Auxiliaries & Components

Combined Cycle

Compressors

Gas Turbines

Home Page Feature

Hydrogen

Maintenance & Repair

Market Trends

Myth Busters

News

Oil & Gas

Power Generation

Software & Controls

Steam Turbines

Turbo Tips

Webcasts

Whitepapers

Home

Magazine

Media

The TurboTime Podcast

Videos

Conferences

Resources

White Papers

Useful Links

Industry Insights

Handbook

Get Listed

Digital Advertising

Subscribe Now

Advertise

Media Planner

Terms & Conditions

About

About Us

Contact

The foremost source of technical content for managers, engineers, and technicians who operate, maintain, service, and repair turbomachinery.

Editorial Board

Contact Us

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Privacy Policy

Terms

Turbomachinery Magazine

LinkedIn

1rem

Podcasts

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 dive into electrification: what it is and debunk the myth that it and machines—such as hermetically sealed compressors and high-speed electric motor drives—hydrogen blending and others are decarbonized.

TURBO: Can you break down the assertion that that machinery electrification and electric-motor drives are a decarbonization myth?

 There are a lot of decarbonization myths that don’t just have to do with electrification and electric motors and hermetically sealed drives and high-speed motors, but they also have to do with hydrogen blending, unburned hydrocarbons and gas turbines, and other types of emissions that are part of the sustainable energy economy. What we set to do, however, is talk about electrification, which is basically when you take a turbomachine, a compressor or pump, and instead of running it with a driver—e.g., a gas or steam turbine, which has been done traditionally at a lot of compressor stations, pipelines, or in refineries, ethylene plants, or other places—you actually replace them with an electric motor. And, obviously, an electric motor does not have any emissions directly; it just shifts the responsibility of the carbon production from where you utilize the electric motor to where the electricity comes from. And the last time I checked, at least in most of the industrialized nations such as North America, 60% of all fossil electricity comes from fossil fuels, a mix of natural gas and coal. China actually has more—I think 70% of the electricity comes from fossil fuels, mostly coal, which is very dirty. Europe is not quite as bad. They now have about 40% alternative energies, but still a substantial part. So, you're really just shifting the carbon emission from one place to another, sometimes in a very, very inefficient way.

 In a way, this discussion is always about where you draw the emissions boundaries. Klaus is right: As soon as you can shift your emissions outside your boundaries, you can claim you are carbon-neutral, whereas, in reality, you just made somebody else deal with your carbon emissions. There are quite a few studies that address that one way or another and very clearly show if you make electricity while creating CO

 or other emissions, you may create more emissions with an electric driver than with a driver that’s driven by fossil-fueled engines.

Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz break down the myth that electrification and electric-motor drives are decarbonized. 

TurboTime Podcast: Debunking Machinery Decarbonization Myths

In this interview with Scott DeNeale, a Water Resources Engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we discuss the lab’s current research projects in hydropower and trends such as low-head and modular designs and metal additive manufacturing to manufacture Francis turbines. The lab is working on a lot of exciting work, and even though hydropower has been around for 150 years, DeNeale said there is a lot of opportunity to complement new generation with environmental compatibility.

An interesting fact is that only 3% of the more than 90,000 damns in the United States use hydropower. Why? Listen to find out!

TURBO: Can you tell us a little about Oak Ridge National Lab?

 Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest multi-program science and technology laboratory in the United States. It's managed by UT Battelle but is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. As part of my research, I do a lot of work for hydropower. The research and development that I do touch on a lot of different things. We look at grid integration, markets, reliability, performance, hydrology and hydraulics, water management, biodiversity and ecosystem science. We look at technological advancement as well.

TURBO: What recent advancements have you seen in turbomachinery used in hydropower technology and pumped storage hydropower technology?

 Conventional hydropower—what we would speak to is the age of the big dams is over, so a lot of what we're looking at is retrofitting existing dams, replacing units, or adding new units to existing dams. And there's an area looking at canals and conduits as well. So, some of the advancements that I've seen are really geared toward the existing infrastructure, which has largely low-head or low-pressure potential. It’s a little bit different design that is used to capture that design point. Another area is modular technologies and standard technologies. Conventionally, a lot of turbines are custom-built, so the ability to have a standard design that could be plug-and-play has been of interest. We've had some research over the past 10 years related to that, working with industry on advancing their concepts as well. 

