The 9th HEXAG meeting was hosted by ETSU at Harwell on 24 February 1998. The main feature of this meeting was 'linking with Europe', with speakers from the UK, the Netherlands and France giving information on a variety of European Union programmes of relevance to members, and hints on how to improve the chances of success in particular programme submissions. The experiences and activities of two continental organisations, NOVEM in the Netherlands and GRETh in France were also described, and it was a pleasure to welcome Henk Akse from NOVEM and Bernard Thonon from GRETh.
John Collingwood welcomed members to ETSU. Following a brief history of ETSU, John highlighted the three main areas of activity: Strategic studies, programme management and technology transfer. He mentioned that transport was a growing area of interest. Almost all the wide range of organisations, increasingly international in nature, that ETSU collaborated with were government or quasi-government bodies. These included the TACIS programme, setting up energy centres in the Former Soviet Union, the IEA, the World Bank etc.
The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) sets policy and objectives. ETSU plans programmes and manages the projects, as well as transferring the technology to industry. In the context of this HEXAG meeting, John said that ETSU helped in liaising with overseas programmes, and was assisting the DETR in focusing aspects of the 5th Framework Programme of the EU. One of its roles was to ensure maximum UK participation in the EU-funded R,D&D.
With regard to the Best Practice Programme, a topical theme was the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention Control) directive. This will apply to all existing large plant by 2007, and it affects 60% of all industrial energy production in the UK. He felt that there was enormous scope for a 'stick and carrot' approach to energy efficiency, if correctly implemented. Good information of a benchmark nature was needed, but there was still a lack of information at process levels. The BPp was an important information provider in this context.
Referring to the Kyoto summit, there was a target for the UK of a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions. There were opportunities for companies to set their own targets. The Chemical Industries Assn. (CIA) had implemented a voluntary agreement to target 20% reductions by 2005.
CRAFT-JOULE: Mike Landy of ETSU gave a talk in his role as representing ETSU as the UK CRAFT focal point for CRAFT proposals associated with JOULE, the non-nuclear energy R&D programme of the EU. (Note that Beta Technology in Sheffield - fax: 0114 256 0950) is also a focal point for CRAFT, dealing with other EU programmes within the CRAFT remit). Mike's main area of activity was in the renewable energy aspects of CRAFT-JOULE, the majority of the proposals to date having been in this area.
CRAFT is geared towards helping small & medium sized companies (SMEs) to obtain support for technological innovation. Funding is available to help them overcome difficulties in obtaining information, finding partners and carrying out feasibility and market studies. It is of particular interest to those who do not have their own R&D facilities. In the next Framework Programme, the definition of an SME is being changed - <250 employees and a turnover of <£26 million. CRAFT currently covers 7 programme areas, including energy, which gets £15 million out of the £300 million budget.
In the first exploratory phase SMEs can get 75% of the cost of putting together a proposal for the second research stage project. The financial support from the Commission in the 1st stage is limited to ECU 45,000. In the second stage, the Community provides up to 50% of the project costs, with rules on allocation to R&D performers. The total project cost is typically ECU 3000,000 to ECU 1 million, over 1-2 years.
The benefits to R&D performers in the Stage 2 CRAFT project can be that they may receive 100% funding, there is a high success rate for proposal support (1 in 2), they can negotiate IPR with the SMEs, and 'near to marketplace' work can be included. For SMEs, they get funding of R&D, a European partnership, shared risks, and the opportunity for European market penetration. For exploratory awards, there have been 139 proposals, of which 66 were funded. There have to date been only 6 proposals submitted by November 1997 for Stage 2 work, 4 have been funded to a total of ECU 1.3 million.
INTAS and other Calls: David Reay gave information on a number of current EU programmes, as follows:
There are currently six separate INTAS calls, closing imminently. (INTAS is likely to run on later this year). The relevant ones are:
The projects are for:
There are 10 areas to be addressed, including:
The fully funded component relates to: "Studies aimed at the implementation of Community-wide measures." This is sufficiently vague to allow you to encompass areas of interest to HEXAG - the implementation of efficient heat transfer technologies, for example.
