Turbomachinery International: Handbook 2024

Turbomachinery International’s 2024 Handbook features a collection of the latest news and products from the turbomachinery industry, a series of articles discussing topics such as compressors for carbon capture, transient faults in lube oil systems as well as forecasts for the U.S. power industry and the global gas turbine market. In addition to providing technical insights and educated forecasts, our 2024 Handbook includes our annual company directory and equipment specifications from leaders in the turbomachinery industry, including combined cycle, electrical generation, turbocompressors, steam turbines, turboexpanders, and mechanical drives.

Amin Almasi establishes a series of notes regarding lube oil systems in his Turbo Tips column, How Transient Faults Affect Turbomachinery Lube Oil Systems. The column conducts an in-depth discussion regarding the steps an operator should take when faced with temporary faults, such as starting up the standby oil pump and maintaining pressure through a series of oil accumulators. Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz’s Myth Busters column, Reciprocating vs. Centrifugal Compressors for Carbon Capture and Sequestration, tackles the age-old debate of reciprocating versus centrifugal compressors but in the context of the new energy economy. In part one of this two-part column, Brun and Kurz focus primarily on applications and design— in terms of alternative energy sources, the primary gases of concern are green or blue hydrogen and CO₂ for carbon sequestration.

Britt Burt and Brock Ramey provided their annual forecast: U.S. Power Industry Outlook 2024. The authors cite a constant political push and pull as one of the obstacles to new-build renewable energy projects. “Our power plant database continues to show a high dynamism for planned renewable generation: Each day, new projects are added to our database while others are deferred or canceled. In our experience, as much as half of all planned renewable generation projects eventually are canceled or placed on hold—nearly double the rate for proposed gas-fired generation,” Burt and Brock said. “No matter how the future unfolds, this is what we know today: Renewables are expected to account for approximately 94% of all planned new-build generation projects in the United States over the next five years.”

The duo further breaks down each sector of the power industry—from coal and natural gas to renewables, nuclear, and microgrids—and offers insights into energy storage and industrial energy production.

Carter Palmer offers our readers his annual Worldwide Gas Turbine Forecast. Forecast International forecasts the lion’s share of gas turbines sold over the next 10 years will be turbines in the 250-500 MW range for power generation. Palmer said with sales recovering post-COVID, gas turbines’ 10-year forecast should experience minimal growth in terms of unit production and remain largely flat barring any unforeseen circumstances. Companies such as Siemens Energy, GE Gas Power, Mitsubishi Power, and Ansaldo Energia are forecasted as the top four turbine manufacturers over the next 10 years. Click here to view the issue.