For pumped storage … I would refer you to a report from some of my friends at Argonne National Laboratory. They have done some great documentation of innovations—a lot of it's conceptual for pump storage but some cool innovations there. However, there has been no new pump storage since 2012. And, even with that, that was a very small project. So, since the mid-nineties, there really hasn’t been much of anything in terms of new pump storage, but there is a great demand for it.

Scott DeNeale of Oak Ridge National Lab shares trends in hydropower—from modular designs to additive-manufactured Francis turbines. 

TurboTime Podcast: Modular and Low-Head Designs are Trending in Hydropower 

During this episode of the TurboTime Podcast, Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss how hydrogen is transported and its use as an energy carrier. They then discuss how ammonia is produced, its advantages and limitations, and for what industries it’s a suitable solution.

“We’ve previously talked about hydrogen in some of our Myth Buster podcasts and how it’s relevant to a decarbonized energy economy as an energy carrier. Unfortunately, hydrogen itself has a lot of nasty characteristics: it's hard to compress, highly flammable, as a gas it’s not easy to deal with, etc. From a transportation and storage perspective, it leaks, has many safety issues, causes hydrogen embrittlement, etc., making it difficult to transport.”

“Making ammonia is nothing new. We know how to how the process works, but it is an energy-intensive process. But ammonia is a very toxic gas. It causes skin burns rapidly if you touch it in liquid form. In vapor form, even at less than 100 PPMs, it’s very irritating, so it creates a lot of issues from the handling perspective.”

In this episode of the TurboTime podcast, Myth Buster Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss ammonia. 

TurboTime Podcast: Ammonia with the Myth Busters

This episode of the TurboTime podcast features an onsite interview from our Turbo Tour of EthosEnergy’s Light Gas Turbine and Performance Center Facility in Houston. Assistant Editor James Cook talks with Daniel Tegtmeier, Director of EthosEnergy's Performance Center, about remote monitoring and operations, the changing energy landscape, and the benefits of remote start/stop and virtual capabilities.

Q: How does remote monitoring keep simple-cycle assets viable in a market focused on renewable energy?

 If you think about a machine built 20+ years ago and its efficiency, it still has a place in the market when competing with renewables. It’s not like it used to be though—these units used to run wide-open, 24/7. They’re now intermittent assets competing with renewables and zero-cost fuels, but once the wind stops blowing and the sun stops shining, that load is gone.

These are simple-cycle configurations, so they can come online quickly and be at 100 - 120 MW in less than an hour. So, you’re going to staff a facility 8,000 hours per year in case they call you up? That’s part of what we do and the justification for remote operations—you need the intermittent load from simple-cycle assets in rapid fashion, but you can’t afford to staff these places full-time.

Q: In addition to that justification, are there any safety improvements delivered through remote start/stop and control capabilities?

 Economics seems to drive most decision processes behind whether you’re remotely operating a facility or not; however, there’s a huge safety aspect. You don’t need people there 24 hours a day around equipment with a lot of pent-up energy, so exposure levels drop dramatically. For the most part, these machines are designed so well and over-engineered from day one that they’re conducive to [remote monitoring].

In this episode of the TurboTime podcast, Daniel Tegtmeier, Director of EthosEnergy’s Performance Center, talks about remote operations and monitoring. 

TurboTime Podcast: Remote Monitoring with EthosEnergy

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, we talk with Giuseppe Tilocca, Scientific Officer at ETN Global, a non-profit member association in the gas turbine technology space. ETN Global’s recent global report, 

Decentralized Energy Systems: Toward Carbon-Neutral Energy Solutions for Gas Turbines

, compares decentralized systems to centralized heat and power units and highlights its advantages—including modularity, the possibility to exploit waste heat avoiding energy transmission losses, and reducing energy distribution costs. Tilocca reviews these advantages in detail, as well as trends and emerging market opportunities, and he dives into gas turbines and how they fit into decentralized energy systems.

“Considering this specific report, we all know that the energy sector is transforming very quickly, and it's mainly driven by the increasingly high share of renewable energy sources,” Ticolla said. “In this scenario, which is dominated by variable sources whose daily, weekly, and seasonal flexibility are set to go dramatically, to meet the system requirements while accomplishing the ambitious decarbonization goals, we need to support traditional centralized generation with a mix of the centralized components.”

So, how does ETN Global define decentralized energy systems, and what are their advantages?

