| Abstract |
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) has shifted from a "technology push" focus to an industry "market pull" focus, adopting a strategy termed the "Industries of the Future". As part of this strategy, OIT facilitates a process in which the industries develop for themselves a strategic "vision" of their desired future, and a "technology roadmap" to help achieve this vision. This process enables each industry to identify and prioritize its collective technology needs. OIT's Combustion Program has chosen to use this same "visioning" and "roadmapping" strategy to formulate its future direction and research course. For industrial combustion, three sets of visions and roadmaps will be established, one each for combustion/burners, boilers and furnaces/heaters. By addressing these industry segments, this approach recognizes the close link between heat source and heat sink. Each vision will specify the industry's key technical and market performance targets and discuss the principal technical, market, business, regulatory and societal drivers potentially impacting the future of the industry. In so doing, the visions will set strategic technology objectives and identify the major challenges to be faced. With visions established, each technology roadmap will identify the milestones for achieving the goals articulated in the vision. The roadmap will identify current technologies, technological barriers to achieving the industry's goals, and technology options and pathways that would enable the industry to overcome these barriers. It will list the technical requirements and set technical priorities, thereby establishing a research agenda of prioritized R, D & D needs. In short, the roadmap will establish the portfolio of near-, medium- and long-term research, development and deployment activities to address the challenges and opportunities identified in the vision. Emphasis will be placed on improving efficiency and productivity, the minimization of environmental impact and the enhancement of product quality. Both the vision and the roadmap will be formulated by appropriate individuals from the burner, boiler and furnace communities, with facilitation provided by DOE. This presentation summarizes the approach to vision and roadmap formulation. |
