The 2016 TPS exhibit hall
The Turbomachinery and Pump Symposia (TPS; www.tps.tamu.edu) officially begins today (Dec. 12) with a welcome address by Jody Elliott, president of domestic oil and gas at Oxy Oil & Gas. Taking place at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TPS is organized by the Turbomachinery Laboratory, part of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES; College Station, Tex.; www.tees.tamu.edu). TPS consists of a large exhibition hall, short courses, case studies and an extensive technical conference program, which includes lectures, tutorials and discussion panels led by experts from around the globe who specialize in rotating equipment. The Turbomachinery Laboratory hosts this event each year, typically in September. This year, however, the event was postponed to December due to Hurricane Harvey and the recovery efforts occurring in Houston. In partnership with TPS exhibitor New Way Air Bearings, the Turbomachinery Laboratory has set up a donation drive to raise funds for nonprofit organization ShelterBox USA to support emergency shelter efforts in South Texas. The results of this campaign will be announced on Wednesday on the TPS exhibit floor. In addition to TPS, The Turbomachinery Laboratory also presides over a biennial sister event, the Asia Turbomachinery & Pump Symposia, which is taking place March 13–15, 2018 in Singapore.
Several TPS exhibitors will offer interactive product demonstrations
Despite the weather delay, TPS organizers expect a large turnout for the event. There are around 360 exhibiting companies who will showcase a large variety of products and services aimed at users of pumps, compressors and other types of rotating machinery. Several exhibitors will be demonstrating and launching new products and services at TPS this year, including novel technologies for condition monitoring and machine alignment. There are 89 first-time exhibitors slated to participate, a number that TEES says breaks the previous record for new TPS exhibitors. For the first time, TPS is co-located with Insulation Expo USA (IEX), an event dedicated to the insulation of mechanical systems.
Many attendees arrived early to partake in the 15 TPS short courses offered on Monday, Dec. 11. These all-day courses provided detailed information and practical guidance on a variety of topics related to rotating machinery, from mechanical seals to pump cavitation and vibration control. The courses were led by industry experts from a wide range of organizations, amongst which were the following:
- The Hydraulic Institute
- Exxon Mobil Research & Engineering
- Bechtel
- Siemens
- Waukesha Bearings
- Wood Group
- Chemours
This year, the Symposia will host over 20 discussion groups that offer a unique experience for attendees by bringing together wide-ranging perspectives from operating companies, consultants and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Each panel will feature expert speakers who will share experiences, concerns and advice about a specific topic. This afternoon will feature discussion groups focused on centrifugal pumps, vibration monitoring, couplings and alignment, compressor design and more. The varying perspectives brought by the different speakers will give attendees valuable insight.
The conference closes out on Thursday, Dec. 14, with a morning of case study presentations, split into two sessions: the first from 8:30 to 10:00, followed by a second session from 10:30-12:00. Highlighted presentations from Thursday’s case studies include the following: Resolving Structural Vibrations on a Pump, presented by GE; Predictive Diagnostics for Pump Seals, Presented by John Crane Inc.; Benefits of Installing Restrictive Orifice Plates on the Suction of Reciprocating Pumps, presented by Wood Group; and Mitigating Unstable Condensate Process Conditions, presented by Peroni Pumps.