short with zero orders, though it is believed Baker Hughes is entertaining a lot of interest in the LM9000. The LM6000 has 1,235 units in fleet and improved its market share over the past five years to 16.4% with a CAGR of 1.8%.

Brough also noted a resurgence of the MHI FT8 in 2024, with 16 units ordered.

In 2023, GE/Baker Hughes’s five-year market share was 61%; in 2024, it increased to 63.7%. Siemens Energy and Rolls-Royce both held 8.1% and 4.5% in 2023 and 2024, respectively; MHI/PWPS held 3.6% in 2023 and 5.4% in 2024, and UEC (Russian Aero) held 9.5% and 9.3% in 2023 and 2024, respectively, according to Dora Partners & Company. The company predicts $3.6 billion per year will be spent on gas turbine maintenance, repair, and overhaul.

In North America, aeroderivative unit orders saw a 48% increase and a 236% increase in MW orders in 2023 versus 2024, and GE/Baker Hughes’s MW share was 79.6% in 2023. Globally, aeroderivative unit orders were down 14% in 2024, and MW orders were up 10%. GE/Baker Hughes’s global share was 73% in MWs in 2024.

Who is the competition for GE Vernova’s aeroderivative gas turbines? Axford said in 2000, the answer was Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. In 2024, the answer was solar panels and wind turbines. Now? The Wärtsilä RICE, Siemens SGT800, and Solar Titan 250 and 350 are taking market share from the LM2500 and LM6000. In 2024, Finland-made Wärtsilä won 800 MW of gensets in the United States (+280%) across approximately 85 sites (~ 6,000 MW installed) and already has 700 MW of orders booked for the first quarter in 2025.

“PROENERGY is winning a larger share of the aeroderivative genset business in North America,” Axford said. A total of 37 PROENERGY LM6000s have been sold globally to utilities and independent power producers since 2009, and 50 LM6000 peakers in Texas alone. One of PROENERGY’s advantages is that its LM6000 and PE6000 gensets are built in Missouri. It also offers field service, level 4 repair, operations and maintenance (O&M), and an EPC turnkey approach that includes selective catalytic reduction for 6000 gensets.

Axford reported that in 2024, PROENERGY received 22 unit turnkey orders from Arizona for its LM6000 gas turbine generator sets. In addition, Colorado Springs Utilities ordered eight PE6000 generator sets. PROENERGY Model PE6000 utilizes refurbished aircraft engines (CF6-80C2) originally in service for wide-body jets such as the Boeing 747 and 767. The PE6000 is rated at a 48-MWe output with water-spray injection. Numerous PE6000 engines have accumulated more than 8,000 hours of runtime in Houston, Mexico, and Germany.

The demand for mobile power is expected to grow in the coming years to increase scalability, meet rising energy demands, and accommodate rapid start-up and deployment.

Dynamis’ DT35 mobile turbine boasts a fast setup and disassembly—“no crane, no forklift.” The model is for sale and lease. Dynamis also leases its 5.5-MW trailer-mounted Solar Taurus 60 and 16.5-MW trailer-mounted Solar Titan 130.

Relevant Power Solutions is building new mobile gas turbine gensets, including a 35-MWe M35 genset (GE LM2500+G4) and a 17-MWe dry low emissions M170 genset (Baker Hughes' NovaLT). Relevant has 12 M170s in production for 2025 – 2026 delivery. Axford reported that Relevant will commission five refurbished LM6000 gensets in June and November 2025, three in Texas and two in Arkansas. Relevant offers a full-load factory string test before shipment, economical turnkey installation, and contract O&M services.

Order activity spiked in 2024, as the gas turbine market was driven by data center development and natural gas and LNG. 

Gas Turbine Market Report: 2024 Posts Highest Units, MWs in 22 Years 

Hanwha Power Systems launched a new compressor portfolio: the SM100 Pro Series, which includes models SM3100, SM4100, SM5100, SM6100, and SM7100. The upgraded series improves corrosion and rust resistance, thermal efficiency, and scale blockage, and optimizes aerodynamics.

“The newly released SM100 Pro series is focused on improving efficiency, which is beneficial for the efficiency-critical air separation unit industry,” said Kihun Do, Vice President & General Manager, Equipment Business Division, Hanwha Power Systems. “Our turbo compressors apply to all industrial fields but are widely used in electronic manufacturing, such as semiconductors, batteries, home appliances, food, textile, glass, automobile, and tire manufacturing. Because of its advanced efficiency, it is an eco-friendly product that contributes to reducing carbon emissions. It is also 100% compatible with existing Hanwha Power Systems SM100 series so that it can replace aging equipment.”

