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Articles

Reinjection compressors

Man Diesel Turbo compressors to serve Europe'a mega storage facility

Shop test compressors

Atlas Copco wins mega Saudi order

Turbomachinery for offshore LNG

Dresser-Rand achieves a breakthrough in compressing high-density gases to high pressures

The price of compressor fouling

Differentiating Between Fluid Induced Instability (Oil Whirl and Oil Whip) and a Rub

Shaft Average Centerline and DC Orbit Data Plots

Do you know where your bolts came from?

Vibration: The pulse of rotating machinery

In part II of the two-part podcast on LNG, Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurtz dive into how liquefaction works, why there are so many different ways to liquefy natural gas, and some trends in the sector, such as smaller production facilities, floating offshore vessels, and an overgrowth in the industry.

 There are primarily two processes involved, and they aren't all that complicated. First, there's the reverse Rankine cycle. This cycle involves a phase change, which is similar to what occurs in a refrigerator or air conditioning unit. In this system, a refrigerant—such as propane or ethylene—flows through the cycle, and this process is also known as vapor compression. Typically, you have a compressor and a Joule-Thomson valve in this system. In theory, you could replace the Joule-Thomson valve with a liquid, and it is also possible to use a gas expander, although this is less common.

The second process is the ultra-reverse Brayton cycle, which operates solely with gas. This is akin to a gas turbine cycle in reverse, where you have both a compressor and an expander. This process can also utilize a Joule-Thomson valve, but it is more suited for a gas expander, as it provides a higher efficiency for energy removal. Generally speaking, gas vapor processes tend to be more compact because Brayton cycles are often more efficient. However, it's important not to generalize too much, as efficiency can depend heavily on the specific application.

 As Klaus has mentioned several times, achieving the right refrigeration temperatures in the cycle is crucial for closely matching the energy content of the gas being cooled. To do this, you typically select a specific refrigerant for the initial cooling phase—often propane or a mixed refrigerant. A mixed refrigerant is a combination of several gases designed to achieve a certain thermodynamic behavior.

In one or two stages, you can perform subcooling. This can be done using pure gases, such as ethylene for the first stage and methane for the second stage, or again, through a mixed refrigerant, which usually includes a blend of methane, ethylene, and propane, for example. This structured approach helps optimize the cooling process according to the desired outcomes.

Podcasts

Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss how liquefaction works and dive into trends like smaller production facilities. 

TurboTime Podcast: Part II: LNG Trends, Liquefaction, and More

In part I of this two-part podcast, Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurtz give an overview of LNG’s value chain and dive, the production process, and the role of turbomachinery.

Let’s start with a basic overview of what LNG is and explore the value chain, including where turbomachinery plays a role.

 To begin with, let’s examine the entire natural gas value chain. This process starts with the production of natural gas, which then moves to processing facilities—often referred to as gas plants. After processing, the natural gas is transported to a liquefaction plant or LNG plant. This stage involves further processing, primarily refrigeration, followed by storage and loading onto marine transport vessels. Once the LNG is transported, it is unloaded and sent through pipelines to reach the end user.

The value chain includes a significant amount of turbomachinery. For every 1,000 horsepower of refrigeration in an LNG plant, there’s approximately 10,000 horsepower of other turbomachinery throughout the value chain.

On the production side, gas gathering machines are employed, followed by compression equipment for transporting gas to processing facilities. In gas processing, various operations occur, including acid gas removal, dehydration, and mercury removal, utilizing off-gas and boil-off compressors. There’s also the removal of natural gas liquids (NGLs)—which include heavier components like butane, pentane, and propane—that are sold as separate products.

After processing, the gas is transported through pipelines involving compression stations, and eventually, it reaches the LNG plant where refrigeration processes take place. These can include cascade types or mixed refrigerant processes, often utilizing reverse Brayton or reverse Rankine cycles (also known as vapor compression processes). From the plant, the LNG is stored, and off-gas or boil-off gas compressors are used again. Additional turbomachinery, such as pumps, is involved in the loading process.

Finally, the LNG undergoes regasification before being delivered to consumers. The entire process contains numerous turbomachines, which vary in size from small to large, and each plays a vital role.

