During this period IFRF is hosting numerous visitors to the ENEL experimental area for the RELCOM Oxy coal characterization tests at the IPFR (Isothermal Plug Flow Reactor).  Guests include IFRF Members, representatives from RELCOM partner organisations, and alternate IFRF Vice President Gérard Flament.

This final phase of tests began last week and involves the full characterization of Pittsburgh no. 8 coal both in conventional and oxy conditions.  South African and Sebuku coal will also be tested and the trials will include devolatilization tests, char production and char combustion tests.

RELCOM – “Reliable and Efficient Combustion of Oxygen/Coal/Recycled Flue Gas Mixtures” is a four year project funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme and is being undertaken by a consortium of higher education institutions, research centres and industrial partners bringing together the best in research facilities and technology development expertise. 

Visitors who are participating with Senior Investigator Giovanni Coraggio and the IFRF team this week include Wojciech Adamczyk and PaweÅ‚ KozoÅ‚ub from IFRF Member organisation Silesian University of Technology and Pedro Dias from RELCOM partner and IFRF Member Technische Universität Munchen.  Next week Jaroslaw Hercog from RELCOM partner and IFRF Member Institute of Power Engineering, Warsaw, will attend the tests.

In December the IPFR rig will be used for biomass characterization within the mainframe of the European project BRISK.  The trials will be carried out over two weeks.  The exact schedule of this campaign will be decided in the next days.  As for the RELCOM project, IFRF warmly invites members to attend the experimentation.
 
Other experimental tests still to be performed at Livorno in 2012 concern the optimisation of GT burners for pure hydrogen combustion.  For this national program, led by ENEL and GE, IFRF will perform measurement campaigns on a full scale cold model burner and on a single burner facility to develop micro pyrometers for the experimental rigs and to support the modeling activity on H2 combustion kinetics at high pressure.  Tests on the Turbogas Accesso Ottico (TAO) rig, an ENEL facility, are scheduled for December.

Tests already in preparation for early 2013 concern the development of a program for enhancing gas sampling and analysis capabilities by on-line FTIR system.  These will be performed on FOSPER and will allow the evaluation of minor species and pollutant precursors in flames.

IFRF Members who wish to have more information on these campaigns should contact Leo Tognotti or Giovanni Coraggio.