The cooler-tube materials are upgraded with stainless steel 304, which is resistant to rust and corrosion. They increase thermal efficiency by securing more than 10% of the heat area. The tube’s scale-blockage phenomenon was also minimized by over 20% within the inner diameter’s cross-sectional area.

Compared to the previous compressors, the enhanced aerodynamic components increase efficiency and flow range by approximately 1 - 3% and 1.5 - 4%, respectively. The higher specific power (efficiency) rates vary by model, but all feature improved corrosion resistance and heat-exchanger efficiency in the superior turbine strike tube.

Its SM100 Pro Series fulfills various customer requirements, such as:

Supplying zinc-alloy-free solutions for secondary battery types

Meeting the required discharge temperature conditions set by customers

Approved to produce certified products for specific countries

Operation for air separation unit customers

The company integrated long-term reliability, technology, and gas turbine experience data from its database, further improving the SM100 Pro Series’ equipment efficiency rate.

“Through the database’s accumulated analysis of the delivered/operated compressors, we have optimized the aerodynamic components, including the impeller and diffuser, to achieve improved equipment efficiency with high reliability,” Kihun said.

Each turbocompressor manufacturer is currently focused on quality products, solutions tailored to each customer application, and installing “green” technology to fulfill international environmental requirements. Hanwha Power Systems is building a U.S.-based packaging and manufacturing facility by 2025, with first production in early 2026 to meet these market standards.

“The compressor market is heavily influenced by recent international circumstances, such as the Russia-Ukraine War and U.S. tariffs, which significantly impact Hanwha Power Systems' many policies and decisions,” said Daekyung Kim, Team Leader, Standard Compressor Sales Team, Equipment Business Division, Hanwha Power Systems. "We also operate various overseas aftermarket service centers to maintain and manage the compressors’ lifetime quality. Furthermore, we strive to secure stable international supply chains by diversifying raw and subsidiary material partners.”

 signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a supercritical CO

) waste heat recovery project to leverage the heat stream at a natural gas pipeline compressor station. An unspecified gas turbine OEM will also participate by verifying a combined power generation solution, integrating gas turbines with Hanwha’s sCO

 power generation system at a compressor station owned and operated by TC Energy in West Virginia. The system will offer a lower cost and carbon-free renewable generation solution, recovering unutilized waste-heat exhaust from a gas turbine compressor. According to Hanwha, the installation will reduce the carbon intensity of natural gas pipeline operations while producing clean, emissions-free electricity.

The new compressor line features improved corrosion resistance, thermal efficiency, and reduced tube blockage.

Hanwha Power Systems Launches Low-CO2 Compressor Line: SM100 Pro Series

 annual Western Turbine Users Inc. (WTUI), held March 30 – April 2, 2025, in sunny Long Beach, California, welcomed a record number of attendees: more than 1,100. Just over 600 were exhibitors, including 146 companies exhibiting in the exhibit hall.

Attendees had access to authorized service providers for LM turbines, including IHI Power Services Corp., TransCanada Turbines, and MTU Aero Engines, as well as other independent service providers, to help solve turbine and plant issues. Breakout sessions for GE LM2500, LM5000, LM6000, and LMS100 allowed users to present their operational challenges and have fellow LM users offer solutions and troubleshooting techniques.

“WTUI’s forums are very active and getting more so,” said Ed Jackson, President of WTUI and Exira Station Manager at Missouri River Energy Services in Brayton, Iowa. “With the challenging environment of acquiring timely parts and service lately, compounded by reaching maintenance intervals faster due to increased operation, it is more important than ever for users to lean on and support each other. I believe that is becoming apparent in the active user forums and increased communication between users.”

Monamee Adhikari, Global Marketing Leader for Aeroderivatives at GE Vernova, said the top challenges for users at WTUI were “around supply-chain constraints related to parts and turnaround times from our depots. There is a global supply-chain constraint; however, we are doing our best to overcome this and be transparent with our customers. Our main focus is SQDC: safety, quality, delivery, and cost.”

GE Vernova’s focus is on SQDC and its L5, L4, and L2 service shops to ensure they get units back to customers in a timely manner and communicate accordingly to set expectations.

Monday morning, Mark Axford, Founder of Axford Turbine Consultants, and Tony Brough, President of Dora Partners & Co., presented the 

19th annual State of the Gas Turbine World

The demand from AI data centers has caused unit sales to surge. “Reported gas turbine orders were up 32% in 2024, with GE Vernova as the market share leader,” Axford said. 2024 marked the highest unit number and MWs (near 500 units and almost 60 MW) reported since 2002.