The primary advantage of LNG is its ability to transport natural gas over long distances, far beyond what pipelines can accommodate. For example, transporting natural gas from North America to Europe via pipeline is impractical due to the complexity and length of the required infrastructure. By liquefying natural gas, which involves cooling it to approximately -260°F (where it condenses into a liquid), we significantly reduce its volume—making it about 600 times smaller than its gaseous state—allowing for easier transport. Once it reaches its destination, the LNG is regasified for use.

Currently, natural gas is abundant worldwide, making it an effective energy carrier. It’s important to note that during the LNG refrigeration process, there is some energy loss—typically around 15% to 20%. In comparison, the entire value stream experiences a lower energy loss of about 5%. Overall, while refrigeration is energy-intensive, the convenience of transporting natural gas as LNG justifies the process.

 The heart of the LNG production process is the refrigeration process, which cools the feed gas (natural gas) to temperatures where it becomes a liquid at or slightly above ambient pressure. There are several different methods to achieve the low temperatures necessary for liquefying natural gas.

It's important to note that the gases used in the refrigeration process operate in closed loops and do not come into contact with the natural gas being liquefied. The two main methods for achieving these low temperatures are called vapor compression and expansion.

Vapor compression is similar to the method used in air conditioners or refrigerators. In this process, a gas is compressed, which raises its temperature. The gas is then cooled to a lower temperature before being expanded, which causes it to drop to very low temperatures. At this point, it can be used to cool another gas, in this case, liquefied natural gas.

The second method involves compressing the gas and then expanding it through expanders to achieve very low temperatures. A key point, as Klaus highlighted, is that a significant portion of the energy consumption in the liquefaction process within the LNG value chain occurs during liquefaction itself. Therefore, minimizing energy use during this stage is crucial.

Typically, the refrigeration process is conducted in multiple stages. First, one refrigeration loop pre-cools the natural gas to a moderately cold temperature. Then, another process is used for sub-cooling, followed by a third method—either by reducing the pressure of the natural gas or through a separate process—to achieve complete liquefaction.

Additionally, constructing LNG plants requires a substantial increase in activity related to building the natural gas pipelines that supply these facilities with large volumes of gas.

Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss the LNG value chain, where and how turbomachinery fits in, and an overview of the market. 

TurboTime Podcast: Part I: The LNG Value Chain

In part II of the TuboTime episode on designing turbomachines, the Myth Busters, Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz, discuss the accuracy of these design tools, which benchmark testing is still required, and current state-of-the-art tools.

How accurate are these tools? Are the software limitations a part of the software, or are they human input issues?

 It depends on the software, right? There are situations where you need to be fairly accurate. Most finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are reasonably accurate, depending on the input of your boundary conditions. You really need to consider what you're trying to accomplish. Structural FEA is more advanced than CFD. Additionally, the equations being solved are fundamentally more linear, and therefore, the expected results tend to be more precise. You can generally expect to be within a couple of percent. In contrast, with CFD, the equations, as Rainer mentioned earlier, the Navier-Stokes equations, are highly complex and nonlinear partial differential equations. These equations are difficult to solve, and you can end up with very inaccurate results because many approximations are made, especially regarding turbulence modeling and boundary layers. The fidelity of the model is essential since you can't delve down to a molecular level; there's a limit to the size at which you can operate before you must make turbulence assumptions and consider steady state versus transient conditions. There are numerous opportunities for error here, and those are some of the significant ones.

 The issue is fundamentally this: What problem are you trying to solve? If you ask a designer to create a new compressor stage that aligns with the experience level of that company's database, you can likely determine things like efficiency or head-making capability, particularly in terms of aerodynamics, probably within a few percent without ever testing it. However, if you are dealing with something for which there is no reference data—essentially operating in uncharted waters and relying solely on your code—the accuracy is significantly and dramatically lower than that.

How accurate are advanced computational tools like CFD and FEA? Find out in part II of designing turbomachines with the Myth Busters.

TurboTime Podcast: Designing Turbomachines - Part II

In this episode of the TurboTime podcast, Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss the design of turbomachines. They describe the typical design process for a turbomachine, outline the required engineering tools, and explain each analytical tool's function: finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and rotor and blade dynamics. They also discuss how compressors, pumps, and turbomachines were designed before these advanced computational tools existed.

