Turbomachinery International: May/June 2024

Turbomachinery International’s May/June 2024 includes a collection of the industry’s latest news and products, show coverage from CERAWeek and WTUI, and several feature articles focusing on carbon emissions.

The cover story, Carbon Capture and Storage is on the Rise, tracks the growth of carbon capture and storage facilities (CCS)—both in development and in the pipeline—on a global scale. The authors highlight countries leading the way for carbon-capture development, a rise in networks and hubs, and a spotlight on project financing and investment in developing economies that are needed to advance CCS deployment through 2030 and beyond.

The tour of GE Vernova’s Gas Turbine Manufacturing Facility in Greenville, SC led the team through numerous innovative spaces, including the manufacturing shop floor, Test Stand 7, a gas turbine outage simulator, and the combustion testing lab and control center. Gas turbine development, testing, and assembly are united by a single “lean” methodology to eliminate waste across the board—now a primary focus of GE Vernova as a standalone company.

A companion piece to our cover story, Curbing CO₂: Technological Efforts to Reduce Carbon Emissions, outlines a series of modified processes and technologies to reduce carbon emissions. Dry gas seal upgrades from John Crane, a heat pump installation from MTU Maintenance Hannover, and Siemens Energy’s Predictive Emissions Monitoring System are examples of various ways to approach CO₂ reduction and overall decarbonization.

For this issue’s Q&A, James Nyenhuis, Performance Consultant at Emerson’s Power and Water Solutions Business, speaks about how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will become an inherent part of the current digital ecosystem. Further, digital tools can extend a turbomachine’s life, increase plant safety, and optimize operational efficiency. The aggregation and interpretation of larger power plant data sets is the next step for Emerson’s AI and ML.

Drew Robb traveled to Palm Springs, CA for the annual Western Turbine Users Inc. (WTUI) conference, which offered breakout sessions on maintenance and repair for GE Vernova’s LM-series gas turbines. The technical tracks covered the basics of heat recovery steam generator maintenance, dry low emissions controls, excitation controls, and more for each model in the LM portfolio.

S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in Houston addressed multiple factors impacting the energy transition: markets, climate, technology, and geopolitics. In addition to the DOE’s LNG permitting pause, the effect of AI data centers on the power grid became an unexpected discussion. These centers demanded significant (and unplanned) electricity from the network, putting utilities in a scramble for additional generation.

Our Turbo Tips column details how root-cause analysis (RCA) plays an important role in the reliability, maintenance, operation, and performance of a turbomachine. RCA can identify the core reasons behind faults and failures, allowing operators to establish corrective actions to prevent issues from reoccurring.

And Myth Busters Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz explain the purpose of turbomachinery coatings and outline forces that may cause them to fail. The duo clarifies that despite a coating’s protective qualities, it will deteriorate over time with exposure to mechanical surface wear, pitting, thermal and chemical blistering, and more.

Click here to view the May/June 2024 issue.