In addition, Axford estimated an additional 30,000 MW of unreported orders, known as reservation agreements, bringing the total order book for 2024 to a level exceeding 80,000 MW.

U.S. utilities and developers “are racing to install baseload gas turbine combined-cycle power, but they can’t get it fast enough,” Axford said. GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi are now scheduled to deliver their large gas turbines in 2028 - 2029. In fact, he said that large gas turbine supply is essentially sold out for the next three to four years.

“Increasing power demand due to data centers and AI is definitely on everyone’s minds,” Adhikari said. “Almost all OEMs are supply-challenged from a gas-turbine perspective, and GE Vernova aims to reduce lead times in conjunction with GE Aerospace. With decarbonization being less of a focus for the new Administration, GE Vernova will still do what’s right environmentally. We are focusing on both pre- and post-combustion carbon reduction and are ready with solutions for our customers whenever they are ready.”

Jackson said energy providers are scrambling to add generation to meet the need. “Not only is the lead time for major equipment increasing, but even the time it takes to build plants could take years to permit and build,” he said. “This puts a lot of pressure on the existing generation, as many peaking plants that were originally designed to run at capacity factors of 10% or less are now running 30%, 40%, 50%, or more. We are pushing those plants harder and hitting the major maintenance intervals faster, which is putting even more pressure on an already burdened supply chain. Operators have to revise how they used to plan and budget and work with suppliers to ensure the availability of parts and labor. Running these plants is getting more challenging, making it even more important for users to attend conferences and forums like WTUI to ‘compare notes.’”

President Donald Trump’s election has ushered in profound changes to the U.S. energy policy. Axford said the President’s goal is “energy dominance” with less government intervention—“Drill baby Drill” is the new Administration’s anthem driving energy forward. The United States exited the Paris Agreement, and it’s uncertain whether EPA regulations on CO

will be altered. Green subsidies and EV mandates are out. Instead, the new U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, showed strong support at CERAWeek 2025 for pipelines, drilling, fracking, LNG, and gas turbines.

It’s uncertain how the Administration’s tariffs will impact the supply chain. “Generally speaking, with the tariffs today, it’s early to kind of understand what the full financial implications are for [GE Vernova],” Adhikari said. "It’s not nothing, but it’s something that we’ll manage our way through, and I think it’s something we’re going to have to get smarter on every day, on how we manage through the volatility that we’re going to have with the topic of tariffs. Our team’s working on it every day, and I’m confident we’ll navigate our way through it.”

As gas turbine orders surge, the energy transition is being reworked into energy addition. The energy trilemma—reliable, affordable, sustainable—in which each side of the triangle was equal, is shifting its priorities to affordability holding the lion’s share, reliability as the second runner-up, and a small focus on sustainability, according to Axford.

There is no path to net zero by 2050. “It would cost 5% of the world’s GDP for the next 25 years, and we are further away now than we were in 2022,” Daniel Yergin, Vice Charman of S&P Global, said at CERAWeek by S&P Global 2025.

The practical approach is affordable LNG for heating and cooking. In 2024, the United States was the no. 1 LNG exporter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects U.S. LNG exports will increase by 80% by December 2028.

Cheniere is the largest U.S. exporter of LNG, and it is “ramping up its exports,” according to Axford. In 2026, exports are slated to reach 55 million metric tons, up 22% compared to 2024. What’s powering Cheniere’s exports? GE’s LM2500 gas turbines.

Gas turbines [have] gone wild, as Axford put it. New orders are now shipping in 2027, 2028, and 2029, with gas turbine and engineering, procurement, and construction prices up sharply. According to Dora Partners & Co., global gas turbine MW orders were upwards of 40,000 in 2023 and around 60,000 MW in 2024, with reservations for more than 80,000 MW.

“We completed a modern combined cycle in 2022 for $785 per KW,” said John W. Ketchum, CEO of NextEra. “A new build for 2030 commercial operation will cost $2,400 per KW.”

GE Vernova saw solid numbers in 2024. It regained the no. 1 market share spot of advanced-frame gas turbines—Mitsubishi was no. 1 in 2022 – 2023—and has approximately 85% market share for aeroderivative gas turbines. The company booked 22 GW of gas turbine “orders” in 2024. It is expanding its Greenville, South Carolina, gas turbine factory capacity from 55 heavy-frame gas turbines per year (now) to 70 – 80 per year in 2026.