BRITE-EURAM: John Silwood, who is responsible for the BRITE-EURAM Helpline, based at NPL, gave some pointers towards the strategy for FP5, the 5th Framework Programme now under discussion for implementation towards the end of this year (subject to budget agreement - it is scheduled to go to the Parliament from July onwards , with decisions from October onwards). FP5 and its predecessors operates with agreement through EU treaties, and is proposed and managed by the European Commission. Funding comes from Member States and the content is agreed by co-decision processes, ultimately involving the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
There are four main activities, the first of these being RTD and demonstration. The operation of programmes and selection of proposals for support is by peer review. There is an increasing emphasis on exploitation of the results of R&D. There are a number of major changes which are likely to be implemented for FP5, as follows:
With regard to CRAFT, three SMEs will be needed in future (currently four). There will be support for networking activities and concerted actions. In addition, accompanying measures, such as consultancy and conferences will continue to be supported.
John gave us his recipe of 'ingredients for success' in submitting proposals:
The success rate for submissions to the BRITE-EURAM programme is about 25%. Proposals typically have about 7 partners. More than 7 leads to unwieldy projects.
(John can be contacted by phone on 0181 943 6660, fax: 0181 943 2989, and Email: behelp@npl.co.uk)
Accessing Information: David then gave information on the numerous contact points in the EU who could provide information, either via journals and other paper copies, or through the Web, on EU calls for proposals and other activities. These are listed below.
With regard to specific proposals, contacts are as follows:
The Role of the HEXAG HELP LINE: David Reay then outlined how the HEXAG Help Line could help HEXAG members with queries, either relating to 'linking with Europe' or on other matters of a technical/collaborative nature.
http://www.hw.ac.uk/mecWWW/hexag.htm
GRETh Activities and Experiences: Bernard Thonon of GRETh, the Grenoble-based heat transfer organisation which operates on behalf of its members in a similar way to HTFS, and has substantial R&D resources, showed us his experience of 'linking with Europe' (or the EC) and described examples of collaborative projects in which they had played a major role.
The most recent JOULE programme covered the rational use of energy in industry and buildings. Topics included heat pump, burners, ventilation, separation processes, high temperature heat exchangers, other advanced heat exchangers and fouling. Previous JOULE projects are described in two publication: Energy Efficiency in Process Technology (edited by P.A. Pilavachi), Elsevier Applied Sciences, 1993 and Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 8-10, August-October 1997.
An example of a JOULE 3 project in which GRETh is involved is 'Improved evaporation heat transfer surfaces for cost-effective compact heat exchangers for the process industries. There were 7 partners, including 3 companies (Wieland, CIAT and Trefimeteaux). The project lasted three years. Bernard felt that now three companies would be considered as too few by the Commission.
The timescale from receiving the 'call for proposals' to the project 'kick-off' meeting was illustrated vividly by Bernard: The former occurred in September 1996, and the latter in January 1998! Intervening activities included proposal submission, followed 6 months later by EC approval and the contract signature after a further 6 months. The project duration, almost matched by the gestation period, is 2-3 years. All of us hoped that FP5 would have a faster route to contract implementation, especially as it was pointed out that the Commission imposes strict controls on deadlines! (John Silwood pointed out that a lapsed time of even one year would be considered very poor for the BRITE-EURAM programme).
During a project, one had to budget for meetings every 6 months, at least two of which would be in Brussels, reports (progress, mid-term, final, public and exploitation versions). Typical project costs were ECUI 700,000 to ECU 2 million, with EC funding covering between ECU 500,000 and ECU 1 million.
