| Abstract |
A key shortcoming of many research and development programs is their failure to take stock of the significant market, business, and societal trends that will shape future technology needs. Now, a bold technology planning strategy developed by the DOE Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) is changing the way businesses and government pursue technology R&D. This innovative strategy, known as Industries of the Future, aligns public and private interests and resources to respond to future needs. The industrial combustion community recently adopted this approach to chart an aggressive course for solving industry's most critical combustion problems. As the first step in the process, the industrial combustion community has developed a year 2020 "Industrial Combustion Vision," which considers market, business and societal drivers and projects future equipment characteristics. In addition, it identifies strategic performance targets for combustion equipment and establishes key challenges. The Vision's broad focus on burners, boilers, furnaces, and process heaters facilitates a systems approach to optimizing combustion system efficiency and performance. The performance targets set by the Vision are ambitious. They represent long-term (20+ year) goals that are not easily attainable. The targets specify equipment characteristics that will improve emissions, energy efficiency, fuel flexibility, reliability, and safety. These targets present key competitive challenges in the areas of technology, energy and environment, fuel choices, and market economics. Meeting these challenges will require significant resources and commitment by both industry and government as well as favorable economic conditions to generate a strong payback on capital investment. The performance targets presented in this paper indicate the resolve of the combustion community to provide the advanced systems that U.S. industries will need in the future. Although development of the Vision and performance targets is a critical part of the overall process, it is just the first step. Based on the Vision, the combustion community is already working to develop a more detailed research agenda, or technology roadmap, for achieving the performance targets. When completed, the roadmap will be used to align public and private research investments with industry priorities. Through collaborative research partnerships, the combustion community can then pursue a goal-oriented, accelerated research program. As a key enabling technology of the wider U.S. industrial sector, combustion systems will play a significant role in future U.S. competitiveness, economic health, and environmental quality. |
