18th IFRF (International Flame Research Foundation) Members' Conference – 1-3 June 2015

Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are the issues most affecting the combustion industry today. They have led to renewed interest in optimisation of combustion systems to increase thermal efficiency, in technologies for carbon sequestration and the use of alternative energy sources such as biomass and biofuels as well as renewable energy sources such as solar. The issue have a direct impact on fuel conversion processes in many domestic and industrial applications, such as district heating and cooling, electricity production, iron/steel/aluminium making, glass making, petrochemicals refining, cement production, and lime and minerals processing.

The increasing share of renewable energy sources in electricity production has changed the role of conventional fossil power stations all over Europe. An increasingly large share of conventional power generation capable of high load flexibility has to balance fluctuating power production from wind and photovoltaics in short and medium time scales. This role is expected to be more important in the long term. To accommodate to this role flexible power plants should demonstrate a high load change capability, short start-up times and low minimum loads. A minimum load as low as possible allows the operator to keep the power station in operation in order to provide secondary control power and to be ready for a fast load increase. Combustion systems are plaing and will continue to play a key role in the development of flexible power generation. As an example, combustion systems with stable combustion at reduced loads while still meeting the demands of complete combustion and low emissions are needed.

Other industries such as rincreasingly stringent environmental regulations. Productivity and the quality of the product are getting more crucial. Also, the use of lower grades of fuels and oxygen enhanced conditions create new challenges for those industries. On top of new challenges there are ongoing ones such as primary and secondary measures for tackling nitrogen oxides, acid gases, dioxins, VOCs, PAHs, heavy metals and particulate matter.

In this context, the role of industrial, semi-industrial and pilot experimental tests and trials is crucial in enabling technology transfer, as it facilitates testing and optimization of industrial combustion systems.

The IFRF has been in existence since 1948 as a centre of excellence for industry-orientated research into combustion science. Our 18th Members’ Conference aims to bring to bear on the contemporary combustion issues described above the full weight of our Members’ knowledge, expertise and experience. Simultaneously, and in keeping with established IFRF tradition, our conference will offer plentiful opportunities to share experiences on large-scale industrial heating processes and to contribute to spreading best available technologies and practices among all represented industrial sectors.

In addition to session dealing with the whole range of industrial heating processes, the conference will incorporate an Oxy-fuel Workshop organised in liaison with the EU FP7  Relcom Project. The workshop will bring together results from a number of EU and US research projects looking at diverse aspects of oxy-fuel combustion in the context of a carbon capture and storage. This workshop will be held in parallel to the main conference sessions during Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. The structure of the conference is shown below.

Topics for discussion

• Flexibility of combustion systems
• Gasification of coal and biomass
• Fuel characterization: including bio-, fossil, secondary fuels
• Ash/mineral matter and related problems
• Oxygen combustion and other technologies for carbon capture and storage
• New combustion concepts and their application
• Ultra low NOx boilers, furnaces and heaters for different applications
• Flame to flame interaction when retrofitting low NOx burners
• Heat flux profiles in furnaces or boilers when retrofitting low NOx burners.
• Matching for new/revamped/upgraded applications: flame and combustion chamber matching for new or revamped furnaces; burner-boiler matching for new or upgraded boilers
• Air-pollution control techniques for industrial combustion systems
• Flare performance and technology for oil and gas and other sectors
• Combustion modelling validation and uncertainties quantification (comprehensive codes and sub-models)
• Diagnostics and in-flame measurement technique

Deadline for abstracts 23rd February 2015.