TURBO: Can you describe the typical design process of a turbomachine and what engineering tools are required?

 You begin with what's known as a 1D analysis, then move to a 2D analysis, also called a blade passage flow analysis. After that, you proceed to 3D and conduct some testing before refining your geometry. In essence, that's the aerodynamics part, right? However, there’s an initial step that is often overlooked, which is your own experience. You start your design based on your experience and your existing machinery portfolio. If you’re a turbomachinery manufacturer with 50, 60, or 70 years in the field, you’ve likely worked on various types of machines. Therefore, before designing a new machine, impeller, or expander, you review your existing portfolio; that's usually your starting point. You examine what's closest to your needs within that portfolio to determine if you can build upon it or if you need to start from scratch. Besides the aerodynamic design process, there's also a review of structures and dynamics that runs parallel to your aerodynamic process. You perform aerodynamic design followed by structural checks. Essentially, you assess the solids and dynamics to ensure there’s no risk of failure due to vibration. You conduct these evaluations throughout to avoid potential failures. These are generally well-known considerations. Additionally, a third aspect that often gets overlooked is manufacturability. It’s crucial to ensure that what you're designing can actually be manufactured, as it wouldn’t make sense to design an impeller or a machine that ultimately cannot be produced due to a lack of available technology or machinery. This consideration relates closely to materials, so manufacturability and materials fall into the same category, requiring a review of your materials, coatings, etc., throughout the design process to ensure that your design is feasible for production.

 I’d also like to point out that, as engineers, we don't design these machines out of thin air. There’s usually a use case, a customer, or a market assessment that indicates we need something that fits specific requirements. This could be a gas turbine that produces 20,000 horsepower or a compressor that can deliver more throughput than what my competitors can achieve within a given casing size, and so on. Then, we enter a process where engineering is asked, "Hey, can you guys do that?” Of course, someone also inevitably asks if we can achieve that at a cost that makes the project feasible. Yes, Klaus is absolutely right; this essentially defines the playground we work within. From there, we move from what could be considered a rough draft, using our experience, to increasingly refined concepts. Ultimately, you'll end up with some CFD simulations, and after building the first machine or prototype, there will be some testing to follow.

Do engineers overrely on computational tools? The Myth Busters deep dive into engineering tools, such as CFD and FEA, used to design turbomachines. 

TurboTime Podcast: The Turbomachinery Design Process - Part I

In this episode of the TurboTime Podcast, Myth Busters Klaus Burn of Ebara Elliott Energy, and Rainer Kurz of RKSBenergy LLC, discuss root-cause analysis (RCA), including what it is, the philosophy and methodologies behind it, what actions should and should not be taken, and more.

Brun said: “RCA, some folks call it root-cause failure analysis, looks at something that failed: Your machine had a catastrophic failure, or you’re missing performance by a percent or two—something is not as you would expect in a compressor or gas or steam turbine, and you want to figure out what it is. So, you perform an RCA based on certain symptoms. In most cases, RCA starts with a review of the machine’s operation that may have preceded the failure and in some cases a metallurgical investigation, which is one of the best indicators as to what failed. It can indicate it was high-cycle fatigue, sudden overload, corrosion or erosion, for example. Then you figure out what excitation may have caused the high-cycle fatigue or what in your process gas may have caused corrosion or erosion.”

Kurz said: “In a way, this is a bit like a detective story. You find something failed, aka the dead body, and then you gather evidence. One of the key things in root-cause failure analysis is that you not only gather evidence, but you also document it. One of the key problems when these reports are written is you have a failure in 2015, for example, and you conduct an RCA, and the next similar failure isn’t for another 10 years. (These events don’t happen that often.) And if you haven't documented what you did for the first one, you can’t use it as a starting point.”

Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss root-cause analysis—what it is, its methodologies, and why it’s so important to managing turbomachines.

TurboTime Podcast: Root Cause Analysis with the Myth Busters 

In part two of this episode of the TurboTime Podcast, Klaus Burn of Ebara Elliott Energy, and Rainer Kurz of RKSBenergy LLC, discuss surge and choke on a compressor map. They explain where they occur on the map, what happens to the compressor when they operate in these extremes, and about transient operation of a compressor.

