After a pause of 2 years, the go-to meeting for energy system research and development, returned in person.

2,000-plus turbomachinery and propulsion engineering leaders from industry, academia, and government met at Turbo Expo in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 13-17, 2022. This year’s theme was “Road Mapping the Future of Propulsion & Power.” The program showcased the latest research and built international collaboration for the successful implementation of carbon-neutral turbomachinery solutions.

Highlights:

  • 65% Combined Cycle efficiency target is now clearly set as the next commercial goal.
  • Supercritical CO2 pilot plants being built now at the 10MW+ scale.
  • EPRI and NETL surveyed members and amongst their technology and service gaps were included:
    • Compressor instrumentation for protection and efficiency
    • Improved combustion system instrumentation for reliability and protection
    • Need better turbomachinery temperature sensing systems and capabilities
    • Data drives next steps in machine protection and performance.
  • KLM airline wants a path to zero that includes liquid hydrogen and leads onto use of synthetic fuel. Commented that an A380 with a battery electric energy store would swap 280tonned of Jet A1 for 14,000 tonnes of batteries – perhaps this route not a goer.
  • GE commented that a 1GW CCGT fired base load on hydrogen would have to be linked to 6-10GW of renewables eg wind turbines. That puts a sense of scale to the challenges

The overall energy system market is investing fast and the other theme was developing talent to draw it into the industry which is in a growth phase as it steps up to mee the global challenges of fuel switching, emissions reduction, and transition to a zero carbon emissions goal by 2050.