“Historically, we established centralized energy systems, meaning large plants located far from consumers,” Tilocca explained. “The reason behind it is merely economy of scale and efficiency, so it is cheaper to have one big plant than many small ones; however, with the increasing integration of variable renewable energy sources, which are inherently decentralized, we now need to adapt our infrastructure and incorporate technologies that are traditionally used for centralized energy. By definition, a decentralized energy system is located close to the consumption nodes—so on the end user side of the network—and therefore it's connected to the distribution grid rather than the transmission grid. The advantages of a decentralized energy system are mainly modularity, the possibility of exploiting waste heat, and a positive contribution to stability. In particular, one of the main advantages of being close to consumption nodes is avoiding transmission and distribution losses and also costs compared to centralized generation. Centralized energy systems are pivotal in meeting the pillars of the energy trilemma, which stress the principles of affordability, security, and climate neutrality and hence it aligns with the requirements for the transition toward 2030 but also 2040 and 2050.”

ETN Global’s Scientific Officer, Giuseppe Tilocca, talks about the association’s recent report on decentralized energy systems—their advantages and challenges, trends, and where and how gas turbines fit in.  

TurboTime Podcast: Decentralized Energy Systems with ETN Global 

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 

Henrik Harksen of MTU Maintenance talks about its new MRO shop that will support a 30% increase in shop visit volumes. 

MTU Maintenance Increases MRO Shop to Keep up With Energy, Shop Visit Demands 

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 

Renovating modern dry gas seals and their systems increases reliability.

Upgrading and Renovating Turbocompressor Dry Gas Seals

Dietmar Zutt of MAN Energy Solutions says the latest combustion and control technologies allow the 175D to achieve rapid maneuverability, acceleration, and long cruising ranges.

MAN Energy Drives Naval, Commercial Marine Industry with 175D Engine

Asma Abaalkhail of GE Vernova says its Live Outage system and all-Saudi team completed the gas turbine outage operation safely and days ahead of schedule.

GE Vernova Expands Saudi Arabian Presence with Gas Turbine Outage Services

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.

bp successfully loaded its first LNG cargo from the 

 Phase 1 project, located approximately 120 km offshore Mauritania and Senegal’s maritime border. The cargo, designated for export, was loaded onto bp’s floating LNG vessel 10 km offshore. This loading follows first gas flow from GTA in early 2025.

Chevron began producing oil and natural gas at the 

 in the Gulf of America. This subsea tieback is estimated to contain 150 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources to be extracted over the project’s lifetime. The project is slated to produce up to 75,000 barrels of oil per day across three wells connected to the Blind Faith facility.

TMC Compressors is supplying marine-based 

 to Hanwha Ocean to construct 12 new-build LNG carriers. The company’s compressed air systems are designed specifically for offshore and maritime applications and enable the vessel’s crew to perform on-board maintenance while at sea easily.

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

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of April 14, 2025, covers news from EnBW, the Port of Rotterdam, Venture Global, MAN Energy Solutions, and GE Vernova.

EnBW Commissions Plant, Rotterdam Conducts Pilot, Calcasieu Pass Enters Operation, MAN Supplies Propulsion, GE Vernova Equips Plant

EnBW commissioned a power plant equipped with hydrogen-ready gas turbines, one of Germany’s first, at the 

 waste incineration site. EnBW modernized the site with a 62-MW turbine construction featuring waste-heat boilers and hot-water boilers. The new plant will generate 124 MW of electrical energy and 370 MW of thermal energy for Stuttgart.

 between two vessels that transferred 800 cubic meters of liquefied ammonia at -33 ºC. It took approximately 2.5 hours alongside a newly constructed concrete quay. The demonstration validated the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s safety system for ammonia bunkering, with the first ammonia-bunker-fueled ships arriving in 2026 - 2027.

 export facility into commercial operation, allowing long-term customers to offtake low-cost LNG just 68 months after reaching final investment decision. The facility, among the fastest greenfield LNG projects completed to date, holds numerous multi-billion-dollar contracts with key European trade allies. These customers will receive North American LNG for 20-year terms.

In the maritime sector,MAN Energy Solutions will deliver 10 

 to Hindustan Shipyard in India, which will build five fleet support ships for the Indian Navy.

 in Japan kicked off operation using three GE Vernova 9HA.02 gas turbines, three heat recovery steam generators, and steam turbines and generators from Toshiba. The HRSGs were manufactured as pressure part modules in GE Vernova’s factory in South Korea and assembled into prefabricated supermodules in Tongyeong before maritime shipment to Japan. The Goi Thermal Power Station may reduce CO

 emissions by 16% compared to the original plant.

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

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of April 7, 2025, covers news from Baker Hughes, Concepts NREC, GE Aerospace/MTU, Shell, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Baker Hughes Installs Software, Concepts NREC Updates AEDS, MTU’s Fort Worth Expansion, Shell Produces Oil, MHI Completes Refurbishment

 to install its Cordant Asset Health digital solution at 10 chemical production facilities in China. This provides Sinochem’s diagnostics teams with centralized data to minimize unplanned downtime, identify failures proactively, and reduce production losses across the portfolio. Also, Sinochem will develop and scale best practices, apply operational learnings, enhance asset performance, and establish efficiencies at the highest organizational level.

 for its Agile Engineering Design System. The update includes multiple software modules tailored to computer-aided engineering and computer-aided manufacturing; advanced rotating machinery dynamics software, which can be launched in real-time from within AxCent to analyze rotordynamics during the design phase; CYCAL thermodynamic cycle analysis software; and Code LEO, a new computational fluid dynamics code powered by a graphics processing unit that operates 15 - 120x faster than current CFD solvers.

GE Aerospace and MTU Maintenance Dallas agreed to continue GEnx aviation engine maintenance at the new 

. The agreement supports MTU Maintenance Dallas in expanding maintenance variety and Fort Worth shop capacity for customers using GE Aerospace engines. In 2023, MTU Maintenance transferred its maintenance work to the Fort Worth location: a 43,000-square-meter facility with engine testing capable of up to 100,000 lbs. of thrust.

Shell Offshore started oil production at the 

 tieback, located 170 miles offshore of New Orleans, LA, in the Mississippi Canyon in approximately 7,500 feet of water. Expected to produce up to 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, Dover is the second tieback to the Appomattox production hub. The subsea development’s two production wells will be connected to Appomattox via a 17.5-mile flowline and riser.Shell’s current Dover estimates claim approximately 44.5 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering successfully finished the refurbishment of several facilities at its 

: a waste-to-energy plant in Kyushu, Japan. Following refurbishment, the plant attained a 31.86% CO

 reduction rate compared to the lower 17.25% targeted rate. This was achieved by replacing a feeder and boiler piping, allowing higher durability when exposed to lower air ratios. Additionally, the increased power generation made efficient use of waste steam through a denitration catalyst.

Baker Hughes Installs Software, Concepts NREC Updates AEDS, MTU’s Fort Worth Expansion, Shell Produces Oil, MHI Completes Refurbishment 

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

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of March 31, 2025, covers news from MTU Maintenance, GE Vernova, Rolls-Royce, Homer City Energy Campus, and bp.

MTU Expands Facility, GE Vernova Launches TM2500, Rolls-Royce Updates Automation, Homer City Uses Gas, bp’s First Gas at Cypre

MTU Maintenance is constructing a new maintenance, repair, and overhaul production section at its 

, supporting a 30% increase in shop visit volumes in the coming years. This expansion aims to improve workscope customization, satisfy customer requirements, and meet growing market demand. The new addition is slated to commence operations in January 2027 after completion.

 dry-low emissions aeroderivative turbine: a mobile, water-free 34-MW power-plant solution with up to 39% efficiency, lower NOx emissions and waste, and the ability to deliver power on and off the grid. It operates on a two-trailer frame that enables easy shipping, on-site flexibility, and a 30-day lead time from contract to commissioning.

Rolls-Royce and the Singapore Institute of Technology

 announced a partnership to develop and improve equipment health and fleet management technologies for autonomous ships, harbor crafts, and vessels with hybrid propulsion systems. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore will dedicate a multi-purpose, hybrid patrol craft for the pilot project: the MPA Guardian, equipped with two mtu Series 16V2000 engines.

Homer City Redevelopment and Kiewit Power Constructors will transform the previously coal-based Homer City Generating Station into a large-scale, natural gas-powered data center complex, leveraging seven GE Vernova 7HA.02 gas turbines to be delivered in 2026. The 3,200-acre 

 will support increasing AI and high-performance computing demand in the PJM and NYISO power grids. Site construction will begin in 2025, with power generation slated for 2027.

bp Trinidad and Tobago began gas production at the 

 project which, at its peak, is expected to deliver approximately 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Cypre field is 78 km off Trinidad’s southeastern coast in the East Mayaro Block, with water depths of nearly 80 meters. The total project scope will include seven wells, with the additional three assets scheduled for construction later this year.

