TPS
Aramco engineers showcase real-world solutions at Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium
Global Today
Aramcon engineers at the Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium in Houston.
Career Trailblazers
From polymer seals to real-time monitoring, Aramco engineers have highlighted practical ways to make long-running equipment more efficient and reliable.
Aramco Americas engineers have shared field-tested insights through technical papers at the Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium (TPS) in Houston recently.
The symposium brings together peer-reviewed case studies focused on reliability, maintenance, and emerging technologies. The work reflects Aramco’s focus on turning operational experience into knowledge that benefits the wider rotating equipment community.
Small components can have a big impact. Take rotating equipment, which sits at the heart of the oil and gas industry, powering the pumps, compressors, and turbines that move energy from reservoir to refinery. When this equipment performs efficiently and reliably, operations run smoothly. When it doesn’t, the impact can ripple across production, energy use, and maintenance costs.
Against this backdrop, Aramco Americas’ Technical Services Department (TSD) played an active role at TPS, working alongside colleagues from Saudi Aramco to present a number of technical papers on rotating equipment, sharing practical insights from years of field experience. Their participation underscores Aramco’s commitment to advancing energy efficiency and reliability through long-term data, engineering experience, and collaboration.
Two papers in particular, “Upgrading NGL Centrifugal Compressors with Polymer Seals at Abqaiq Plants” and “High Energy Pumps Efficiency Monitoring System” were developed through close collaboration with Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq Plants, one of the world’s largest crude oil stabilization facilities. Andres Gonzalez, engineering specialist at Aramco Americas, previously worked in Abqaiq on critical asset upgrades, and found an opportunity with the 2025 symposium to present to a wider forum.
“TPS is where the global rotating equipment community comes together, industry, academia, and manufacturers, to exchange ideas and strengthen the entire sector,” said Gonzalez. “It’s an important platform for sharing what works in real conditions.”
Upgrading NGL centrifugal compressors with polymer seals
This paper, presented by mechanical engineers Gonzalez, Brian Binoy, and Douglas Reimy shared more than a decade of operational experience upgrading metallic labyrinth seals to advanced polymer seals in NGL centrifugal compressors at Abqaiq Plants.
Originally designed in the 1970s with metallic seals, legacy compressors face efficiency losses and higher maintenance demands. Through a carefully phased upgrade program, Aramco replaced metallic seals with high-performance thermoplastics, enabling tighter clearances, reduced internal leakage, and improved energy efficiency.
Why it matters: Backed by over 10 years of data, the study demonstrated efficiency improvements up to 9%, reduced wear, and lower maintenance impact, contributing to reduced energy consumption. The work highlights Aramco’s proactive approach to modernizing critical assets and using new materials to deliver real, practical improvements to facilities already in operation.
“Aramco takes a forward-looking approach to its equipment and operations. Instead of operating older assets throughout their full 40-to-50-year lifespan, we proactively integrate new materials and technologies as part of our standard way of working,” explained Binoy of Aramco Americas. High energy pumps efficiency monitoring system
Operating pumps outside their Preferred Operating Region (POR) is a leading cause of premature failures, vibration issues, and energy losses. A second paper, presented by mechanical engineers Gonzalez and Turki Alraddadi, showcased a monitoring system developed at Abqaiq that provides real-time performance data on critical equipment resulting in a substantial improvement of Mean Time Between Failure.
The system monitors flow, pressure, and efficiency across more than 80 high-energy pumps, linking directly to the plant control network. A simple color-coded display provides operators with real-time alerts when a pump nears a risk threshold, enabling proactive action before damage occurs.
Why it matters: Over three years, the system helped pumps stay closer to their most efficient operating point, reduced failures caused by low flow, and cut maintenance costs. By turning complex performance data into easy-to-understand alerts, it can improve reliability, extend equipment life, and make large-scale operations more energy-efficient.
Strengthening technical leadership through knowledge exchange
Now in its 49th year, TPS is the world’s largest conference dedicated to rotating equipment, bringing together engineers, manufacturers, researchers, and end users. Organized by the Turbomachinery Laboratory within the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, TPS features peer-reviewed real-world case studies and sessions on reliability, maintenance, and emerging technologies.
Held in Houston, the conference featured a vast exhibit hall, with more than 5,000 participants and over 300 international companies showcasing full-scale equipment and future-focused solutions, a setting well aligned with Aramco’s data-driven approach to engineering improvement.
Conversations and collaborations
For Binoy and Gonzalez, the projects go beyond any individual technologies. They demonstrate how long-term data, collaboration, and close vendor engagement can translate complex engineering challenges into practical, repeatable solutions.
“Our contributions were grounded in experience, and reflect an Aramco goal: Transforming years of operational experience into knowledge that benefits the wider rotating equipment community,” says Gonzalez. “That depth of data is what allows meaningful comparisons and informed conclusions.”
As a case in point, their presence at TPS has opened doors for future collaborations. Discussions following the polymer seal presentation prompted interest from turbomachinery original equipment manufacturer and universities in a potential follow-up study examining seal performance across varying gas compositions, a critical factor in processing facilities where conditions can change frequently.
“These conversations are exactly why TPS matters,” Gonzalez added. “They create opportunities to extend proven solutions, test them under new conditions, and continue improving how critical equipment performs in the field.”
Papers that connect people, ideas, performance
The presentations captured what Aramco does best: Connect people and ideas, strengthen partnerships, and keep vital equipment, and the energy that drives our world, moving. Aramco Americas continues to serve as a bridge between North American innovation and global operations, ensuring Aramco remains at the forefront of reliability and energy efficiency.
Additional papers presented by Aramco professionals included:
- High Energy Pumps Efficiency Monitoring System by Turki Alraddadi and Andres Gonzalez
- Upgrading NGL Centrifugal Compressors with Polymer Seals at Abqaiq Plants by Douglas Reimy, Andres Gonzalez, and Brian Binoy
- Failures on a Multi-Stage (Balance Line Free) Pump on Light Hydrocarbon Service by Rehan Farooqi, Saud Almaduh, Ahmad Amer, and Abdul Mohsin Buluwi
- Hot Pumps Failure Modes on Crude Bottoms Refinery Application by Rehan Farooqi, Mohammed Asiri, Yasser Alshahrani, Mohammed Badughaish, and Sercan Ozeran
- Predicting Crude Unit Failures and Production Impact Using Lagging Maintenance Indicators in Oil Refineries by Sadiq Mogargesh
- Mechanical Seals with Diamond Seal Face Material Successfully Used in NGL Pumps by Hussain A. Alashoor, Abdulah Turiki, Nikolaus Necker (EagleBurgmann), and Niji Thomas (EagleBurgmann)
