Live Turbomachinery Symposium Held in Texas
Scores of technical sessions took place during the three-day conference.
The fiftieth annual Turbo Symposium took place in mid-December 2021 in Houston Texas. Attendees were thrilled to be face to face with their peers once again. For most, it had been two years since their last show. Just about everyone commented that being at a live show highlighted how unsatisfactory virtual events are in comparison.
The welcome address kicked off the show. Eric Petersen, Director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M University, updated the audience on what had been happening over the past two years, the activities of the Turbomachinery Lab, the Industrial Advisory Committee for the Symposium, and the programs of the Turbomachinery Research Consortium (TRC).
Following the keynote, scores of technical sessions took place over the next three days. These included sessions on:
- Supercritical CO2 power cycles by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
- Overviews of main air blowers and the various types of compressors used in the oil and gas industry by Elliott Group
- Summaries of the latest research, testing, and developments in turbomachinery from experts across the industry.
As expected, attendance at the show was a little down. With oversees visitors at a minimum due to various travel restrictions, and some companies within the U.S. forbidding travel, that was to be expected. Despite that, the event attendance was only 30% down compared to 2019.
The exhibit floor suffered a similar drop. However, most vendors were satisfied by the event. Several said they had about half the booth visitors but got as many leads and inquiries as they experienced two years ago. One person said, “half the visitors, and four times the interest.”
Clearly, live events are a needed and wanted commodity in the industry. The Turbomachinery Lab has two events scheduled for 2022. The Asia Turbomachinery and Pump Symposium in Malaysia in May and the main Turbomachinery and Pump Symposium in Houston, Texas, which returns to its normal September schedule.
For more information, visit https://tps.tamu.edu/