Brun explained surge: “On the left side of the map you have surge, and on the right side is choke, overload, or stonewall. The most basic definition of surge is the compressor head cannot overcome the system-imposed pressure, i.e., pressure on the outside on the suction and discharge, and the compressor is not making enough head to overcome that pressure differential. So instead of the flow moving forward through the compressor, the flow suddenly turns around and goes backward through the machine until that pressure balances again, at which point the machine can overcome that head. Then it starts a process again. And that becomes a circular process—you get into these surge cycles, and it's a fairly complex thing.”

Kurz emphasizes that surge is an interaction between the compressor and the system around it, “meaning the compressor by itself doesn't surge,” he said. “If the system forces the compressor to make more pressure ratio than under whatever conditions the compressor is going to make, then the gas thus what it wanted to do in the first place, which is go from the high pressure to low pressure, meaning it goes backward through the compressor. The tricky part with that is on the compressor map, we show what the compressor does. So, the map by itself and that surge line on the map is essentially something you derive from the compressor performance.”

The Myth Busters, Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz, talk about surge and choke on a compressor map. 

TurboTime Podcast: Part II: Surge and Choke with the Myth Busters 

In this two-part episode of the TurboTime Podcast, Klaus Burn of Ebara Elliott Energy, and Rainer Kurz of RKSBenergy LLC, discuss compressor maps. The duo explains what compressor maps are, what they are useful for, how they fit into the process, and where head, flow, and efficiency islands fit in.

“In its most basic form, a compressor map is a graphical representation of how a centrifugal compressor behaves,” Brun said. “It's somewhat of an oversimplification because more factors play into it; but overall, it gives an accurate representation of what a compressor does within the system that it operates. A standard compressor map has an X and Y axis. The Y axis has something called head—isentropic or polytropic head. Sometimes you also see pressure ratio or a discharge pressure or a fixed section pressure. On the X axis is flow, and most of the time it’s volumetric flow. Sometimes you see mass flow, but that's not very common. Compressor maps also have a surge line on the left and on the right side of the map you have a choke or stonewall area. And finally, you have efficiency islands, and they correspond to the efficiency of the compressor. Not all compressor maps show them.”

Kurz further described efficiency islands: “Efficiency islands refer to the fact that these maps are three-dimensional, but we can only put them in two dimensions on paper. The three axes you want to display are head, flow, and efficiency. You use the efficiency lines in a very similar way to elevation lines. Also, the coordinates of the map that are directly affected by the compressor aerodynamics are head and flow. You can translate head into pressures or pressure ratios, and you can translate actual flow into mass flow, but ultimately what happens aerodynamically in the compressor is described by head and actual flow.”

The Myth Busters, Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz, talk about compressor maps—what they are, how they are generated, and what they are useful for. 



TurboTime Podcast: Part I: Compressor Maps with the Myth Busters 

In this episode of the TurboTime podcast, Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz talk about turbine degradation. They define terms such as fouling, corrosion, erosion, and rubbing and dig a little bit into what causes degradation, how it can be measured and minimized, and the difference between recoverable and non-recoverable degradation.

Burn explained: “A gas turbine system consists of a compressor, combustor, and one or several turbines, so degradation at its highest level is simply measured by what power output and efficiency to expect under certain operating conditions from a new machine and how much less power and less efficiency do you get after that machine has been running for thousands or tens of thousands of hours. The primary measurement is really on a macro level.”

During this episode, the Myth Busters break down the many terms associated with degradation, what components degrade, how it can be measured and minimized, and more. 

TurboTime Podcast: Turbomachine Degradation with the Myth Busters

In this episode of the TurboTime Podcast, the Myth Busters discusses the role of turbomachinery in energy transport and storage, including how gas turbines maximize energy density. They dive into various forms of energy storage—including batteries, hydrogen, and mechanical and thermal energy—for various energy sources such as wind, solar, fossil fuels, etc., and more.

