International Flame Research Foundation


The International Flame Research Foundation – IFRF is a non-profit research association and network created in 1948 in IJmuiden, established in Livorno between 2005 and 2016 , and in Sheffield 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.
WWW ifrf.net

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. 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, the Iron and Steel Research Association of France and the Royal Dutch Iron and Steel Company.

Publications

The IFRF is the publisher of technical reports and regular publications:
  • The since 1999, named IFRF Combustion Journal between Sept. 1999 and Aug. 2009,
  • The - MNM - since 1999, in 1998 a few numbers of the were also published,
  • The since 2001.
Theses publications are freely available on-line.

Events

The IFRF organises events to disseminate knowledge on combustion: conferences, technical meetings, 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:
TOTeM n°TopicYearLocationCountry
51Green hydrogen: advances in CFD simulations of industrial hydrogen flames 2024CalgaryCanada
50Decarbonising combustion in hard-to-abate sectors2023Piacenza Italy
49Chemical energy carriers for long-term storage and long-distance transport of renewable energies2023Mulhouse France
48Hydrogen for decarbonisation 2022Jouy-en-Josas France
47Additive manufacturing for combustion application2020Paris France
46Waste-to-energy – Status and perspective of technologies2019PisaItaly
45Gas turbines for future energy systems2018CardiffUK
44Gaseous fuels for industry and power generation: challenges and opportunities2017Essen Germany
43Fired equipment safety and its associated instrumentation and control requirements2016SheffieldUK
42Industrial heating: furnaces, process heaters, kilns, design of safe and environmentally efficient thermal equipment2014IJmuidenNetherlands
41Optimisation of OXY/COAL/FGR systems – state of the art for scaling and modelling2014WarsawPoland
40Gasification, a versatile technology converting biomass to produce synfuels, heat and power2015DelftNetherlands
39Oxy-coal Combustion2013PisaItaly
38Tar & sulphur sampling and analysis2013CopenhagenDenmark
37Innovative and Advanced Coal Co-Firing Technologies2012WarsawPoland
36Industrial Flares2010HawaiiUSA
35Co-firing secondary fuels in power generation: from fuel characterization to full scale testing2010PisaItaly
34Gas Turbine Research: Fuels, Combustion, Heat Transfer and Emissions2010Cardiff University and the Gas Turbine Research Centre, Port TalbotUK
33Challenges in Rotary Kiln Combustion Processes2009PisaItaly
32Efficient solid fuel utilisation: How to overcome ash related restrictions2008FreisingGermany
31Oxy-combustion technologies and applications2008Pisa Italy
30Computational Fluid Dynamics – Simulation of Combustion Processes2007Waikoloa USA
29Characterisation of biofuels for co-combustion2006MunichGermany
28Mercury, trace metals and fine particulates – Issues and Solutions2008Salt Lake City USA
27Process heating in petroleum, petrochemical and chemical industries: Identifying trends and satisfying needs through leveraged external research2003BirminghamUK
26CO2 control, capture, sequestration, storage and emissions trading2003BirminghamUK
25Quest for Zero Emission in Industrial Furnaces -State of the Art and Future Development of High Temperature Air Combustion2003StockholmSweden
24Challenges in the development of high efficiency combustion - The Excess Enthalpy Combustion Project2003Velsen NoordNetherlands
23Efficiency and flexibility of energy use in the Iron and Steel industry: Minimise costs and CO2 emissions2003Velsen NoordNetherlands
22Combustion Trends in Power Generation Industries2002Linkebeek Belgium
21Combustion Trends in Cement and Mineral Processing Industries,2002Linkebeek Belgium
20CFD for Combustion Engineering2002AkerslootNetherlands
19Combustion oscillation and hum: Problems and opportunities2002AkerslootNetherlands
18Intelligent Combustion Control2000Cernay-la-VilleFrance
17The Use of Oxygen for Industrial Combustion2000Cernay-la-VilleFrance
16Toxic Metals and Fine Particulates from Combustion Processes2000LyngbyDenmark
15Ash and Deposit Formation in Utility Boilers2000LyngbyDenmark
14Bio-fuels - Fuel preparation, Combustion Technologies and Scope for Utilisation1999VäxjöSweden
13High Temperature Combustion Research for Industry – Results from the IFRF Research Station1999IJmuidenNetherlands
12Application of Mathematical Modelling of full Scale Industrial Processes: Status and need for Sub-Models1999GuernseyUK
11Liquid Fuels: Heavy oils wastes and slurries1995BiaritzFrance
10Advanced Power Generation1994VeldhovenNetherlands
9IFRF triennial planning 1995-1997 and future flame research1994HaarlemNetherlands
8High temperature combustion – High air preheat/oxygen enrichment1993LoughboroughUK
7Scaling and mathematical modeling of combustion systems1993Chicago USA
6Measurement and control diagnostics1992KarlsruheGermany
5Waste incineration technology1991BariItaly
4IFRF Triennial Planning 1992-941991HaarlemNetherlands
3In-furnace NOx reduction techniques1990LeedsUK
2Fuel combustion characterisation1990Rueil Malmaison France
1Capabilities and limitations of mathematical models of flares1989AmsterdamNetherlands

IFRF Conferences

IFRF Conferences are organized approximately every two or three years:
ConferenceYearN°LocationCountry
IFRF 2025 Conference 202520SheffieldUK
IFRF 2021 Conference 2021
IFRF 2018 Conference "Clean, efficient and safe industrial combustion"201819SheffieldUK
18th IFRF Members Conference "Flexible and clean fuel conversion in industry"201518FreisingGermany
17th IFRF Members Conference "Clean and efficient fuel conversion in industry"201217MaffliersFrance
16th IFRF Members Conference "Combustion and sustainability: new technologies, new fuels, new challenges"200916BostonUSA
15th IFRF Members Conference "Combustion in an Efficient and Environmentally Acceptable Manner"200715PisaItaly
14th IFRF Members Conference200414NoordwijkerhoutNetherlands
13th IFRF Members Conference200113NoordwijkerhoutNetherlands
12th IFRF Members Conference199812NoordwijkerhoutNetherlands
11th IFRF Members Conference199511IJmuidenNetherlands
10th IFRF Members Conference199210IJmuidenNetherlands
9th IFRF Members Conference19899IJmuidenNetherlands
8th IFRF Members Conference19868IJmuidenNetherlands
7th IFRF Members Conference19837IJmuidenNetherlands
6th IFRF Members Conference19806IJmuidenNetherlands
5th IFRF Members Conference19785IJmuidenNetherlands
4th IFRF Members Conference19764IJmuidenNetherlands
3rd IFRF Members Conference19733IJmuidenNetherlands
2nd IFRF Members Conference19712IJmuidenNetherlands
1st IFRF Members Conference19691IJmuidenNetherlands

Short courses

The IFRF organises short courses:

Other events

The IFRF organises events with other scientific associations such as the Combustion Institute and special flame days with other national committees.
EventYearLocationCountry
IFRF Workshop at the 11th European Combustion Meeting: From lab scale to industrial combustion: challenges for the scale up of experimental and simulation approaches2023RouenFrance
Industry 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 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 - CF
  • German Flame - DVV
  • Italian Flame - CI
  • Dutch Flame - 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.
In 2005, the research station was relocated at ENEL facilities in Livorno, 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 laboratory as the new IFRF location from 2017.