In parallel with the restart of experimental activity at the Livorno facility, temporarily suspended for modifications to Fo.Sper to allow oxy-fuel combustion tests, we publish today the  first of two technical reports on in-flame measurements and modelling performed before the plant shut down for modifications.

“In flame measurements of aerodynamic and chemical composition profiles” was compiled by IFRF Investigator Giovanni Coraggio.  The report documents and critically analyses the results of preliminary campaigns carried out on the IFRF’S 3MW key facility Fo.Sper in order to test the furnace, the burners and the measurement instrumentation.  (Fo.Sper – Fornace Sperimentale – is a replica of the IFRF’s semi-industrial scale Furnace #1, previously regarded as a reference case for mathematic modellers requiring validation of their computer codes.)

The experimental campaigns took place under the umbrella of the Members Research Project “Validation of combustion modelling for practical combustion systems” a longer-term initiative which aims to produce a large set of in-flame measurements in different combustion conditions and then to use the data to validate advanced mathematical models.

The objectives of the work analysed in Coraggio’s report – and completed with funding from ENEL were threefold:

• to obtain a new set of combustion data to populate the IFRF industrial combustion database
  
• to test the state of the art of the new IFRF in-flame measurement capabilities
  
• to kickstart the so called “Verification & Validation of Simulation” approach for the identification of guidelines to be applied to both numerical and experimental investigations.  A report on this topic will be published next week and is entitled “CFD analysis of TEA-Cc burner installed on the FOSPER furnace and comparison with experimental data”.

The successful completion of these preliminary tests signals that the recreation of the IFRF’s  pre-eminent position as regards measurement capacity – probes, diagnostics and human resources, has begun.  We hope to be at full speed by the end of 2009.

The new report can be downloaded from the Members Research area of the IFRF website at http://www.research.ifrf.net/research/programme.html?pid=20