The International Flame Research Foundation – IFRF is a non-profit research association and network created in 1948 in IJmuiden (Netherlands), established in Livorno (Italy) between 2005 and 2016 (Fondazione Internazionale per la Ricerca Sulla Combustione – ONLUS), and in Sheffield (UK) since 2017. Meredith Thring was one of the founders.
The IFRF Membership Network unites some 1000 combustion researchers from 130 industrial companies and academic institutions worldwide, around a common interest in efficient and environmentally responsible industrial combustion, with a focus on flame studies.
History The IFRF can be traced to a proposal written in 1948 by Meredith Thring, head of the Physics Department in the newly formed British Iron and Steel Research Association (BISRA). Entitled Proposals for the Establishment of an International Research Project on Luminous Radiation, the document resulted in the formation of the International Flame Radiation Research Committee with representatives of the steel, fuel and appliance making industries in France, Holland and England - specifically the British Iron and Steel Research Association (BISRA), the Iron and Steel Research Association of France (IRSID) and the Royal Dutch Iron and Steel Company (KNHS).
Publications The IFRF is the publisher of technical reports and regular publications: The Industrial Combustion Journal () since 1999, named IFRF Combustion Journal between Sept. 1999 and Aug. 2009 (), The Monday Night Mail - MNM - () since 1999, in 1998 a few numbers of the IFRF Newsletter were also published, The Combustion Handbook () since 2001. Theses publications are freely available on-line.
Events The IFRF organises events to disseminate knowledge on combustion: conferences, technical meetings (called TOTeMs), common days with other technical or scientific associations and courses:
Topic Oriented Technical Meetings (TOTeM) TOTeMs are organized since 1989, once or twice a year: + List of TOTeM organized by the IFRF and national committeesTOTeM n°TopicYearLocationCountry52Oxy-fuel combustion and CCUS2026Essen (GWI)Germany 51Green hydrogen: advances in CFD simulations of industrial hydrogen flames2024CalgaryCanada50Decarbonising combustion in hard-to-abate sectors2023Piacenza (Politecnico di Milano)Italy49Chemical energy carriers for long-term storage and long-distance transport of renewable energies2023Mulhouse (LGRE)France48Hydrogen for decarbonisation (European Hydrogen Week 2022 side event)2022Jouy-en-Josas (Air Liquide)France47Additive manufacturing for combustion application2020Paris (Fivesgroup)France46Waste-to-energy – Status and perspective of technologies2019PisaItaly45Gas turbines for future energy systems2018CardiffUK44Gaseous fuels for industry and power generation: challenges and opportunities2017Essen (GWI Gas- und Wärme-Institut)Germany43Fired equipment safety and its associated instrumentation and control requirements2016SheffieldUK42Industrial heating: furnaces, process heaters, kilns, design of safe and environmentally efficient thermal equipment2014IJmuidenNetherlands41Optimisation of OXY/COAL/FGR systems – state of the art for scaling and modelling2014WarsawPoland40Gasification, a versatile technology converting biomass to produce synfuels, heat and power2015DelftNetherlands39Oxy-coal Combustion2013PisaItaly38Tar & sulphur sampling and analysis2013CopenhagenDenmark37Innovative and Advanced Coal Co-Firing Technologies2012WarsawPoland36Industrial Flares2010HawaiiUSA35Co-firing secondary fuels in power generation: from fuel characterization to full scale testing2010PisaItaly34Gas Turbine Research: Fuels, Combustion, Heat Transfer and Emissions2010Cardiff University and the Gas Turbine Research Centre, Port TalbotUK33Challenges in Rotary Kiln Combustion Processes2009PisaItaly32Efficient solid fuel utilisation: How to overcome ash related restrictions2008FreisingGermany31Oxy-combustion technologies and applications2008Pisa (Enel)Italy30Computational Fluid Dynamics – Simulation of Combustion Processes2007Waikoloa (HI)USA29Characterisation of biofuels for co-combustion2006MunichGermany28Mercury, trace metals and fine particulates – Issues and Solutions2008Salt Lake City (UT)USA27Process heating in petroleum, petrochemical and chemical industries: Identifying trends and satisfying needs through leveraged external research2003BirminghamUK26CO2 control, capture, sequestration, storage and emissions trading2003BirminghamUK25Quest for Zero Emission in Industrial Furnaces -State of the Art and Future Development of High Temperature Air Combustion2003StockholmSweden24Challenges in the development of high efficiency combustion - The Excess Enthalpy Combustion Project2003Velsen NoordNetherlands23Efficiency and flexibility of energy use in the Iron and Steel industry: Minimise costs and CO2 emissions2003Velsen NoordNetherlands22Combustion Trends in Power Generation Industries2002Linkebeek (Laborelec)Belgium21Combustion Trends in Cement and Mineral Processing Industries,2002Linkebeek (Laborelec)Belgium20CFD for Combustion Engineering2002AkerslootNetherlands19Combustion oscillation and hum: Problems and opportunities2002AkerslootNetherlands18Intelligent Combustion Control2000Cernay-la-VilleFrance17The Use of Oxygen