The President of British Flame, Professor Allan Jones, UK Country Director, E.ON New Build & Technology, has received the UK Energy Institute’s 2011 Melchett Medal.  The award honours the memory of the first Lord Melchett, a distinguished past President of the Institute of Fuel (one of the Energy Institute’s predecessor Institutions) who, amongst his other achievements, was founder in 1926 of Imperial Chemical Industries – later to become I.C.I.

The Melchett Award has been presented each year since 1930 to an individual – open internationally –  for an outstanding contribution to the study or advancement of the science of fuel and energy. As the 74th recipient, Allan joins a distinguished list of past IFRF National Presidents to have achieved this honour, the previous recipients including John Beér, Jack Chesters and Frank Fitzgerald of British Flame and Hoyt Hottel of the American Flame Research Committee.

To mark the occasion, Allan reviewed the contribution that R&D into coal combustion has made to the electrical power industry, treating in turn the successive environmental challenges of particulates, SO2, NOx and now CO2 capture and storage, with further challenges relating to heavy metals such as mercury on the horizon.  Allan stressed the importance of national and international cooperation in these areas to deal in the most efficient and cost effective ways with issues that face all operators in the power sector.

IFRF has played a role in furthering such cooperation through research programmes such as Powerflam and JOULE II.  To view a list of the related technical reports in the IFRF Reports Archive, click here and search on the appropriate keyword.

A new opportunity has now been presented through the new RELCOM Oxy-Coal project in which both IFRF and E.ON New Build & Technology are partners alongside other IFRF Member Organisations.

IFRF congratulates both Allan and E.ON UK on this well merited recognition.

Allan Jones and family with EI CE Louise Kingham, OBE