Introducing IFSA

Climate change, global warming, CO₂ emissions, carbon footprint, and sustainability are all watchwords that carry considerable currency. No annual report published nowadays would not reflect a company’s endeavours and responsibilities in these areas. Everyone wants to be seen to be “clean”. The industry that generates power in modern economies, however, has a reputation for being just the opposite. If coal is the source of energy in power generation, so the argument goes, then the CO₂ produced derives from a fossil fuel, the burning of which is implicated in global warming. To break with this state of affairs economies are pushing to generate energy from “renewable” sources—that is wind, water and sun. Huge sums of money are being invested in R&D, which is seeing the rapid development of technologies that will capture effectively the energy from these sources. In the meantime, though, most countries still derive much of their energy from fossil fuels. This capacity is huge and the infrastructure is well entrenched.

Nowhere is this observation more true than in developing countries, and in South Africa in particular. These countries, moreover, need electricity that is reliable and affordable if they are to improve standards of living and reduce poverty. This places them between Scylla and Charybdis: the energy (electricity) they need to develop derives from a source that is jeopardizing the future of the Earth. (The argument, of course, plays out in some developed countries as well.) A way out of this quandary is to embrace what these days is called “clean-coal technologies” (a sublime oxymoron, if ever there were one). The fluidized bed is one of the technologies in the arsenal that is being developed and deployed.

IFSA, a triennial conference on (industrial) fluidization, brings together individuals and parties interest in and working on fluidization — the process and its applications. We extend a warm invitation to join us as we explore a technology that has a role to play in a world grappling with profound issues of survival.

IFSA 2020 Topics

The secretariat invites interested scientists, engineers, students, plant operators and suppliers. Although the conference emphasizes industrial applications of fluidization and related technologies, any contribution on the following topics is welcome:

Call for Abstracts

You are invited to submit an abstract of no longer than 1 page (~300 words).

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require assistance.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorship opportunities are now available. Visit our Sponsorship page, or download the prospectus here.

Please contact the conference secretariat, Bridget Devine, to express your interest using the 'Contact Us' link on the conference menu.

Provisional milestone dates are as follows: