American Flame Research Committee (AFRC) Symposium

September 15 – September 17, 2025

Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown
San Antonio, TX
REGISTER TO ATTEND MORE INFORMATION

Download the American Flame Research Committee's 2025 Industrial Combustion Symposium Brochure.

Download Brochure

2025 Schedule of Events

Monday, September 15th 2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Welcome Reception
Tuesday, September 16th 2025
7:00 am
REGISTRATION OPEN
8:00 am - 8:30 am
OPENING REMARKS
8:30 am - 12:00 pm
DAY 1: MORNING PRESENTATIONS
1 Hydrogen Operational Safety in Unclassified Industrial Spaces Presented by:
  • Sandeep Alavandi, GTI Energy
2 Development and Performance Assessment of a Pilot Unit for the Entrained Flow Gasification of Low-grade Feedstock Presented by:
  • Felipe Campuzano Diosa, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
3 Burner Design Optimization for Steam-methane Reforming Presented by:
  • Dave Schalles, Bloom Engineering Co. Inc.
4 Ammonia Flaring and the Effects of Hydrogen Enrichment in Ammonia Mixtures Presented by:
  • Clay Anderson, Zeeco, Inc.
5 Evaluation of Co-firing Ammonia with Natural Gas in a Refractory Lined Burner Test Facility for Application to a Batch Annealing Furnace Presented by:
  • Marc Cremer, Reaction Engineering International
6 Industrial Ammonia Burner and Modeling Capability Development Presented by:
  • Todd Grubb, Zeeco, Inc.
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
LUNCH
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
DAY 1: AFTERNOON PRESENTATIONS
7 Increase Fired Heater Capacity and Reduce NOx Emissions Using Xceed™ Technology Presented by:
  • Sultan Ahamad, ExxonMobil
8 The All Too Common Disconnect Between Heater Design, Instrumentation, DCS Logic and Operator Response Presented by:
  • Walter Gull, Birwelco USA/ BIH
9 Ultra-low NOx Combustion Retrofit of Heavy Crude Oil Heater Presented by:
  • Mark Hannum, Fives North American Combustion, Inc
10 Next-generation Burner Implementation in a Retrofitted Crude Heater: Lessons in Capacity Expansion and NOₓ Reduction Presented by:
  • Jeff Lewallen, ClearSign Technologies Corporation
11 Unsupervised Naturally Aspirated Pilot Experiences Presented by:
12 Practical Application of an Efficient 2 ppm NOx Burner in a Fired Heater Presented by:
  • Matthew Martin, ClearSign Technologies Corporation
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
AFRC BUSINESS MEETING
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
SYMPOSIUM DINNER
Wednesday, September 17th 2025
7:30 am
REGISTRATION OPEN
8:30 am - 12:00 pm
DAY 2: MORNING PRESENTATIONS
13 Adaptive Low Temperature Oxyfuel Burner for Enhanced Efficiency and Reduced NOx Emissions in Non-ferrous Melting Presented by:
  • Brenno Ferreira, Linde
14 Numerical Analysis of Hydrogen Substitution Effects on Heat Transfer in a Test Furnace With a Staged Oxyfuel Burner Presented by:
  • Alex Mauricio, RWTH Aachen University
  • Garcia Vergara, Purdue University Northwest
15 CFD Modeling of Burner Retrofits for Hydrogen Fuel and Oxygen Enrichment in a Reheating Furnace Presented by:
  • Nicholas Walla, Purdue University Northwest
16 Dynamics of a Liquid Seal Presented by:
  • Madi Muse, John Zink Company
17 Compact Portable Combustors for Pipeline and Equipment Blowdown Presented by:
  • Parthib Rao, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc
18 Flare Header Consolidation: A Risk Survey Presented by:
  • Caitlyn Slattery, John Zink Company
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
LUNCH
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
DAY 2: AFTERNOON PRESENTATIONS
19 Case Studies of Thermoacoustic Vibration in Sulfur Recovery Unit Reaction Furnaces Presented by:
  • Louis R. Pasnik, Becht
20 Why CO Boilers Have So Many Operating Problems Presented by:
  • Ashutosh Garg, Furnace Improvments
21 Mitigating Methane Emissions from Industrial and Large Commercial End Use Equipment Presented by:
  • Sandeep Alavandi, GTI Energy
22 CFD Based Evaluation of Start-up Operation in an Ethane P Potyrolysis Furnace to Mitigateential of Forming Unburned Explosive Mixtures Presented by:
  • Marc Cremer, Reaction Engineering International
23 Prediction of Methane Destructive Efficiency of a Gas Flare using CFD with Adaptive Mesh Refinement and Detailed Chemistry Presented by:
  • Lu Li, Convergent Science
24 Insights into Flame Temperature, Stability and Emissions of Lean Premixed Producer Gas Burner: Numerical and Experimental Combustion Analysis for Renewable Heat Generation Presented by:
  • Muhammad Zubair Qureshi, Free University of Bolzano
25 Numerical Simulations and Experimental Validation of Swiss-roll Combustor Using Coupled 3D CFD, CHT and Combustion Chemistry Presented by:
  • Zubin Mistry, Convergent Science
CLOSING REMARKS Presented by:
  • Dave Schalles, Bloom Engineering Co. Inc.
  • Jamal Jamaluddin

REGISTER

Registration Fee:
  • $775 per person
Fee includes:
  • Admission to all Symposium sessions
  • AFRC Business Meeting
  • Welcome Reception on Monday evening.
  • Refreshment breaks each day.
  • Lunch on Tuesday, and Wednesday.
  • Dinner on Tuesday Only.
  • Access to papers online after the Symposium concludes.
REGISTER TO ATTEND

Download the American Flame Research Committee's 2025 Industrial Combustion Symposium Brouchure.

Registration Brochure Download Brochure

The Venue

Hotel

We have made arrangements for a discounted group rate of $213 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown. Make your hotel reservation directly with the hotel.

Note, rooms are limited at these rates so be sure to make your hotel reservations as soon as possible. Please book your room within our block listed below as it enables us to keep costs low for attendees.


Room Rate

$213 per night; inclusive of 1.78% city fee, exclusive of taxes. Rate includes complimentary breakfast.

Reservation Requirements

A credit card is required to guarantee individual reservations when booking.

Hotel Reservation Cutoff

TThe hotel will offer our discounted group rate until August 25th. Reservations booked thereafter will be on a space and rate availability basis.

Hotel Cancellation

Reservations must be cancelled at or before 11:00 AM MDT, 72 hours (3 days) prior to arrival to avoid a cancellation penalty.

The hotel cutoff date for reservations at the discounted rate is Monday, August 25th 2025 .

Make Your Hotel Reservation

Airport

San Antonio International Airport (SAT) is approximately 9 miles from the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown. Taxis and ride-share options (Uber/Lyft) are the best way to reach the hotel.

SAT is serviced by the following airlines:

  • AeroMexico
  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Air Lines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Spirit Airlines
  • Sun Country Airlines
  • United Airlines
  • Viva
  • Volaris

SPONSORS