During the energy transport and conversion processes, for example in the case of hydrogen, there are significant energy losses. The lowest losses are with coal, then oil and fossil fuels. As a result of these losses, “Hydrogen is a viable solution for storage, but it’s not a great solution to power a large-scale electric power plant by itself,” Kurz said.

Really, energy comes down to sustainability, affordability, and sustainability of supply – and in this equation, renewables are typically intermittent and not a reliable full-time source of energy.

So where does turbomachinery fit into all of this?

“From a turbomachinery perspective, if you exclude electric—because as Rainer said, it's not always applicable, as you can’t transport energy from Venezuela to Florida along an electric line—then you have to convert your energy stored material, be it natural gas, oil, coal, or from an alternative source then you have to convert it into hydrogen or ammonia or something else, and then transport it,” Brun explained. “All these convergent processes utilize turbomachinery. We have maybe 100 years of experience transporting oil in pipelines and ships and trucks and that involves a lot of pumping—we're very good at pumping – it’s very efficient. We also have about a similar amount of time compressing natural gas, which over the last 40 - 50 years we've used a lot more centrifugal compressors for transporting natural gas. Now we're running into the challenge of sustainable alternative energies where basically you're saying, ‘OK, I'm going to take my wind and solar electric and convert them to let's say hydrogen or ammonia or dimethyl ether or methanol—there are a lot of fluids that you can make from electricity that are energy carriers—but then they have to be transported. Hydrogen is the lightest gas (We had a previous podcast where we talked about the challenges of 

). Similarly, ammonia is a liquid that has to be transported at slightly refrigerated temperatures, and it brings its own challenges because it's highly poisonous and very corrosive to a lot of materials. Dimethyl ether is not that hard to transport—it’s similar to diesel—but it's very expensive to make. Methanol is also highly poisonous. So there are a lot of other challenges that you now face with these energy carriers that you worry about when transporting your original form of energy to the end user.”

Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz dial into energy storage and transport—why they are necessary, how turbomachinery fits into these processes, and more. 

TurboTime Podcast: Energy Transport and Storage with the Myth Busters 

Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz join the TurboTime podcast to chat about additive manufacturing. They dive into its history in the industry, its advantages as a viable technology, its limitations, and new advancements that could drive the technology further.

Brun explained: “About 40 years ago, additive manufacturing technology started coming out based on using materials such as polymers and resins that were heated up and layered on top of each other using some kind of robotic arm or plotter that in the 3D space. It wasn’t all that relative from a turbomachinery perspective at the time because yes, you could use that to make a mold for a cast, but other than that, it wasn’t realistic. About 20 years ago, we started seeing additive manufacturing using metals. There are a number of techniques, but the most popular ones are direct metal sintering or selective metal-laser sintering—these techniques are when you have a layer of metal and a heat source, and you put the heat source on the powder-metal layer to create a 3D geometry in 3D space. That technique has developed over the last 20 years—it came out with lots and lots of promises, some of which held up while other promises didn't hold up."

“From a turbomachinery perspective, there are many parts in a compressor, for example, or a gas or steam turbine, that are relatively standard pieces; you would probably not use additive manufacturing for those pieces because they're always the same, so you would cast them or quickly machine them. But then there are certain pieces that are either very intricate in geometry, so they require many smaller pieces to be put together or that are customized like impellers for centrifugal compressors. So here, theoretically, additive manufacturing should have an advantage because additive manufacturing provides you with the potential to build customer parts.” 

What’s the history of additive manufacturing, how is it used to manufacture turbomachines, and does it really have a future in the turbo industry? Find out more from the Myth Busters in this episode of the TurboTime Podcast. 

TurboTime Podcast: Additive Manufacturing with the Myth Busters 

Turbomachinery faces challenges like labor shortages and supply chain issues, but innovative solutions help the industry meet growing energy demand.



Energy Industry Outlook: Strategies to Tackle Supply Chain Issues, Power Demand, and Decarbonization 

TotalEnergies and CMA CGM establish a 50/50 joint venture to develop LNG bunkering solutions, enhancing the maritime energy transition and supporting decarbonization efforts in global shipping.


TotalEnergies, CMA CGM Join Forces for LNG Bunkering at Rotterdam

The first block at the Taiwan power plant provides 1.3 GW of cleaner energy, aiming to replace coal units and reduce emissions while stabilizing the country’s electricity grid.

