COVERING PLENTY OF GROUND

The latest issue covers a whole lot of ground. Our cover story consists of what some of the leading lights of the controls market consider to be the major trends impacting the turbomachinery sector. They noted performance considerations, cloud computing, turbomachinery controllers versus those aimed at the whole plant, digitization and the need for integration as being among the top trends.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to diverse content. When Turbomachinery International began in 1959, it was the sole organ devoted to the application of the emerging technology of gas turbines (GTs). As well as power generation and pipeline compression, early issues where filled with stories about how GTs could be employed by ships, airplanes and countless other uses. So successful was the magazine in its promotional efforts that the gas turbine now dominates in many sectors. As a result, entire magazines have evolved covering the GT in aviation and in the marine sector. So we decided it was about time we provided an update on marine turbomachinery. Forecast International provided a fine overview, focusing on naval and war vessel propulsion.

In addition, we have material on how to arrange piping systems, what to consider when switching from reciprocating to centrifugal compressors for pipeline duty, best practices in turbomachinery purchasing, dual-drive compression, an overview of the natural gas market, torque sensors, compressor surge and a Q & A page from Kobelco about its entry into the large-scale centrifugal compressor space.

Finally, there is a short feature on cybersecurity. As more and more software is introduced into the turbomachinery field, as trends such as digitization and Big Data take hold, and as concepts such as the smart grid bring about larger spheres of interconnection, the threat of cyberattacks looms ever larger. Utilities in the Ukraine recently experienced sabotage that resulted in blackouts. Within the U.S., Exelon reports that it has had to deal with plenty of attempted incursions into its critical infrastructure systems. Fortunately, it has a large cybersecurity team on hand to deal with these situations. Looking ahead, cybersecurity is going to play a vital role in staying in control of turbomachinery assets.

So those are some of the highlights of the issue. Enjoy