Standard or Custom

Standardization has been a long-term goal for many turbomachinery manufacturers. By developing standard machines and modules, it is possible to achieve economies of scale. But not all centrifugal compressor manufacturers subscribe to the standardization mantra. Some seek to achieve it but run into some pushback from users. Others focus mainly on custom compressors due to the very specific nature of the processes they serve.

The custom versus standard debate is the subject of our cover story. In addition, we asked centrifugal compressor manufacturers to detail the trends they observe and the equipment they are developing in response to these trends.

Further stories include a best practices piece on condition monitoring, an article on subsea compression, a discussion on blade cooling hole design improvements, a feature on the potential for further innovation in steam turbines, and a show report from the Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium.

As usual, the show brought together the main players from the turbomachinery marketplace. Among the many topics being reviewed were rotor balancing, gas turbine packaging  and an overview of the oil and gas marketplace. Meanwhile, our columnists delve into commissioning and surge control valves.

You may also noticed that our news and product pages are larger than usual. Late in the year seems to be a popular time to unleash new products and services. Therefore, these pages shine the spotlight on a brand new 3D printing center from Siemens, a new MHPS turbine model, several more acquisitions, some market reports and a large collection of additional products and news items. While we try to condense these section so you can glean the main facts, there was just too much ground to cover in this issue.

As the holidays approach, here’s wishing you a productive and happy end to 2016.