Hsinta Power Plant Goes Online with GE Vernova’s 7HA.03 to Support Coal-to-Gas Transition

Baker Hughes is set to support Saipem's Eni-led Liverpool Bay CCS Project, enhancing CO2 storage capabilities in the U.K. through advanced compression technology.

Baker Hughes Secures Contract for Carbon-Capture Technology in Liverpool Bay Project

AI is revolutionizing design, manufacturing, and operations while simultaneously advancing decarbonization efforts and addressing workforce development challenges.

Turbo Expo 2025 Spotlights AI and Decarbonization

At Turbo Expo 2025, Jeff Moore, Ph.D., Institute Engineer at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), presented the paper, 

STEP 10 MWe sCO₂ Turbine Simple Cycle Testing

, co-authored with John Klaerner and Jonathan Wade (SwRI), and Jason Mortzheim and Sylvain Pierre (GE Vernova Advanced Research). The session detailed mechanical and performance results from a 10 MWe supercritical CO₂ turbine for the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) demo plant at SwRI in San Antonio, Texas.

The $169 million project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and led by GTI Energy in partnership with SwRI and GE Vernova, aims to validate sCO₂ turbomachinery in simple and recompression Brayton cycle (RCBC) modes. The plant was commissioned in late 2024 for simple-cycle testing.

Initial tests at 500°C turbine inlet temperatures produced over 8 MW of gross shaft power and nearly 4 MWe of net output. Moore shared mechanical performance data—including vibration, bearing temperatures, thrust balance, and parasitic losses—highlighting stable turbine behavior, efficient power delivery, and key design takeaways to guide the transition to higher-temperature RCBC operation.

Jeff Moore of SwRI and the STEP Demo team reports 4 MWe net power f

STEP Demo: sCO₂ Turbine Achieves 4 MWe Net Output in Simple Cycle 

From the mechanical test data on vibration and bearing temperatures, what critical insights were gained regarding turbine stability and longevity, and how do these inform future designs?

We published a paper at the ASME Turbo Expo showing some of the mechanical performance data, including vibration, bearing temperature, thrust balance, and we're pleased with how the turbine behaved. Vibration levels were low, no special balancing was needed, and bearing temperatures stayed within specifications. This success will inform future designs.

As you transition to the RCBC configuration, what are the primary technical challenges and opportunities for the turbine's performance and integration with the added components?

As detailed in our paper, we've achieved simple-cycle conditions at 500°C. The RCBC involves adding an extra compressor, called the bypass compressor, and an additional heat exchanger for process recuperation. These components are being piped in now. We need to install additional instrumentation and electrical wiring. Our goal is to be operational and testing these components by fall 2025. One challenge is increasing the turbine inlet temperature from 500°C to 715°C, which introduces new thermal management issues, particularly managing the overall system to address creep and low-cycle fatigue. However, we're leveraging all the experience gained from our simple cycle testing, so we expect it to go well.

Considering the 4 MWe net output in simple cycle, what were the major parasitic losses observed, and how will these be addressed to reach the 10 MWe net and 50% efficiency goals in RCBC?

Our paper discusses parasitic losses, which are present in every turbomachinery train. Ours include losses in bearings, gearboxes, and electrical components. sCO

, being a high-density fluid, results in slightly higher parasitic losses due to windage inside equipment and in dry gas seals, for example. We're working to quantify these losses. The good news is, these losses won't increase as we scale up temperature and power output; most parasitic losses will remain fixed, making their percentage of total net power smaller.

Jeff Moore of SwRI and the STEP Demo team reports 4 MWe net power from 10 MWe sCO₂ turbine; testing confirms low vibration, stable bearings, and scale-up potential.

Conference Coverage

caught up with Dr. Eric Petersen, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M, to hear about the latest updates at its recently opened Propulsion and Energetics Research Laboratory (PERL) and the university’s Energy and Propulsion Research Consortium, a new sister entity to the established Turbomachinery Research Consortium.

Dr. Eric Petersen of Texas A&M says the newly established Energy and Propulsion Research Consortium aims to foster research funding to support research. 

