Turbo Expo 2024 Kicks off in London

ASME’s Turbo Expo 2024 Turbomachinery Technical Conference & Exposition kicks off today in London, held June 24 – 28 at ExCeL London. The annual turbomachinery event, themed Achievements and Needs to Unlock a Net-Zero Future in Propulsion and Power, invites turbomachinery and propulsion engineering leaders from industry, academia, and government to network, attend technical presentations to advance products, walk the exhibitor floor, and learn from tutorial sessions covering hydrogen and energy storage, alternative fuels, heat transfer, and more.

ASME’s Executive Director and CEO Tom Costabile said the 2024 conference expects 111 exhibiting companies from 22 countries, up from 89 exhibitors at the last Europe-based event in 2022. And nearly 2,500 attendees are registered, surpassing the previous Europe-based event in 2022 by more than 300 registrants.

“ASME's Turbo Expo continues to attract leaders from industry, government agencies, and academia thanks to its strong reputation and program, which includes companies shaping the future of propulsion and power,” Costabile said

This year’s keynote address, Accelerating the Transition in Innovation and Technology Towards a Net-Zero World, on Monday, June 24 invites the industry to pause and reflect on its progress thus far toward achieving the 2050 net-zero goals. Professor Mary Ryan—Vice Provost for Research and Enterprise and the Armourers Imperial College London—will moderate the keynote, with speakers from Siemens Energy, Rolls-Royce, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

On Tuesday, June 25, the plenary panel, Achievements to Date Towards Net-Zero in Propulsion and Power, will focus on net-zero achievements and discuss actual delivery as well as the most disruptive technologies such as electrification, hydrogen, and other solutions. Speakers from AIRBUS, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Zero Petroleum, and the Aerospace Technology Institute will join the panel moderated by Eva Alvarez Regueiro, Senior Energy Analyst at Aurora Energy Research.

ASME's Turbo Expo experience is designed for a global audience each year, attracting attendees from more than 50 different countries regardless of location. But this year, “we’re drawing on the incredible wealth of local and regional turbomachinery expertise for many of our sessions, including speakers from Rolls-Royce, the Aerospace Technology Institute, and Imperial College London,” Costabile said.

New at this year’s show are opportunities for students and early-career engineers. “In 2024, our organizing committee invested in more opportunities for [these folks], and the key student networking event is on track to grow five-fold since the last Europe-based event held in 2022," he said.

Technical Sessions

Turbomachinery International will feature exclusive interviews with moderators and panelists from this year’s technical sessions.

Our coverage will include insights from the panel session, The Gas Turbine’s Role in the Decarbonized Power Generation Portfolio, held Tuesday, June 24. This moderated panel session will focus on the critical technology development challenges associated with bringing the versatility, flexibility, and reliability of the gas turbine to the clean energy transition with a discussion on:

• how the introduction of a decarbonized fuel—such as hydrogen or ammonia, and/or carbon capture and sequestration—could transform the utilization of both existing installed and new gas turbine power generation power plants;
• global and regional market dynamics; and
• the challenges and opportunities of the required supportive “molecule movement” infrastructure regulatory guidelines.

Panelists include representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy, Power Systems Manufacturing (PSM) - a Hanwha Company, Siemens Energy, Mitsubishi Power, GE Vernova, and Solar Turbines.

We’ll also report on the panel session, Turbomachinery Solutions for Decentralized Energy Systems: Addressing Clean, Dispatchable, and Affordable Energy, held on Wednesday, June 26. The panel will address how the shift toward renewable energy sources to combat climate change is transforming the energy sector, aiming to bridge the gap between current energy practices and ambitious climate targets.

• The role of gas turbines and turbomachinery solutions in decentralized energy systems
• How market requirements are affecting operating conditions
• Technological gaps and advancements

Stay tuned for more!