POWER-GEN Asia will gear up in Bangkok

More than 7,500 industry experts and professionals from 70 countries are registered to attend POWER-GEN Asia, the region’s largest conference and exhibition for the power generation, renewable and alternative energy industries. POWER-GEN Asia is scheduled for September 1-3 at the Impact Exhibition & Convention Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

Chromalloy will exhibit a full line of gas turbine engine component repairs, service solutions and OEM manufacturing support. POWER-GEN Asia participants are invited to visit Chromalloy in Booth J2.

The gathering's opening keynote speaker will be Dr. Praipol Koomsup, Vice Minister of Energy, Ministry of Energy, Thailand. On Wednesday, September 2, a joint plenary panel will be moderated by Edward McCartin III, Senior Vice President, Synova LLC, and President, Synova Advanced Power Systems Inc.

POWER-GEN Asia also will offer participants a technical tour prior to the start of the conference and exhibition. On Monday, August 31, those registered can participate in a tour of the Amata B. Grimm Power 1 & 2 Limited gas fired combined cycle cogeneration power plants in the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estates, Chonburi.

POWER-GEN Asia is a gathering for the industry to share information on challenges and solutions for advancing Asia’s energy future. It will be co-located with the Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo Asia and POWER-GEN Asia Financial Forum. The three events comprise Asean Power Week sponsored by Pennwell. More information is available at http://www.aseanpowerweek.com/index.html.

Global technology director will lead coating, repair and process development

Chromalloy has named Neil Kanagaratnam, an industry expert in gas turbine manufacturing and repair, as Director, Global Technology Development. Kanagaratnam will lead developments in new coatings, repairs and manufacturing processes. Prior to his appointment, Kanagaratnam was Engineering Director at Chromalloy’s Bangkok, Thailand, turbine engine center.

He joined Chromalloy in 2012 from Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe where he was Engineering Manager. Previously he worked for the Wood Group, Praxair Surface Technology and earlier held the role of Senior Metallurgist at GE Power Systems. He began his career at Howmet Gas Turbine Casting.

Kanagaratnam holds patents in powder metallurgy and has presented papers on gas turbine manufacturing repair and powder metallurgy. He holds a BTEC National Diploma in electrical and mechanical engineering, a Bachelor of Science degree in metallurgy from Brunel University in the U.K., and a Master of Science degree in welding and adhesive bonding from Brunel University.

Director of master alloy named at Chromalloy Castings

Chromalloy Castings in Tampa, Florida, appointed Michael Grubach, an expert metallurgist and technical leader, as Director of Master Alloy. Grubach, who joined the company in 2013, will lead the new master alloy facility and hold additional responsibilities at the investment foundry.

Earlier Grubach was Senior Metallurgist at Universal Stainless & Alloy Products/North Jackson Specialty Steel LLC. Prior to that he was Process Metallurgist at Universal Stainless & Alloy and earlier held successive roles at Precision Castparts Corporation including Alloy Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Science in metallurgical engineering from The Ohio State University and an MBA from John Carroll University.

Outage conference gets under way this week in San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas, will host the 14th Annual Outage Management for Power Plants conference August 5-7. Sponsored by Marcus Evans events, the conference for plant managers and other power generation industry professionals will present case studies on how to run outages cost effectively and efficiently.

Included in this year’s agenda will be topics on solutions for aging facilities integrating new technologies to optimize costs and gain value. The conference will be co-located with the Chem/Petrochem and Refinery Shutdowns and Turnarounds Conference, which is the leading event for Shutdowns/Turnarounds, Maintenance and Reliability professionals from the chemical, petrochemical and refining industries.  

The conference will be at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio. Information is available at http://www.energycentral.com/events/31181/14th-Annual-Outage-Management-for-Power-Plants.