Since 1989, IFRF has organised a series of Topic-Orientated Technical Meetings – more commonly known a ‘TOTeMs’ – with over 40 such meetings organised over the following 27 years.  In the summer of last year, the British Flame Research Committee hosted the highly successful TOTeM 43 on the subject of ‘Safe design and operation of fired equipment in the oil and gas industry: challenges and best practices’ in Sheffield in the UK, and over 70 participated (see http://www.research.ifrf.net/research/new.html for published report available to Members).

The first TOTeM of 2017 is fast approaching!   TOTeM 44, ‘Gaseous fuels for industry and power generation: challenges and opportunities’, is taking place at the Gas- und Wärme-Institut Essen e. V. (GWI), Essen, Germany on 14-15th March.  The meeting, which will take place at the premises of GWI (Hafenstrasse 101, 45356 Essen), covers the future of gaseous fuels (natural gas, biogas, syngases and hydrogen or hydrogen/natural gas mixtures) and is organised into three sessions addressing:  natural gas quality and its impact on large-scale gas-fired equipment; the use of hydrogen or hydrogen/natural gas mixtures (e.g. in ‘power-to-gas’ applications); and the utilisation of biogas or syngases in industrial furnaces or for power generation.

Programme:

Day 1:  Tuesday 14th March
Opening Session
• Welcome – Klaus Görner, GWI
• Keynote Lecture: The changing scene of natural gas and alternative fuels – Terry Williams, Orbital Global Solutions

Session 1:  Natural Gas Quality
• CEN SFGas WG pre-normative study on gas quality parameters – context and actual status – Kris de Wit, l’Association Royale des Gaziers de Belgique (ARGB)
• Gas quality:  Impact in industrial combustion processes – Jörg Leicher, GWI
• Sustainoflame:  Control of medium- and large-scale burners using intelligent combustion control for a wide range of gaseous fuels – Berthil Slim, DNV GL
• Influence of higher hydrocarbons in LNG on natural gas flame stability under elevated conditions – Jon Runyon, Cardiff University Gas Turbine Research Centre (GTRC)

Lunch

Session 2:  Hydrogen
• Power-to-gas:  Flexibility options to integrate renewable energies into existing infrastructures – Johannes Schaffert, GWI
• Premixed CH4-H2 flame behavior in pressurised generic swirl burner for power-to-gas applications – Daniel Pugh, GTRC
• Hydrogen in gas turbines – Anis Haj Ayed, B&B-AGEMA GmbH

Tour of GWI facilities
Dinner at GWI

Day 2:  Wednesday 15th March
Session 3:  Biogas and Syngases
• Utilisation of untreated biogas for glass melting – Jörg Leicher, GWI/HVG
• Deal with gas quality variations and melt glass after biomass gasification – Mathieu Ourliac, ENGIE
• Technical challenges in the use of biogas and syngas in power generation and industrial applications – Mohamed Pourkashanian, Energy 2050, University of Sheffield

Discussion

Close and Lunch

In addition to the above papers, the event will be accompanied by a poster session and participants are more than welcome to contribute to this. 

Furthermore, the programme includes a tour of GWI’s extensive and unique experimental facilities, including their impressive 1.2MW gas-fired burner test rig.  This system is designed for detailed 2D field measurements of temperatures and a range of species (CO, CO2, O2, H2, NOx) for the investigation of industrial combustion processes on a semi-industrial scale.  It can be combined with a rotating-bed regenerator to provide high air preheat temperatures (about 1,250 °C) and a gas mixing facility so that not only natural gas can be burned but also synthesis biogas, BFG, or other non-conventional gaseous fuels.  It can also be operated as an oxy-fuel furnace, which is becoming increasingly important for many thermal processing industries. 

If you want to participate in this very interesting TOTeM, we recommend you to register soon and take advantage of the ‘block booking’ at a local hotel at an excellent rate.  Further details and copy of the registration form can be found on the IFRF Calendar (http://www.calendar.ifrf.net/event.html?id=606).

Please note:  Sponsorship opportunities. It is also possible for companies to sponsor the TOTeM. For a sponsorship package of 3000 EUR, you will be provided with the opportunity to promote your services and products, put up a roll-up banner, distribute information and engage the delegates in discussions on the topics of the TOTeM. The sponsorship packages also comes with free participation for two delegates(for companies that are members of IFRF). For non-IFRF members, the package includes one free participation and a 2nd for the reduced price of an IFRF member.  If interested, please contact Jörg Leicher (leicher@gwi-essen.de).