Overall, advanced-frame (> 225 MW) gas turbine orders were approximately 80% of all gas turbine orders (MWe). The top OEMs and their gas turbine models include:

Axford said 2024 was a strong year for LM6000 and LM2500+G4 and predicts 2025 gas turbine “orders” will increase by 7 – 10%.

"WTUI’s forums are very active and getting more so. With the challenging environment of acquiring timely parts and service lately, compounded by reaching maintenance intervals faster due to increased operation, it is more important than ever for users to lean on and support each other.” - Ed Jackson, President of WTUI

During the technical sessions, Jack Odlum, the Northwest Regional Manager at HRST Inc., outlined how operating and design modifications improve a 

 (HRSG) efficiency. His session focused on efficiency from two perspectives: operational efficiency or to ensure the HRSG is running reliably in an ever-changing market and thermal efficiency from the classic heat-rate point of view.

Odlum said it’s surprising how even small changes impact HRSG efficiency: “Things like baffle gaps or tube fouling might seem like no big deal, but as they add up, it can mean lost MWs of production in larger HRSGs. Not every efficiency-boosting modification needs to be something like adding an economizer surface or installing an upgraded duct burner. Sometimes, it’s as simple as keeping the HRSG in close to as-built conditions as possible. When it comes to operational efficiency, it’s more directed at running the plant well in an evolving power market, ensuring you can get online fast enough with as little damage to the boiler as possible.”

Odlum said he’s seeing two trends: cycling in HRSG operation and design and challenges with the size of newer turbines, like the H-class machines.

Engineering Manager Matt Gentry of Airflow Sciences Corp. presented on 

 for aero power plant performance optimization and addressed how it can identify, solve, and optimize parameters such as flow, temperature, ammonia, NOx, and pressure drop.

“Flow modeling is an important component of the engineering toolbox,” Gentry said. “Both computational fluid dynamics and physical-scale modeling can provide detailed predictions of flow, pressure, ammonia, and temperature distributions throughout a gas turbine power plant. These predictions allow for performance optimization without the need for a time-consuming and expensive trial-and-error approach to solving problems in the field.”

Gentry said many flow-related parameters are inter-related:

Ammonia non-uniformity can cause pressure loss and heat-rate issues

Poor velocity distribution can result in skewed heat transfer at tube banks

Tube bank, catalyst, and ammonia injection grid seals/baffles may seem simple, but if they are not maintained, they can have a significant negative impact

WTUI 2026 will be back in Long Beach, California, from Tuesday, April 7 to Friday, April 10, 2026.

Supply and faster maintenance intervals are impacting the aeroderivative gas turbine market as OEMs try to keep up with demand.

Conference Coverage

WTUI 2025 Supports Gas Turbines Users as Maintenance Intervals, Power Demand Increase

Around 1971, at the urging of Charlie Jackson, a notable oil and gas engineer in Houston, Prof. Meherwan Boyce of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M established the Gas Turbine Laboratories, now known as the Turbomachinery Lab. 

Around the same time, a group of Texas A&M (TAMU) engineering graduates organized the first Turbomachinery Symposium as a concerted effort to assist Gulf Coast downstream operators with equipment challenges. 

Today, the Turbo Lab is a 37,000-square-foot facility equipped with 12 vibration-damped test cells and numerous air compressors to drive test rigs. Despite the lab’s leading sophistication, the experienced faculty largely place operations in the hands of the future: TAMU students.

Turbomachinery International toured the Turbo Lab in February with Greg Gammon, Director of Global and Corporate Partnerships, and Dr. Adolfo Delgado, Associate Professor, leading the charge. The duo offered an in-depth history of TAMU itself, the Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium (TPS), and the Turbo Lab’s efforts to advance research for rotating machinery

Despite the Turbo Lab’s sprawling nature, some of it was inaccessible due to construction for an upcoming facility: the Propulsion Energetics Research Laboratory (PERL), designed with open and closed configurations for propulsion and gas turbine applications, as well as dynamic events such as detonations and explosions. Still, Dr. Delgado guided the tour through the main high-bay location and offered insight on its layout, purpose, and how it’s used in the modern day.

“When this building was designed, they created this space with the idea that equipment would be brought in via 18-wheeler, you lay it next to a test cell and work on it, and then roll it in for testing,” Delgado said. “We have 12 test cells, and each has two rooms. One is a control room with equipment for data acquisition and equipment control, while the other is an isolated test area. The test cell is separated by a wall that’s fire-, shock-, and sound-proof.” 

Each test area contains a six-foot-deep concrete slab that’s isolated from the building’s foundation, preventing the transfer of test-induced vibration to its critical infrastructure. The facility’s top level is mainly comprised of additional offices, which, according to Delgado, host computational work, materials testing equipment, an additive manufacturing facility, and a library.

