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Podcasts

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 

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 Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M researches compressors, turbines, and pumps, fostering collaboration between academia and industry.

Texas A&M’s Turbo Lab: Student-First Research with Industry-Wide Goals

John Bartos of Rotating Machinery Services says South Houston’s BJ Superior contributes its in-house inspection, manufacturing, and refurbishment capabilities.

RMS on BJ Superior Acquisition: Synergies in Manufacturing

“Build Baby Build” has brought about the remake of the energy transition to the energy addition.   

CERAWeek 2025 by S&P Global—‘Build Baby Build’

The March/April issue focuses on maintenance and repair and how data and AI are impacting the field and highlights our latest Turbo Tour.

Turbomachinery International: March/April 2025

Most transient surge analysis software relies on significant assumptions about one- versus three-dimensional effects and presumes steady-state compressor maps.

Myth: Compressor Transient Surge Analysis is Really Accurate

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

The Turbomachinery News Network, for the week of March 17, 2025, covers news from Chart Industries, Cheniere Energy, the U.S. Department of Energy, Rolls-Royce, and Baker Hughes.

Chart Delivers Equipment, Cheniere Completes Train 1, DOE Funds Nuclear, Rolls-Royce Powers Sea Vessels, Baker Hughes Designs Piping

Blue Spruce Operating recently selected Chart Industries

 to supply the nitrogen rejection unit (NRU), helium process technology, and related equipment for its Dry Piney Helium and Carbon Sequestration Project in Sublette County, WY. The company also completed the front-end engineering and design for both the NRU and helium plant. The project will produce bulk liquid helium and natural gas.

Cheniere Energy, in cooperation with Bechtel Energy, substantially completed and commissioned Train 1 at the 

Corpus Christi Stage 3 Liquefaction Project

 (CCL Stage 3), obtaining care, custody, and control for the completed asset. CCL Stage 3 consists of seven midscale liquefaction trains, with an expected total production capacity of over 10 million tons per annum of LNG. Once substantial completion is finished for all seven trains, the facility’s projected total production capacity will be over 25 MTPA of LNG.

The Department of Energy granted a second loan disbursement to Holtec for the 

. Once online, the Palisades reactor will generate 800 MW of low-cost, reliable baseload power for Michigan residents. The Palisades project is expected to support or retain up to 600 high-quality jobs in Michigan, representing America’s first restart of a commercial nuclear reactor that previously ceased operations.

German Customs Administration selected Rolls-Royce

 to supply 15 mtu 16V4000 gas engines for four newbuild customs vessels, satisfying a modernization, propulsion, and on-board power program for maritime transport in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Rolls-Royce also signed a long-term service agreement for 11 fleet vessels, ensuring reliable operation for its mtu engines.

 established a collaborative technology program to develop and test next-generation flexible pipe systems to address stress corrosion cracking due to CO

. The pre-commercial agreement will be executed at Baker Hughes’ Energy Technology Innovation Center and local flexible pipe systems manufacturing plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Greg Gammon, Director of Global and Corporate Partnerships at Texas A&M’s Engineering Experiment Station, gave us a detailed and historical account of College Station’s Turbomachinery Laboratory and its associated programs during our tour in mid-February.

Gammon addressed the Lab’s extensive industry partnerships and research consortia, as well as the role of symposia and short-course programs in shaping students’ and professionals’ education.

Greg Gammon of Texas A&M says that partnerships across hydraulics, vibration, power, and propulsion allow for direct industry engagement.

Texas A&M’s Turbo Lab Broadens Education with Industry Partnerships, Symposiums

TURBO: What external relationships/partnerships does the lab have with the industry?

The laboratory has numerous external industry partners through our sponsored research, which also includes government entities. We run two research consortia, including the Turbomachinery Research Consortia, which has industry and government partners. We’re also establishing the Energy and Propulsion Research Consortia. That’s on our research side.

On the workforce development side, we have the Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium (TPS), which brings together all major players and support companies in rotating equipment to Houston every year. We have Asia TPS (ATPS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—another set of industry partners.

We also have partnership agreements with the Global Power and Propulsion Society, the Hydraulic Institute, and the Vibration Institute so that we have a holistic ability to engage with industry through those avenues.

TURBO: How do the symposia and short-course programs translate into the real world?

We always say that our principal product at the Turbomachinery Lab is educating students. Not only the master’s and PhD students here at the laboratory, but everyone is a lifelong student, and continuing education is extremely important. Coming to TPS in Houston, ATPS in Kuala Lumpur, or the various multi-day short courses allows people to continue their education path and improve their knowledge across various avenues and topics.