Texas A&M's Plans to Expand the PERL’s Lab Scope, Establishes EPR

We have been building this facility over the last couple of years with support from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. I am happy to announce that as of May 2025, it is now open for business. Currently, we are in the process of setting up our instrumentation center and diagnostics and control room, as well as testing and conducting shakedown activities for the facility itself. While we are not yet conducting large-scale experiments, we are testing the rooms and various capabilities of the facility in preparation for upcoming larger, more established projects that will be funded in this laboratory. We are very excited about expanding our scope to include high-pressure, energetic, and potentially dangerous experiments, all conducted in a controlled manner within this unique lab space.

Is there anything you want to highlight from a program or research standpoint?

At the Turbomachinery Laboratory, recent collaborations with the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M have led to the hiring of several faculty members with expertise in thermofluids, propulsion, and combustion. This represents an area of new growth for us and aligns directly with the recently developed PEARL facility, as well as what we refer to as the Energy and Propulsion Research Consortium (EPRC). The EPRC is a sister entity to the established Turbomachinery Research Consortium (TRC). Our goal is to create a funding mechanism through various industry sponsors to support research projects focused on energy and propulsion, mirroring the successful format we have used for several decades through the TRC.

Texas A&M's Plans to Expand the PERL’s Lab Scope, Establishes EPRC

At Turbo Expo 2025, Tim Allison, Director of R&D in the Machinery Department at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), sat down with 

to discuss how SwRI is advancing diagnostics and predictive maintenance to extend the life and improve the reliability of existing turbomachinery, and how decarbonization goals are influencing turbomachinery design in terms of new materials and alternative fluids like hydrogen.

: Tim Allison of SwRI shares how the institute is working to improve turbomachinery reliability and material compatibility of hydrogen and sCO2 oxy combustion

SWRI Says NPSS Turbomachinery Models Can Guide Future Preventive Maintenance to Improve Reliability  

How is SwRI advancing diagnostics and predictive maintenance to extend the life and improve the reliability of existing turbomachinery?

SWRI develops the NPSS software code. It's a numerical propulsion system simulator, which is a thermodynamic tool for modeling gas turbines or turbomachinery and power systems. That code is the industry standard for aerospace gas turbines and has paved the way toward adoption with multiple industrial turbine OEMs over the last few years, and they do actively use that code as the basis for developing digital twins for their models. The NPSS models of turbomachines can be used to track degradation and guide future preventive maintenance efforts for reliability.

We also do a lot of work solving or improving reliability by solving problems in the field. We have a staff that travels with all sorts of instrumentation for processes, as well as advanced optical measurements for vibration and rotating shafts to help diagnose issues in the field and improve reliability.

How are decarbonization goals influencing turbomachinery design at SwRI, particularly regarding new materials and alternative fluids like hydrogen?

SWRI's efforts toward decarbonization technologies are really guided by our clients, so we support a lot of their interests. Right now, we're seeing a lot of interest in technologies like hydrogen, carbon dioxide, supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO

), and industrial applications reducing carbon or effective carbon emissions. Those involve machinery technologies like hermetic machines and really high pressures and temperatures to improve power density and efficiency.

To improve those designs, we incorporate different test rigs that are designed to evaluate the material compatibility of hydrogen or sCO

 oxy combustion at elevated or actual conditions. We also have a number of component test rigs for the components that are needed to support machines in these applications. So, we have different bearing test rigs and seal test rigs that help us to develop components for hermetic machinery at high pressures or high temperatures.

Tim Allison of SwRI shares how the institute is working to improve turbomachinery reliability and material compatibility of hydrogen and sCO2 oxy combustion. 

 power cycle research and development, including the STEP Demo pilot plant.

Tim Allison of SwRI shares the biggest remaining hurdles for widespread sCO2 turbomachinery commercialization and the most promising energy storage solutions.

SWRI Shares Biggest Hurdles for Widespread sCO2

 power cycle research and development, including the STEP Demo pilot plant. What are the biggest remaining hurdles for widespread sCO

 turbomachinery commercialization, and how is SwRI addressing them?