Within many of these cells, TAMU students are currently conducting rotordynamics testing. “One of the common themes at the Turbo Lab, specifically for rotordynamics, is component-level testing,” Delgado said. “This example is a tilting pad bearing controlled-motion test rig, in which we isolate the bearing and characterize its dynamic forced performance. We test a bearing at rotor surface speeds comparable to or the same as ones you would see on a high-speed compressor, for example. This is an element from a compressor OEM that we’ve been testing.”

He emphasized that, after adequate laboratory certification, students operate all test cells, as the Turbo Lab prides itself on “training professionals.” The test rig vibrates the floating bearing with an electrohydraulic shaker capable of transferring dynamic loads while the static loader simulates the machine’s weight under a real-life operating scenario. Delgado said that most testing, which is sponsored by industry participants, aims to validate models or new concepts for OEMs and end users. In terms of component-level testing, the Lab also evaluates annular clearance seals performance.

“In this cell, we test high-pressure oil and gas seals,” Delgado said. “We’re currently testing labyrinth or textured seals designed to stabilize machines like high-speed compressors. We’ve also been working with 3D-printed seals for prototyping and testing different surface texture concepts. Isolating component performance is a necessary part of component-level testing, as it would be more difficult to assess performance within the full-scale machine itself.” 

Given that students are testing machinery and components under real-world conditions, safety is a top priority among faculty. A safety officer enforces a strict protocol, which includes safety training at the university, lab, and test-cell levels. The training is comprised of online and in-person aspects, the latter of which includes education on energy sources and how to manage emergencies, such as oil spills.

The Lab also contains a full-scale machine shop for manufacturing smaller components or modifying existing components. A facility manager leads the shop, but students may use the tools if they’ve received proper training. 

The last test cell was conducting combustion-related research with shock tubes, and Dr. Delgado handed off the tour to Dr. Claire Grégoire, a post-doctoral researcher at TAMU. “It’s a long piece of tubing split into two sections separated by a diaphragm,” Grégoire said. “We study the gas phase of a mixture that can be fuel-air or electrolytes in a lithium-ion battery. We fill one side with pressure so the diaphragm breaks and sends a shockwave, igniting the mixture on the other side. Optical or laser elements monitor the combustion properties.” 

Two other students were assessing oil combustion properties with the same shock-tube technology, deploying the aforementioned laser absorption spectroscopy to measure the concentration of specific chemical species precisely. This allows researchers to study combustion kinetics at high temperatures and pressures by tracking the formation and decay of key reactions.

The Turbo Lab is part of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and focuses on three key areas: research, education, and workforce development. The main facility is located in College Station, Texas, and primarily studies rotordynamics and mechanical systems, thermal fluids and combustion, and computational modeling and design. 

Dr. Eric Petersen, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of Texas A&M’s Turbo Lab, said new research covers power generation gas turbines, rocket propulsion systems, explosion and detonation safety limits, aviation jet propulsion, and hypersonic propulsion systems. “In recent years, we have also been developing methods for studying coke formation and possible ignition in lubrication oils when exposed to elevated temperatures.”

Gammon stressed that the Turbo Lab’s role and history are interlinked with the TPS conference: “The symposia did not originate from Texas A&M. Instead, it originated from an industry that was looking to solve problems. In the late 1960s and early 70s, a group of machinery engineers in the Gulf Coast region faced massive machinery failures in ethylene plants, primarily due to the uptick in plastic demand. These engineers came together, and, luckily, some were Texas A&M graduates.” 

Gammon said that both TPS and Asia TPS are the Turbo Lab’s biggest assets, with industry-leading individuals and companies volunteering for a spot on the advisory committee. Speaking on his own role, Gammon put it simply: facilitating knowledge transfer.

“We have very smart people in many different places,” Gammon said. “We have smart people doing research at the laboratory, including students and professors; we have smart people on our advisory committees; and we have smart people teaching short courses outside of TPS and presenting at the symposia. Everything I do facilitates that.” 

Perhaps the biggest upcoming development for the Turbo Lab is the Industry Certification Program that will help educate rotating equipment engineers across a variety of industries, such as oil and gas, petroleum, power production, and additional industrial applications. Being certified under this program will demonstrate a practical knowledge base to employers in the field, potentially bridging the skill/experience gap brought on by the exodus of older professionals and the influx of younger, inexperienced engineers.

The Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M researches compressors, turbines, and pumps, fostering collaboration between academia and industry.

Kingsbury Engineering Staff

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