What is unique about the technology development aspect of this program?
Every design project pays a small royalty to the Gas Machinery Research Council for the use of this technology. The royalty is used to fund an annual research and development program, which addresses new technical challenges in the industry and problems discovered in the field. One of the key features is a continual effort to expand our expertise and evolve our design tools. There have been numerous developments over the course of this program that are considered quite commonplace today and that we, as compressor system designers, often take for granted. As with all technology, however, there is a first time for everything. Some of the fundamental developments were in the area of gas piping acoustics. One of the most prominent developments of the program was the use of the “junction theory,” whereby pressure pulsation filters could be designed without passing higher frequency acoustical energy. Another important discovery was the phenomenon of “unbalanced acoustic forces,” which can ca