, featuring a tour of Texas A&M’s Turbomachinery Laboratory.

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

Dr. Adolfo Delgado, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University’s Turbomachinery Laboratory, guided the 

 team through the lab, located in College Station, Texas, during our visit last month.

During our tour, he spoke about the latest research being conducted on rotating equipment systems and components and relevant trends and changes. According to Delgado, the industry’s most prevalent trend is transitioning toward high-power density machines, which the Lab’s component-level testing addresses.

Adolfo Delgado of Texas A&M’s Turbomachinery Laboratory says component-level testing and development have significant impacts on the industry as a whole.

Texas A&M’s Dr. Delgado Talks Component-Level Testing, Power Density Trends

TURBO: What improvements or research have been applied to rotating equipment, rotor dynamics, pumps, etc., at the Turbo Lab?

There are a number of developments and improvements that have been made over the years. We constantly work with our sponsors to understand the industry’s needs and how we can help improve their equipment. In terms of what we do here, we’ve mainly worked with components and have improved bearings, seals, and dampers. These are components that go directly into the machines and have a significant impact on the industry.

TURBO: What trends are you seeing in the rotating equipment space?

A constant trend that we’re seeing in the industry is increasing power density, and everything we do in terms of improving machinery is toward that goal. We work at a component and system level to find ways to improve power density. Another trend we’re seeing is high-power density CO

 for power generation, and it’s pushing the need for high-power density machines.

TURBO: What changes have you seen in rotating equipment in the past 3 – 5 years?

The main change we’re seeing in the rotating equipment field goes, again, toward having machines that can increase their power output while maintaining the size or shrinking the machine and maintaining the same power output. These initiatives require new mechanical components that are able to withstand high velocities or high speeds, as well as high forces. We may have to revisit some of these mechanical components.

 spoke with Bert Warner, Director of Commercial Business Development at the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), and Jim Crouse, the President and CEO of Capstone Engineered Solutions. The duo discussed the apprehension surrounding further propane integration, trends and growth opportunities, and where PERC sees the energy source in 10 years.

TURBO: What are the current roadblocks to widespread propane integration in the power generation industry?

A challenge is that it’s still seen as a fossil fuel, which can be seen as a polarizing thing. As we traverse the future, we need diversity when it comes to our energy sources. We need electric, natural gas, hydrogen, propane to face the challenges we have. I think it gives propane an opportunity due to the green aspects, economic viability, and its additional benefits. It’s a first-choice energy as opposed to a solutions-based energy.

There are more perceived roadblocks than actual roadblocks. We find that customers tend to do what they’ve done last time. They have to be educated and receive the information needed to make a different decision. Working with PERC, we can help educate customers about other options in the marketplace.

TURBO: What are the latest trends in propane power generation technologies?

There are three areas that are growth opportunities: portable power generation, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and combined heat-and-power (CHP). These are the segments with significant need and demand, and companies like 2G and Claris are putting together portable propane-fired charger. It encompasses both a CHP unit and the propane side of it, so a few different systems are working together to provide a portable system that’s really unmatched.

Bert Warner of the Propane Education & Research Council identifies three growth opportunities for propane: portable power generation, EV charging, and combined heat-and-power.

Propane Supports the Needs of Current, Future Energy Transition

Conference Coverage

In our final video from PowerGen 2025 with Jeffrey Benoit, Vice President of Clean Energy Solutions at PSM - a Hanwha company, and Bobby Noble, Senior Program Manager, Gas Turbine R&D – EPRI, the duo talks about the future of and what a decarbonized electric grid may look like, how OEMs are answering the call to create more power to satisfy demand coming from data centers, and availability versus sustainability.

Bobby Noble of EPRI says gas turbines are “well sought after” thanks to data center power demands and shifts in the energy portfolio mix. 

A Decarbonized Electric Grid is a Mix of Gas Turbines, Low-Carbon Fuels, Renewables

TURBO: In 10 years, what may the decarbonized electric grid look like?

 Ten years from now seems like a long time, but it's really not. Many projects take five to 10 years to develop and actually come full circle. It's one of those deals where, 10 years from now, we really need to start today. We're seeing capabilities being extended for utilizing low-carbon fuels, and we are starting to see some of these examples. When we think about the mix and what the future looks like, we have to think about gas turbines, low-carbon fuels, and carbon capture. Still, we also need to think about how renewables will continue to grow—wind and solar— and energy storage options and how those play into the mix. Lastly, nuclear, advanced nuclear, and small modular reactors —all these advancements that we need to be working on and focusing on today must be part of that mix in the future.

