| OCR Text |
Show -1- INTRODUCTION In 1983 the International Flame Research Foundation [ 1 ] commenced the implementation of a new three year overall research plan at its Research Station in Umuiden, the Netherlands. The broad objectives of this plan had been ascertained in discussions with the IFRF membership during 1981 and the preliminary planning had been carried out by the-research staff at Umuiden in 1982. As may have been expected, when considering the breadth of the IFRF membership, the research aims reflected not only the international problem of environmental protection but also the continuing need for the development of combustion equipment capable of greater flexibility. In either case important aspects to be considered were the increasing variation in the quality of regular fuels and the introduction of developing fuels. Following the traditional approach of the IFRF, a large proportion of the work is being carried out in "real-flame" situations at a semi-industrial scale. In addition to and as a basis for the semi-industrial scale work, a significant part of the overall programme concerns fundamental studies. By no means all of the programmes are completely new; indeed in many respects they are logical continuations of work that had been ongoing for some years. Nevertheless in some instances - particularly in the field of flame aerodynamics - a fresh approach is being taken in order to attempt a solution for old problem. The structure of the overall plan as shown in Table 1, may be seen within four sub-areas of research, two of which are strongly interrelated and very clearly oriented towards the clean combustion of pulverised coals in water tube boilers. Results of these programmes are applicable to the development of steam generators for the process industries and of course, for power generation. |
