On September 23 and 24, the IOB hosted the 5th Aachen Furnace Construction and Thermal Process Colloquium. Since 2017, the AOTK has been the industry meeting place for experts from science and industry. The colloquium presents the current state of research and development in industrial furnace technology and discusses future challenges and upcoming tasks for the industry.
This year, the colloquium was held at the Parkhotel Quellenhof in Aachen, where we welcomed international representatives from research and industry. On both days, there were interesting presentations by leading experts as well as exciting activities on various topics such as CO2-neutral process heat, digitalization of thermal processes, and energy- and resource-efficient furnace technologies.
The 170 participants had the opportunity to attend and participate in 35 presentations. An exciting poster pitch and poster session also contributed to the success of the event. A particular highlight was a session on VR applications in the thermal processing industry, which included contributions from Constellium, Tenova LOI Thermprocess, and the IBF at RWTH Aachen University. These were supplemented by hands-on VR experiences for the participants.
The joint lunches, coffee breaks, and an evening event provided a great opportunity to make contacts and promote networking. Clear visions for a sustainable, energy-intensive industry were developed in close cooperation.
We would like to thank the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) and European Aluminium, as well as our sponsors Tenova LOI Thermprocess, ESA, GIWEP, estaro GmbH, WS Wärmeprozesstechnik GmbH, Ferro Duo GmbH, DUNGS Combustion Controls, and Honeywell for their generous support. We look forward to incorporating the insights we gained into our work.