The Southwest Research Institute is the host site for the STEP Demo pilot plant, which was successfully commissioned late last year, running a simple-recuperated cycle with a turbine inlet temperature of 500° C. Part of that operation was to run the turbine as well as the main compressor, which is a centrifugal compressor. We were able to run those right at predicted performance for the operating condition that we were in. We encountered some growing pains associated with handling the high pressures as well as the high temperatures in the turbine, which was a design factor, but we found that there are no real technology gaps there. As long as you account for the pressures and densities associated with those machines, they do not have any fundamental technology problems.

Toward commercialization, we see a need for increasing the temperature. We are scoped to run the step demo at 700° C later this year; we also see a need to increase the number of operating hours. And then there's a lot of commercial interest in developing solutions that will fast ramp the machinery or incorporate hermetic machinery designs to minimize the CO

What are the most promising turbomachinery-based energy storage solutions SwRI is exploring, and what unique challenges do they present?

We developed a software tool to analyze energy storage systems to help answer that question. What we found is that when simulating various renewable resources, market economics, and electricity prices for your area, the most technically and economically viable solution varies based on those inputs. We are exploring a broad range of energy storage technologies that could be suitable for different applications. These technologies include options like pumped thermal energy storage, liquid air energy storage, hydrogen, geomechanical storage, and other thermal storage mechanisms that are coupled to turbo machinery. Currently, we observe strong trends toward thermal energy storage systems that can either direct heat toward an industrial process or direct thermal energy to a heat engine for conversion back to electricity. This flexibility for dual use is quite appealing for commercialization. Additionally, we are noticing interest in hybrid energy storage systems that incorporate thermal energy storage linked to existing gas or steam turbines. The idea of coupling to those existing resources enhances retrofit economics and increases the utilization of the capital asset, making them quite promising.

Tim Allison of SwRI shares outcomes from the STEP Demo pilot plant, sCO2 commercialization, and the most promising energy storage solutions.

SWRI Talks Widespread sCO2 Commercialization, Energy Storage Solutions

Welcome to the eighth edition of the Turbomachinery News Network. I’m James Cook, assistant editor at 

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of May 5, 2025, covers news from Rotating Machinery Services, Rolls-Royce, Ansaldo Energia, and Bosowa Energy Group.

RMS Acquires Fusion, Rolls-Royce Builds MRO Facility, Ansaldo Energia Installs MXL3, Bosowa Energy Integrates Indonesian LNG

Rotating Machinery Services acquired Fusion

, a Houston-based grinding, manufacturing, and coating company that manufactures custom-machined turbomachinery components. This acquisition supports RMS’s overhaul and repair of steam turbines, expanders, compressors, and additional rotating machinery. It will manage operations in Houston, TX, under RMS’s broader U.S.-based repair network.

 are building an independent maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility at the Istanbul Airport, which is scheduled to open by year-end 2027. Once operational, Turkish Technic will perform MRO services for the Trent XWB-97, Trent XWB-84, and Trent 7000 aero engines used by the Airbus A350 and Airbus A330neo. The facility will handle approximately 200 shop visits annually.

Ansaldo Energia installed its MXL3 upgrade at 

 in France. The upgrade included a redesigned compressor with high-pressure-capable parts, an improved combustion chamber for Ansaldo’s GT26 gas turbine, H-class features to enhance performance in challenging conditions, and refined insulation.

 and BK LNG Solution are modernizing Indonesia’s energy infrastructure by transitioning diesel-powered plants on remote Indonesian islands to LNG-fired operation. The two signed an MoU that includes LNG supply chain integration, building floating storage units, natural gas-fired power generation, downstream energy applications, and small-scale LNG distribution with ISO tank containers.

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Turbomachinery News Network. I’m James Cook, assistant editor at 

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of April 21, 2025, covers news from Capstone Green Energy, bp, Chevron U.S.A., and TMC Compressors.

Capstone Delivers Microturbines, bp Loads LNG Cargo, Chevron Kickstarts Ballymore, TMC Equips LNG Carriers

The City of Winona ordered two C65 integrated combined heat-and-power 

 and a remote monitoring controller from Vergent Power for its wastewater treatment plant. The new turbines, set to be commissioned by April 30, will replace an existing C65 model that operated for over 15 years and had more than 100,000 hours of runtime.

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