Turbomachinery & Pump Symposia 2018 Preview

Pump and rotating machinery engineers and technicians will convene in Houston, Texas, Sept. 18–20, for the 47th Turbomachinery and 34th International Pump Users Symposia (TPS) at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The Turbomachinery Lab at Texas A&M University in College Station will host the annual event that offers a forum to connect engineers and technicians in this worldwide industry. TPS is known for its impact on turbomachinery, pump, oil and gas, petrochemical, power, aerospace, chemical and water industries through its technical program and exhibition.

Technical education

The conference’s technical program is hand-selected by advisory committees made up of key industry players and led by highly respected practitioners and leaders in their fields. Topics cover maintenance, reliability, troubleshooting, instruction on emerging designs, technology and best practices that include case studies with real-world relevance on problems solved and lessons learned.

The symposia’s professional continuing education program consists of short courses, case studies, discussion groups, lectures and tutorials. Each area extensively covers turbomachinery and pumps.

Lecture, tutorial and case study topics to be presented include:

The Role of Turbomachinery in the Transition to a Low Carbon Society
Leakage and Force Coefficients for Pump Annular Seals Operating with Air/Oil Mixtures: Measurements vs. Predictions and Air Injection to Increase Seal Dynamic Stiffness
Maximum Efficiency for High Head Process Pumps – Optimizing Side Channel Pumps
Pipe Flow and Interaction with Pumps
Design and Verification Testing of Balance Piston for High-Viscosity Multiphase Pumps
Centrifugal Compressor Evolution — From Stegosaurus to Star Wars
Considerations in Piping Plan 53B Applications
Best Practices for Mechanical Seal Installations

Attendees can take part in discussion groups based on several topics, including:

Advanced Topics in Centrifugal Compressor Design
Dry Gas Seals for Compressors
Turbomachinery Bearings and Annular Seals
Steam Turbine Design, Operation and Maintenance
Centrifugal Pump Operation, Maintenance and Reliability
Improving Mean Time Between Pump Failures
Cryogenic Fluid Pumping Applications

The professional continuing education programs are additional assets of the Turbomachinery Lab.

Exhibition

At the center of TPS is an exhibit hall that hosts leading international companies. TPS 2017 was a record-breaking year with 89 new companies and 359 exhibiting companies. The exhibit hall spanned 216,600 gross square feet and featured full-size equipment, new technology and emerging industry trends from leading turbomachinery and pump companies.

This year, companies and industry experts from across the globe will again demonstrate their full-size equipment and products while sharing insights on current practices and future trends. The exhibit hall also offers many networking opportunities, cultivating a valuable transfer of knowledge that has become the hallmark of TPS.

The proceedings from each TPS are available to the public at no cost six months after the event. This means all of the content from all TPS technical sessions is accessible at no charge online.

According to event organizers, the Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M is proud to host a platform for the exchange of ideas that impact turbomachinery, pump and related industries.