for Industrial Combustion2000Cernay-la-VilleFrance16Toxic Metals and Fine Particulates from Combustion Processes2000LyngbyDenmark15Ash and Deposit Formation in Utility Boilers2000LyngbyDenmark14Bio-fuels - Fuel preparation, Combustion Technologies and Scope for Utilisation1999VäxjöSweden13High Temperature Combustion Research for Industry – Results from the IFRF Research Station1999IJmuidenNetherlands12Application of Mathematical Modelling of full Scale Industrial Processes: Status and need for Sub-Models1999GuernseyUK11Liquid Fuels: Heavy oils wastes and slurries1995BiaritzFrance10Advanced Power Generation1994VeldhovenNetherlands9IFRF triennial planning 1995-1997 and future flame research1994HaarlemNetherlands8High temperature combustion – High air preheat/oxygen enrichment1993LoughboroughUK7Scaling and mathematical modeling of combustion systems1993Chicago (GRI)USA6Measurement and control diagnostics1992KarlsruheGermany5Waste incineration technology1991BariItaly4IFRF Triennial Planning 1992-941991HaarlemNetherlands3In-furnace NOx reduction techniques1990LeedsUK2Fuel combustion characterisation1990Rueil Malmaison (IFP)France1Capabilities and limitations of mathematical models of flares1989AmsterdamNetherlands
IFRF Conferences IFRF Conferences (formerly Members Conference) are organized approximately every two or three years: +List of IFRF Conferences organized by the IFRF and national committeesConferenceYearN°LocationCountryIFRF 2025 Conference202520SheffieldUKIFRF 2021 Conference (Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)2021IFRF 2018 Conference "Clean, efficient and safe industrial combustion"201819SheffieldUK18th IFRF Members Conference "Flexible and clean fuel conversion in industry"201518FreisingGermany17th IFRF Members Conference "Clean and efficient fuel conversion in industry"201217MaffliersFrance16th IFRF Members Conference "Combustion and sustainability: new technologies, new fuels, new challenges"200916BostonUSA15th IFRF Members Conference "Combustion in an Efficient and Environmentally Acceptable Manner"200715PisaItaly14th IFRF Members Conference200414NoordwijkerhoutNetherlands13th IFRF Members Conference200113NoordwijkerhoutNetherlands12th IFRF Members Conference199812NoordwijkerhoutNetherlands11th IFRF Members Conference199511IJmuidenNetherlands10th IFRF Members Conference199210IJmuidenNetherlands9th IFRF Members Conference19899IJmuidenNetherlands8th IFRF Members Conference19868IJmuidenNetherlands7th IFRF Members Conference19837IJmuidenNetherlands6th IFRF Members Conference19806IJmuidenNetherlands5th IFRF Members Conference19785IJmuidenNetherlands4th IFRF Members Conference19764IJmuidenNetherlands3rd IFRF Members Conference19733IJmuidenNetherlands2nd IFRF Members Conference19712IJmuidenNetherlands1st IFRF Members Conference19691IJmuidenNetherlands
Short courses The IFRF organises short courses:
Industrial Combustion training, Air Liquide, Jouy-en-Josas, France,18-19 March 2025, IFRF Hydrogen Short Course, Sheffield, UK, 2024, “Combustion & Emissions in Furnaces and Kilns – An Industrial Approach”, 16 to 18 October 2002, Villa Olmo – Como, Italy. 5th Flame Research Course, Koningshof Congress Centre, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, 1992. 4th Flame Research Course, Christal Hotel, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 9–13 September 1991.
Other events The IFRF organises events with other scientific associations such as the Combustion Institute and special flame days with other national committees. +Other events (non exhaustive list)EventYearLocationCountryIFRF Workshop at the 11th European Combustion Meeting: From lab scale to industrial combustion: challenges for the scale up of experimental and simulation approaches2023RouenFranceIndustry Roundtable at the 39th International Symposium on Combustion – Decarbonated Combustion in Industrial Processes2022VancouverCanada
Structure The IFRF is organised in 9 national committee plus the Associate Member Group (AMG) where no national committee exists.
Committees American Flame Research Committee - AFRC British Flame Research Committee - BFRC Chinese Flame Research Committee - CFRC Finnish Flame Research Committee - FFRC French Flame (Comité français) - CF German Flame (Deutsche Vereinigung für Verbrennungsforschung e.V.) - DVV Italian Flame (Comitato Italiano) - CI Dutch Flame (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Vlamonderzoek) - NVV Swedish Flame Research Committee - SFRC
Governance The IFRF in managed by a Council and an Executive Committee.
Locations From 1948 to 2005 the IFRF facilities were located in the CORUS R&D centre at IJmuiden (Netherlands).
In 2005, the research station was relocated at ENEL facilities in Livorno (Italy), the measurement programme was restarted November 27, 2006.
In 2015 a relocation of the IFRF headquarters process was initiated. Leading to the designation of University of Sheffield and its PACT laboratory as the new IFRF location from 2017.
See also The Combustion Institute, a network of researchers specialised in combustion mainly from academia. The European Conference on Industrial Furnaces and Boilers - INFUB, conference related to industrial combustion.
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