Bernard highlighted the GRETh involvement in a EUREKA project. This involved the development of an advanced gas turbine, with a compact ceramic recuperator, for a hybrid vehicle. EUREKA is different from other EU-funded schemes in that each partner has to negotiate support with his own government body (in the UK this would normally be the DTI and grants are limited to SMEs at present). There has to be strong industrial involvement and the project must span at least two European countries. Information on EUREKA is available: Tel: 00 322 229 2240, Fax: 00 322 218 7906, WEB site: http://www.eureka.be Email: kirsten.voje@es.eureka.be
After giving information on FP5 (see consolidated data later and in the next issue of HEXAG News), Bernard gave information on networks and services in Europe relating to heat exchangers. R&D organisations included GRETh and HTFS, networks sand meetings were organised by HEXAG, NOVEM, Joule Club meetings (June 1996 - enhanced heat transfer equipment; October 1996 - high temperature applications and separation technologies), and SUSTECH. National organisations with an interest in promoting technologies of interest to HEXAG members included ETSU (UK), ADEME (France) and NOVEM in the Netherlands.
The Role of HTFS in the HEXAG 'Linking with Europe' Initiative: Tom Ralston outlined the broader activities of HTFS, which has 80 members across Europe, before detailing ways in which it was assisting HEXAG members in 'linking with Europe'. Tom stated that in Europe 29% of members were users, 38% contractors and 33% manufacturers, thus HTFS was in a good position to sense the research interests across the Continent.
Firstly, HTFS is to explore activities in EU countries - who is involved, the activities, and the benefits in exchanges of information etc? Then HEXAG member company interests will be explored - experiences, future attitudes to programmes, and specific topics of interest. Tom felt that there was a 'bit of fatigue' from EU programme progress. One needs to address the attitude issue to liberate progress in research.
HTFS is carrying out a limited direct interview campaign among selected HTFS members, the EU Eurovent, TUV etc. This will be supported by a 'fax-back' survey to members, asking questions such as:
All data will be fed back to the Co-ordinator, who will disseminate results via HEXAG News, and the HEXAG WEB site, and HTFS will detail the findings at the next HEXAG meeting, (probably in June 1998).
It was requested that information on the equivalents to NOVEN, ETSU etc. in Germany and Italy be found if possible, and that in HEXAG News some summary data on JOULE heat exchanger projects be given. These which are current can be found on the Web.
The Activities of NOVEM: Henk Akse, project manager for the chemicals, oil and gas sector of NOVEM, which may be regarded as the Dutch equivalent of ETSU, gave a talk on 'exchanging heat and views'. He began by describing the history of the Dutch heat exchanger user group, which in the period 1990-97 operated for knowledge transfer between companies such as AKZO, Shell, DSM and DOW. This was implemented by national meetings (4/year). Now fast access to know-how is becoming increasingly important, e.g. by the Internet. In addition, there is a focus on short term projects, quality of data etc. It became evident that there was a need for a change in the scope of the user group, to arrive at a new focus and to give close thought to the potential audience. Typical subjects of the group are the Nerefco multi-heat exchanger rig on a refinery, a CHE as a top condenser, the Packinox plate heat exchanger in a xylene plant, replacing 6 large heat exchangers, and heat exchanger/reactors.
The main interests of members of the group are fouling, process integration and heat exchangers. Now the group is looking for concrete projects on fouling and its minimisation, advisors on heat exchanger types to link with process integration techniques, and, as far as heat exchangers are concerned, experiences with compact types.
Henk pointed out that while the structure of the group had remained constant, in industry the centre of decision making was removed from group members (technical or R&D managers), involving Business Unit managers, finance managers and to some extent the technical manager. Thus there was not a great deal of overlap between those in the group and the decision-makers. Members of the new working party covering the group interests are to focus on projects, to look at both development and application, and to be active in influencing companies, in marketing and in management - the so-called 'soft tools'. Training courses will be established on this subject for project managers. International co-operation was seen as another important component of the new working party activities.
In conclusion, Henk emphasised the emphasis on concrete projects within the group, the need for international co-operation, and the importance of 'soft tools'. As to how the initiative could help UK companies, Henk said that we should get on board a Dutch project using a UK heat exchanger type.
Contacts: Henk gave the following contact points: NOVEM:. Head of Heat Exchanger Group - F. Vreugdenhil, Tel: 00 31 76 503 2677. TNO-MEP: A.E. Janssen, Manager of Technology, Tel: 00 31 55 549 3943. P. Bussmann, Heat Exchanger Research, Tel: 00 31 55 549 3451.
