In her closing address to delegates at the 15^th European Conference on Industrial Furnaces and Boilers, organised by IFRF member Cenertec in Porto in April, CNR Research Director Osvalda Senneca highlighted the shift in research focus that has characterised the conference  ̶  and the field  ̶  in recent years.

Professor Senneca’s analysis of topics presented over the course of the last three INFUB conferences clearly illustrates the evolution from a combustion-centred approach to the current focus on integrated, decarbonised energy systems.

Examples include the shift from fundamentals and combustion modeling to decarbonisation, the change in focus from traditional fuels and emissions control to low-carbon systems, and the steady emergence of hydrogen and CO₂ capture as biomass assumed a secondary role and ammonia gained relevance. During the same period, the hard-to-abate sectors have gained attention with a corresponding increased focus on steel, cement, and industrial applications.

Professor Senneca also commented on the role of the keynotes, noting a shift from visionary drivers to reflections of a mature and consolidated research direction in which there is clear alignment between keynote topics and topics presented in papers.

Remarking on the trends expected to emerge at the next conference, Professor Senneca noted that INFUB16 would likely mark the shift from decarbonisation concepts to large-scale integrated implementation with a special focus on digitalisation.

As such, electrification will transition from an emerging topic to a mainstream solution; the focus on hydrogen will extend to include system-level challenges such as infrastructure, storage, and integration with industry; ammonia will assume a larger role as an alternative fuel and H₂ carrier; the focus on CO₂ will move from capture to value creation, for example through e-fuels and circular carbon. In line with the increasing focus on system integration as a dominant research theme, there will be a continuing decline in traditional topics such as biomass, NOx, and standalone waste combustion.