Symposium FA
From Fossil Fuels to Tomorrow Powerplants: Materials and Technology Demand to Govern the Transition

The world general trend for power plants is to gradually replace fossil fuels with more environmentally responsible solutions based on e.g. concentrated solar power, nuclear and hydrogen as these are developed and realized at commercial scale.
However, due to the ever-increasing energy demand, a number of countries have little choice but to continue generating power with fossil fuels and will be unable to comply with IEA's net zero emission for the year 2050. Therefore it is expected electric power generated from fossil fuels will continue to be a significant, although gradually decreasing energy source in the decades to come.
Within this transition period industry is expected to further develop and deploy more advanced combustion technologies and gasification-based systems to increase the efficiency and decrease the environmental impact associated with producing energy from carbon-containing materials as well as provide an opportunity for C02 capture and sequestration and exploit the chances offered by the produced synthesis gas as source for e-fuels and hydrogen.
The above technology implementations will not occur without simultaneous advances in materials science and engineering. Higher efficiencies in combustion and gasification processes for PCC and IGCC plants mean higher operating temperature and more aggressive service environments, placing a huge stress on construction materials. Furthermore, mixed feedstock requires more robust, impurity tolerant membrane materials and catalysts. Meetings these requirements will call for new, high-performance materials or protection strategies to extend their service life.
Moreover, novel catalysts for the e-fuels production, ammonia decomposition etc.; high throughput and selectivity sulphur, ammonia and chloride-tolerant hydrogen separation membranes; high-performance, defect-free C02 selective membranes are relevant research targets.
This symposium will cover significant advances in steam power including USC power plants (HRSG, boilers, steam turbines) and gas turbine to address the aforementioned issues aimed at reliably maintain the conversion of carbon-containing materials to energy in an efficient and environmentally benign way.
Materials for the new technologies, such as electrolisers, involved in energy production will contribute to novel solution to reduce the utilization of fossil fuels. Sessions will encompass major aspects concerning the science and characterization of materials, advanced processing technologies to produce components at the required scale and complexity, and their evaluation in service, MODELING AND SIMULATION OF MATERIALS AND PROCESSES; linked to a deeper understanding of the underlying physics and chemistry of the materials, such as catalysis, membrane separation mechanisms and materials/environment interactions.