Co-Founder & Director at EZT Forensics Inc., USA
Bernhard Persigehl is a mechanical engineering and turbomachinery expert. He is co-founder and Director of EZT Forensics Inc. in the United States and serves as Managing Partner of the Expert Centre for Technology (EZT) in Germany. In both organizations, he contributes as a forensic engineering expert specializing in failure analysis of rotating machinery and power generation equipment.
He began his career at IABG mbH, focusing on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, followed by a five-year research tenure at the Institute for Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery at RWTH Aachen University. There, his doctoral work contributed to the development of turbomachinery for CO₂-free lignite-fired power plants. In 2012, he joined the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT) as a turbomachinery expert, conducting complex investigations involving gas turbines, diesel engines, steam turbines, compressors, and pumps.
Following AZT’s closure in late 2021, Bernhard co-founded the Expert Centre for Technology in Germany to continue its technical consulting legacy. In 2025, he co-founded EZT Forensics Inc. in the United States to make this expertise available to clients in the U.S. market. His work combines operational data analysis, metallurgical examination, and design assessment to support insurers, plant operators, and OEMs in high-stakes industrial environments.
Bernhard holds a Dipl.-Ing. (equivalent to M.Sc.) in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich, a postgraduate qualification in Nuclear Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University.
Selected Publications
(All titles translated from German)
Turbomachinery & Power Generation
- 2020 – Possibilities and Limitations of Early Fault Detection in Gas Turbines; ASME Turbo Expo, GT2020-16251
- 2016 – Thermal Damage of Fresh Air Fans under Cold Flue Gas Discharge; VGB PowerTech, Issue 11
- 2016 – Actual Damages at Compressors – Failure Mechanisms and their Root Causes; 3rd International Rotating Equipment Conference (IREC), Düsseldorf
- 2015 – Recent Journal Bearing Damages – Mechanisms and Root Causes; 11th VDI Symposium on Bearings, Schweinfurt
- 2012 – Exergetic Optimization of Simple Gas Turbine Processes via Inverse Brayton Cycle; Energy Technology Reports, Shaker Verlag
- 2011 – Analysis of a Gearless Medium-Voltage Variable Speed Gas Turbine; VGB PowerTech, Vol. 91 (Awarded Heinrich-Mandel Prize 2010)
- 2011 – Oxyfuel Coal Combustion via Oxygen Transport Membrane Integration; International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 5, No. 1
- 2011 – Analysis of a Standard Turbocharger Application in Chemical Process Engineering; 9th European Turbomachinery Conference, Istanbul
- 2009 – The OXYCOAL-AC Process: Component Behavior and Thermodynamic Efficiency; 3rd International Freiberg Conference on IGCC & XtL Technologies, Dresden
- 2008 – Implementation of Gas Turbine Components in a CO₂-Free Brown Coal Power Plant; IGTC08, Brussels
- 2008 & 2011 – Development of a CO₂-Emission-Free Coal Combustion Process for Power Generation; Final Reports OXYCOAL-AC Phases 1 & 2; Technical Information Library, Germany
Selected Presentations
(All titles translated from German)
2025 (Planned)
- Damage Experience with Lubricant Systems in Gas Turbines; VGBE Conference “Gas Turbines and Operations”, Wesel
- Lessons Learned for Lubricant Systems in Gas Turbines; OilDoc Conference & Exhibition, Rosenheim
- Failure Analysis of a Broken Connecting Rod in a Large Gas Engine; GWP Materials Symposium, Munich
2024
- Fire Damage to a Critical Diesel Engine in an Isolated Grid System; 50th VDI Annual Conference on Damage Analysis in Energy Technology, Würzburg
2018-2023
- Broken Connecting Rod in a Large Gas Engine; VDI Expert Group Lecture, 2023
- Use of a 3D Scanner in Root Cause Analysis of a Gas Engine Failure; VDI Annual Conference, Würzburg, 2022
- Insurance Perspective on Power Plant Failures; TU Dresden Guest Lecture, recurring 2021–2024
- Damage Experiences in Solar Thermal Power Plants; VGB Workshop, Dresden, 2019
- Limits of Predictive Maintenance in Gas Turbines; TÜV Süd Symposium, Munich, 2019
- High-Temperature Damage in Gas Turbines; VDI Annual Conference, 2018
Earlier Highlights
- Damage Mechanisms in Pumps in Power Plants; VDI Conference, Aschheim, 2015
- Hot Gas Corrosion in Gas Turbines; VGB Seminar, Essen, 2017
- Analysis of Failures in Stationary Gas Turbines; AZT-GWP Technical Colloquium, 2012
- Decommissioning of Chernobyl – A Multi-Decade Challenge; Doctoral Defense Lecture, Aachen, 2012
