The transformation of energy-intensive industries also shaped the 4th Aachen Thermoprozess Colloquium
“Tschö wa!”- these are the words that begin the foreword to the proceedings of the 4th Aachen Thermoprozess Colloquium. However, this does not mean that the colloquium is saying goodbye to its audience – no – “only” the Institute Director Professor Dr.-Ing. Herbert Pfeifer hosted the colloquium for the last time, which took place on 17 and 18 October 2023 in Aachen and was organized by the Department for Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering (IOB) at RWTH Aachen University. With almost 170 participants from science and industry, who learned about and discussed the current state of research and development as well as the future tasks and challenges facing the industry, the colloquium reached a new high.
The colloquium began on Tuesday morning with a welcoming address from the Rector of RWTH Aachen University, Professor Ulrich Rüdiger, as well as a series of plenary lectures focusing on the potential of electric heat, decarbonization and new construction projects. This was followed by further presentations in two parallel lecture series. In a total of 51 lectures, the current topics of furnace construction and thermal process technology were presented and discussed. Once again, the contributions on decarbonization and the use of hydrogen in thermoprocessing plants were outstanding in terms of numbers alone. These topics were supplemented by presentations on current developments in the field of industrial furnaces and heat treatment plants, automation and modeling of thermal processes, measurement and control technology and a presentation of the funding landscape for thermal process technology in a series of lectures.
Once again, the two lecture halls on the top floor of the SuperC building at RWTH Aachen University, with their interesting view over the city, proved to be an ideal venue.
“This 4th AOTK is taking place at a super exciting time for thermal process technology. Corona seems to have been overcome, but the Ukraine war and the resulting explosion in energy prices are still omnipresent. This “disruptive factor” has also shown once again that energy does not always have to be fully available at competitive prices or even will be in the future,” says Professor Herbert Pfeifer, organizer of the colloquium. This makes it even more pleasing that three papers on outstanding new construction projects for large thermal processing plants were presented: the new FBA 10 hot-dip coating plant at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG in Dortmund, the hot-dip galvanizing plant at Salzgitter Flachstahl presented by the SMS group and the new HBO 5H walking beam furnace at thyssenkrupp Steel in Duisburg.
“Of course, at a time when people seem to be talking only about the energy transition, we must not sweep work on continuous process and system improvement under the carpet. Such topics are also part of “sustainable” thermal process technology,” adds Professor Pfeifer. This is also reflected in the rest of the lecture programme on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, in which the topic of decarbonization and the use of hydrogen played an important role with numerous other lectures, but issues of energy efficiency, plant and process optimization were also addressed. Numerous presentations from the colloquium can be accessed on the colloquium website. In addition, the elaborated contributions are summarized in a conference volume and available from the IOB.
In addition to the lecture program, a get-together at the IOB on the evening before the event offered the opportunity to visit the test halls and to hold initial discussions and make contacts between the test stands. At the end of the first day of lectures, the evening event at FIREPLACE in Theaterstraße provided the opportunity to round off the day with a festive banquet.
The colloquium once again brought together a broad spectrum of experts from industry, science and research institutes. “Further AOTKs will take place, as the IOB can look to the future with confidence. On the one hand, the order and project situation are very good, and, on the other hand, continuity is ensured by the expected prompt reappointment of the institute’s management next year,” Professor Pfeifer concludes. The AOTK 2025 will then be organized by his successor.
Impressions of the 4th Aachen Thermoprozess Colloquium [Link to German version]
Program of the 4th Aachen Thermoprozess Colloquium [Link to German version]
Program of the 4th Aachen Thermoprozess Colloquium (PDF) [Link to German version]
Conference proceedings
The papers presented at the colloquium have been printed and published in a conference volume. The proceedings can be obtained from the Institute. Further information can be found on the conference proceedings page.