There were two impromptu presentations. Jiri Klemes of UMIST gave us information on his experiences of working with several different EU programmes, while David Reay gave a slightly anecdotal account of pointers he learned during his role as a JOULE and THERMIE assessor.
Jiri's current areas of interest included process integration and process intensification. His experience was wide-ranging, covering JOULE 1, 2 & 3 projects, projects in Latin America, and a project funded by NATO Scientific and Environmental Division. The EU INCO-COPERNICUS programme had supported work on optimising sugar production, and other activities had been carried out within PHARE and INTAS.
His advice on how to succeed centred on the following:
In addition, Jiri said that flexible and responsive partners were useful for a successful project.
David Reay then gave a talk entitled 'The Other Side of the Fence - the Role of the Assessor'. This drew on his experiences over a period of ten years as an assessor or 'expert' (his inverted commas!) attached to EU energy programmes. The main points of his review were:
OTHER KEY PLAYERS
HOW ARE PROPOSALS RATED?
The Evaluation Stages are as follows (see Bernard Thonon's presentation for an idea of timescales)!:
IF POSITIVE:
David's own hints for successful proposals were contained in his list of 'Roads to Success':
The Co-ordinator outlined plans for HEXAG activities over the coming months. These are:
Thanks are due to all those who contributed to this meeting. The information presented will, I hope, bring success to many HEXAG members, either directly in participation on FP5 or other EU-supported activities, or in forming their own links with European organisations such as GRETh, NOVEM or individual companies. Particular thanks are due to ETSU for hosting the meeting and providing the buffet lunch. Anne Phillips, our ETSU event manager, told me that the caterers had recently been recruited by ETSU - obviously the food was agreeable, as there were no salmon sandwiches left by the time I arrived at the buffet!
(Apologies for omissions due to late changes in attendance)
Tina Akinradewo - Linnhoff March. Fax: 01606 815151
Henk Akse - NOVEM, The Netherlands. Fax: 00 31 30 231 6491
Brian Amey, Hunt Heat Exchangers
Richard Biddle - TTL Dynamics. Fax: 01722 741012 or 01722 339669
William Blyth - ETSU. Fax: 01235 433727
Reg Bott - Birmingham University. Fax: 0121 414 5324
Richard Brogan - HTFS Harwell. Fax: 01235 831981
David Brooks - APV Products UK. Fax: 01332 295484
David Butterworth - ALPEMA. Fax: 01235 200 906
Alan Christie - DETR. Fax: 0171 276 3746 (After 9/3/98 0171 890 6679)
Richard Clarke - BOC Process Plants. Fax: 01483 244996
John Collingwood - ETSU
Tristan Davenne - University of Bath. Fax: 01225 826938
Steve Flynn - DTI. Fax: 0171 215 1461
David Griffiths - Hunt Thermal Engineering. Fax: 0161 330 9417
Alan Guy - Brown Fintube (UK). Fax: 01258 840961
Greg Jones - Baker Petrolite. Fax: 0151 547 3590
David Kenning - Oxford University. Fax: 01865 273010
Peter Kew - Heriot-Watt University. Fax: 0131 451 3129
Jiri Klemes - UMIST. Fax: 0161 236 7439
Mike Landy - ETSU. Fax: 01235 433727
David Lilleyman - Specialist Heat Exchangers. Fax: 01522 684900
Alick MacGillivray - NEL/HTFS. Fax: 013552 63398
Graeme Maidment - Nottingham University. Fax: 0115 951 3159
Mike Morrell - ETSU. Fax: 01235 433727
Chris Phillips - BHR Group. Fax: 01234 750074
Steve Pither - HRS Heat Exchangers. Fax: 01923 230266
Joe Quarini - Bristol University. Fax: 0117 929 4423
David Reay - David Reay & Associates. Fax: 0191 252 2229
Tom Ralston - NEL/HTFS. Fax: 013552 63398
Mike Swainson, S&P Coil Products
Bernard Thonon - GRETh, France.
David Webb - UMIST. Fax: 0161 200 4399
D.J. Wilson, MW Kellogg. Fax: 0181 872 7272