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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 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 

This episode of the TurboTime podcast dives into carbon capture and storage (CCS) with Spencer Schecht, the Senior Business Development Lead at the Global CCS Institute. We discuss how these facilities are at an all-time high, the role of carbon capture networks and hubs, and some of the challenges and hurdles it’s facing.

, said that CCS has ramped up to an all-time high— a 102% increase in scheduled deployments since 2022—due to supportive and enabling policy, as CCS is becoming a more prominent feature of public policy.

“At a high level, we need CCS and CO2 removal to meet our climate targets to achieve climate neutrality,” Schecht said. “So, while we require an all-of-the-above portfolio of climate technologies and solutions, it is the versatility of CCS—the fact that it enables both emissions mitigation and removal—that makes it such a unique and important resource in our climate toolkit. For example, CCS can be applied across emissions-intensive industries, including hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement, chemical production, and power production, to achieve decarbonization that is not otherwise technically nor economically possible. This enables the reduction of low-carbon hydrogen, and it can also be retrofitted on fossil-fuel power plants or incorporated in the design of new power plants providing baseload low-carbon dispatchable electricity. And when combined with bioenergy or direct air capture, with permanent geologic storage, CCS is an enabler of delivering negative emissions, and we need negative emissions to scale massively in the years ahead. This lays out a very clear picture that CCS and CO2 removal must scale up to gigatons, which is billions of tons per year, to achieve our climate targets.”

Check out the Global CCS Institute’s insights in 

Turbomachinery International’s May/June cover story

Carbon capture and storage’s versatility enables both emissions mitigation and removal, making it a unique and important resource as a climate solution.

TurboTime Podcast: Carbon Capture and Storage with the Global CCS Institute 

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 

The floating storage and regasification unit will supply up to 1,000 mmscf/day of LNG regasification capacity in Egypt, while its predecessor is shipped to Australia.

Höegh Evi Converts Vessel to Floating Storage, Regasification Unit for Egyptian Deployment

Drake Controls has locations in the United States and Mexico, allowing Score to grow its intelligent control platform for turbines, compressors, and more.

Score Acquires Drake Controls, Expands Digital Capabilities for Turbomachinery

Exergy International developed a high-speed axial turbine for waste heat recovery in organic Rankine cycle power plants.

Exergy International: Turbo Expanders for Modular ORC Power Plants

The engines will be part-load optimized in a diesel-electric configuration for improved fuel efficiency.

MAN L21/21 Shipsets Power Construction, Commissioning Vessels for German Operator

The five-year support agreement covers 130 EJ200 aero engines and will be executed at Rolls-Royce’s research, development, and manufacturing headquarters in Bristol.

Rolls-Royce Continues Maintenance, Repair Work for Typhoon EJ200 Engines

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

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of April 28, 2025, covers news from GE Vernova, ExxonMobil, Ansaldo Energia, and Woodside Energy.

GE Vernova Upgrades AGP XPAND, Supplies Gas Turbines to Duke Energy, ExxonMobil Stores CO2, Ansaldo Energia Builds Plant, Woodside Energy Approves LNG Facility

GE Vernova launched an upgrade for its advanced gas path technology, the 

, designed to improve the power output and incremental efficiency of its 9E.03 gas turbine fleet. The first installation will occur at Taurus Energy’s 1,250-MW Bazyan Power Plant in Iraq. GE Vernova also agreed to deliver 11 7HA gas turbines and related equipment to 

 to accelerate the company’s unspecified power projects across six states.

ExxonMobil will transfer and permanently store up to 2 MTPA of CO

 near Houston, TX. From the cogeneration facility, the carbon will be transported through ExxonMobil’s CO

 pipeline system to support oil recovery applications and deliver a continuous supply of low-carbon electricity and steam along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Ansaldo Energia signed a contract to design, develop, and construct a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant at the 

 in eastern Hungary. Once commercial operation starts, the 1,000-MW CCGT power plant will use its two-block construction to generate 7,500 GWh of electricity per year for Hungary’s power grid.

Woodside Energy submitted the final investment decision to develop its $17.5 billion 

, with first LNG scheduled for 2029. The facility will initially feature three LNG liquefaction trains with 16.5 MTPA total capacity. bp will be the Louisiana LNG project’s integrated 

. Louisiana LNG Gas Management will purchase up to 640 Bcf of natural gas from bp, with deliveries starting in 2029.

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

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

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