The 49th Turbomachinery & Pump Symposia took place from September 15 to 18 in Houston, Texas. It attracted around 4,500 attendees from 50 countries and achieved highest ever exhibitor space. A total of 216,000 gross square feet and more than 300 exhibiting companies filled the George R. Brown Convention Center to hear the latest in all things turbomachinery.
The event focused on operations and maintenance fundamentals, a refreshing change from other shows that can sometimes devote too much time to hyping up hydrogen, super critical carbon dioxide, and of course artificial intelligence (AI). Proceedings kicked off with a keynote from Nico Schmaeling, Vice President of Product Portfolios and New Energy Solutions Strategy at John Crane. He stressed the need to balance energy security, affordability, and sustainability.
“Affordability and security have become more prominent recently due to geopolitical instability, supply chain bottlenecks, and market volatility,” said Schmaeling.
Such perspective is required if other countries are to avoid situations like the Spain/Portugal grid collapse earlier in 2025 where the 60% of Iberian electricity was gone in seconds.
“The grid needs inertia and that comes from heavy rotating equipment,” said Schmaeling.
The session lineup at the symposium covered a variety of topics. A lively discussion group covered steam turbine design, operation, and maintenance. Experts were on hand from KBR, Mitsubishi Compressor , HPCL – Mittal Energy, FlexElement, and LyondellBasell. They opened the floor to users to ask any questions or request help in resolving difficulties. They asked about how to spot incipient blade fatigue on aging machines during an outage. One user wondered about the value of Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT), a non-destructive inspection technique using ultrasonic testing probes that are pulsed regularly as a beam is electronically swept across an inspection piece. PAUT is based on wave physics principles.
Someone noted that PAUT has value in identifying subsurface flaws, but that it should be followed it up with other inspections to validate findings. A repair engineer added PAUT has more value for blades undergoing high stress and can miss cracks in blade roots operating in a lower stress environment.
The subject of turbine lifespan came up. One user had a machine that had been running for more than 30 years. Another said there were examples of steam turbines running for as much as a century in rare cases. With the industry keeping steam turbines running longer, users were told that blade life is highly dependent on steam conditions, pressure, temperature and the use case. Thus, it is difficult to predict blade life. But even if the turbine itself remains in relatively good shape for several decades, some seals will inevitably need replacing, and early blade rows may need an overhaul. Good maintenance practices that are applied diligently will lengthen steam turbine life.
A speaker from RMS said his company recommends regular inspection and early repair/replacement of damaged steam turbine blades. “Repairing a blade is cheap compared to losing a rotor due to blade damage,” he said.
Another discussion group featured gas turbine operations and maintenance. It was led by speakers from Cheniere, Haught Engineering, and RKSB Energy. One user asked about flange-to-flange replacement of Frame 5 gas turbines for two LNG trains, each with two 7EAs. The experts suggested that flange-to-flange success requires foresight and a design that makes it feasible. Otherwise, an in-situ overhaul is needed.
Other users expressed interest in lifetime extension strategies and upgrades for Frame 5 and 6 gas turbines on offer from the likes of EthosEnergy and Thomassen. The pros and cons were debated. While every component needs to be monitored, the rotor came up as key. Having a spare rotor on hand is a good way to extend the life of turbines.