Gas turbines are playing an even more crucial role in ensuring the reliability and flexibility of our power-production landscape and portfolio in the United States. When we look at decarbonization on an overall basis, tremendous quantities of renewables are being put in place that can destabilize the grid. And gas turbines can provide that underpinning of reliability. Battery storage will also be very important in handling the microvoltage variations in various parts of the grid. Hydrogen for power production will be enabled mostly by the oil and gas industry. Here we are in Dallas, but right here in Texas, there are tremendous investments by the oil and gas industries and by those moving hydrocarbons, ammonia, and natural gas around. This is where I believe the genesis of the decarbonized power for gas turbines is going to happen.

Check out our first two videos with Jeff and Bobby! 

Gas Turbines are Centerstage in the Energy Future 

Gas Turbines Evolving to Reduce Technical Barriers, But Go-to-Market Challenges Remain

Jim Crouse, President and CEO of Capstone Engineered Solutions, and Bert Warner, Director of Commercial Business Development at the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), shared at POWERGEN 2025 the advantages and specifics of propane-powered machinery, its availability via widespread transportation infrastructures, and how it compares to alternative/traditional fuels.

TURBO: What advantages do propane-powered turbomachines have over traditional, natural gas-fired power generation?

Propane is a great fuel because of its ease-of-storage, portability, and ease to refill. We’d see it as a replacement for diesel, where we could include a propane storage and supply system with a turbine or engine. This makes it easy for customers to deploy and use the technology, almost as easy or as easy as using or renting a diesel generator set.

TURBO: Are there examples of large-scale propane-fired options that use turbomachinery? If so, what are they and how do they work?

We’ve done several large-scale multi-MW projects in places like Fiji with Fiji Water. In the Caribbean, there’s a number of propane liquefied petroleum gas-fired combined heat-and-power systems. We also have smaller systems in the hundreds of kW’s—these are readily available as well.

TURBO: On the supply side, how does propane’s availability and transportation infrastructure compare to natural gas, ammonia, or hydrogen?

Propane’s flexibility is that you can have it delivered wherever you want. You aren’t beholden to where the existing lines are, and you can create your own pathway for deliver. It’s overly abundant and we’ve got more of it than we could ever use. The fact that we can take it and transport it anywhere gives propane a great advantage.

Bert Warner of PERC and Jim Crouse of Capstone discuss propane’s greatest benefits: ease of deployment and transportation infrastructure.

Propane Advantages: Availability, Portability, and Flexibility

Jeffrey Benoit, Vice President of Clean Energy Solutions at PSM - a Hanwha company, and Bobby Noble, Senior Program Manager, Gas Turbine R&D – EPRI, spoke to

at PowerGen 2025 in downtown Dallas. The duo discussed roadblocks with lower-carbon fuel supply, how technology is not standing in the way of advancing gas turbines in the new energy era, and, as Noble said, “Carbon capture is just another tool in our toolbox” of developing a cleaner energy landscape.

Jeffrey Benoit of PSM says there are no big technical barriers, “it’s a matter of getting these technologies into products and commercially operated gas turbines.”

Gas Turbines Don’t Suffer from Technical Roadblocks, Just To Market 

TURBO: Are there any policy- or technology-related roadblocks for gas turbines during the clean energy transition?

 When we think about roadblocks, there are technical aspects and certain limitations for as-found gas turbines. But then, of course, there's the entire supply chain for the hydrogen. Where is hydrogen or ammonia or other low-carbon/no-carbon fuel coming from? Those are challenges that are being addressed by other parts of the industry. As we focus on the gas turbine itself, it's really just the continual development of capabilities.

 One of the great things that we're focused on is we, from a technology standpoint, don't see any significant barriers. It is simply a just a matter of putting the pedal to the metal and getting these technologies into products, validated, not only in 10th full-pressure, full-condition test rigs but also into gas turbines that are operating in a commercial environment and finding that partner with an operator—that is part of the DNA of PSM. A lot of our capabilities and products have been done with these true innovators looking to put first-of-a-kind types of technology. So, when it comes to fuel flexibility and optionality, this is an area we are very focused on. It's just a matter of focusing on it and getting it done. We know the hydrogen economy; the ammonia economy is coming; we want to be right there and make it as seamless as possible for the end users, particularly those in power, to take advantage of this.

TURBO: How does carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) fit into this developing energy landscape?

 Carbon capture is another tool in our toolbox. So, when we think about options, this is yet another option. As Jeff and some of our other panelists pointed out this morning, as we're looking at 

the role of the gas turbine in the future

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