, Director of Global and Corporate Partnerships for Texas A&M’s Turbomachinery Laboratory, unveiled several education programs and funding initiatives in the works, aiming to enhance project funding and youth experience on an international scale.

According to Gammon, the Lab is currently developing the Turbomachinery Certification Program to accelerate the education of younger working engineers as older professional retire. Also, he’s drawing support for an Energy and Propulsion Research Consortium to fund projects executed by the Lab’s other technical disciplines.

According to Greg Gammon of Texas A&M, the Turbomachinery Certification Program will educate, accelerate, and standardize younger rotating equipment engineers.

Turbomachinery Laboratory to Drive Young Talent, Diversify Project Funding

TURBO: Why was the rotating equipment certification program created? What are your goals/expectations?

The Turbomachinery Certification Program is just exiting its concept level right now. The idea emerged from one of our Turbo Lab graduates, Dr. Eyad Al-Khateeb, who’s with Saudi Aramco. He brought this idea to us about a year-and-a-half ago, and we began discussing the need for a certification program that would allow for a standardization of competencies across many industries. We’ve noted that there is a need for more young talent in the industry and for these people to be educated at a practical level.

TURBO: Is there anything else you’d like to highlight from a program perspective at Texas A&M?

One of the major initiatives at the Texas A&M Turbo Lab is developing the Energy and Propulsion Research Consortium, which will allow us to execute and fund projects through its members. Professors and students working in thermal fluids and combustion and computational modeling and design will enjoy the same benefits that others enjoy through the Turbomachinery Research Consortium.

B roll video credit: Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications

Greg Gammon of Texas A&M says the Turbomachinery Certification Program will educate, accelerate, and standardize younger rotating equipment engineers.

Turbomachinery Lab Drives Young Talent, Diversify Project Funding

During our tour of Texas A&M’s Turbomachinery Laboratory, 

, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, explained his lab’s latest research initiative and how it may impact component scalability industry wide. Delgado also shared his perspective on how the Turbo Lab benefits graduates and undergraduates via immersive education and hands-on experience.

Turbomachinery Laboratory graduates are engaged with classes and real-life operating experience before entering the OEM and end-user workforce, says Dr. Delgado.

Dr. Delgado Shares Turbo Lab’s Research Updates, Path for Texas A&M Grads

TURBO: What research is the Delgado Lab currently working on?

Right now, we are working on several initiatives. One of them is the development of oil-free bearings for MW-range machines. Currently gas bearings can be used in small machines and are commercially available; however, the technology is not scalable. For example, if you have a methane compressor, we’d like to have methane bearings lubricating or supporting that compressor.

TURBO: How does the Turbo Lab work for graduates? What’s next for them?

The moment that a graduate or undergraduate student gets involved with the Turbo Lab, their journey in turbomachinery starts. At this point, they get immersed in classes, real experience at the Lab, and everything related to rotating equipment. After this, [students] will always seek jobs in the rotating equipment field, which can include OEMs and end users. At the end of the day, they will become the technical experts in the field of rotating equipment.

Dr. Delgado says Turbo Lab graduates are engaged with classes and real-life operating experience before entering the OEM and end-user workforce.

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

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of March 24, 2025, covers news from GE Vernova, GE Aerospace, Baker Hughes, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and LNGameChanger.

GE Conducts Outage, Inaugurates XEOS, Baker Hughes Executes Drilling, KHI Builds Demo Facility, LNGameChanger Develops Powertrain

 completed gas turbine outage and maintenance operations at the Riyadh 8 power plant. The outage was led by GE Vernova’s Gas Power One Field Services Team and supported the reliability and efficiency of the plant’s power generation assets.Saudi engineers and specialists conducted detailed planning and execution, established strict safety protocols, and delivered the project on schedule with GE Vernova’s Live Outage digital tool.

GE Aerospace and Lufthansa Technik recently inaugurated the 

 engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility—a 35,000-square-meter facility that leverages GE Aerospace’s lean operating system, FLIGHT DECK, to deploy best practices in design and operation.XEOS is currently conducting LEAP-1B shop visits and LEAP-1A module work and engine testing, with plans to increase overhaul capacity and repair capability in the coming months.

Baker Hughes, under a multi-year contract with the Dubai Petroleum Establishment and Dubai Supply Authority, will execute 

 work at the Margham Gas Storage Project. The company will leverage its CoilTrak coiled-tubing bottomhole assembly system and under-balanced drilling expertise.

Home Page Feature

Latest News