The 19th UK Heat Transfer Conference was held at Newcastle University from the 7th to the 9th September 2026. The HTS has been working closely with the UK National Heat Transfer Committee to strengthen our collaboration within the heat transfer community. Every two years, the UK National Heat Transfer Committee organise the UK Heat Transfer Conference. As part of this partnership, the HTS, for the second time, hosted a dedicated industrial session.
The sessions provide an opportunity for companies to showcase their latest work, share invaluable practical experience in heat transfer, and highlight future developments in heat transfer engineering. It complements the academic programme by presenting real-world industrial challenges and encourage meaningful exchanges of ideas.
The session was organised by Dr Hezlin Ashraf - Engineering Manager at Bowman Ltd Heat Transfer Technology / member of both the Heat Transfer Society Committee and the UK National Heat Transfer Committee. The session was chaired by David Norton – Head of Sales at Bousted Internal Heaters/Chairman of the Heat Transfer Society. The abstracts for this years talks were:
LEVERAGING HIGH-FIDELITY DIGITAL TWINS TO MONITOR PERFORMANCE AND INTEGRITY IN PROCESS HEAT-TRANSFER EQUIPMENT - HTRIconnect
Presenter: Dr Hans Zettler - President of Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) / 2026 President of the Heat Transfer Society
ABSTRACT
Engineers have long relied on HTRI software to accurately model heat exchangers. That reliability is underpinned by decades of research conducted at HTRI's Research & Technology Center (RTC) in Texas, in collaboration with a global network of research and technology partners.
The RTC's controlled test environment currently houses twelve operating research units, including shell-and-tube, air-cooler, and plate heat exchangers, as well as prototype heat exchangers. Current research programs span fouling of crude oil and other hydrocarbon feedstocks, vacuum condensation, multiphase boiling and condensation, two-phase flow visualization, and highly viscous liquid and slurry flows—each directly informing continuous improvements to HTRI's design, simulation and rating tools.
Tracking performance degradation and integrity threats in process heat-transfer equipment—such as heat exchangers and fired heaters—remains a persistent challenge for operators. HTRIconnect addresses this by creating operational digital twins that integrate within operating companies' digital transformation (DX) programs.
Built on HTRI's proven thermal and hydraulic analysis technology, HTRIconnect links live process data to high-fidelity simulation models, providing continuous visibility into internal equipment conditions. By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) over time, the platform enables operators to detect performance drift, identify early signs of degradation, and prioritize maintenance actions—reducing unplanned downtime and supporting asset integrity throughout the equipment lifecycle. Examples in this presentation from refining and chemical industry applications illustrate some of the uses of HTRIconnect.
SECONDARY REFORMER WASTE HEAT BOILERS – THE ROLE OF HEAT TRANSFER IN COMPONENT FAILURES
Presenter: Ian Gibbard - Owner of Progressive Thermal Engineering
ABSTRACT
Secondary reformers are catalytic reactors used in the production of syngas and are a component of ammonia, methanol and hydrogen production plants. The reformer operates at high temperature and the reaction products are immediately cooled in a waste heat boiler. This specialised heat exchanger cools the hot gases and generates high pressure steam.
Secondary Reformer Waste Heat Boilers present many design challenges. Components must be protected from excessive temperatures while retaining sufficient strength and flexibility to withstand significant mechanical loads. Sophisticated designs have evolved to satisfy these requirements while minimising costs and accommodating ever larger plant capacity demands.
While these waste heat boilers are capable of reliable long-term service, they operate close to a “cliff edge”. Small deviations in conditions can lead to rapid and catastrophic failure, incurring millions of dollars in downtime and repair costs. When such failures occur, it is imperative that the root causes are understood and corrected. However, root cause analysis is not straightforward due to the complexity of the equipment and the processes which take place within it.
This presentation will focus on the heat transfer processes present in Secondary Reformer Waste Heat Boilers and their contribution to component failures. The challenges involved in modelling and root cause analysis will be described.
USING IN-TUBE INSERTS TO SHIFT CRITICAL HEAT FLUX UNDER ASYMMETRIC HEATING
Presenter: Dr Hamzah Sheikh - Principal Research Scientist at Calgavin Centre for Flow Processing (CALGAVIN LTD)
ABSTRACT
Background
Critical heat flux (CHF) in flow boiling represents a fundamental limitation in thermal systems, where vapour film formation leads to a sharp deterioration in heat transfer and a rapid rise in surface temperature. Accurate prediction and enhancement of CHF are essential across a range of engineering applications, including high-performance heat exchangers, power generation systems, electronic cooling, and cryogenic fluid vaporisation processes such as those encountered in hydrogen and liquefied gas handling. In these systems, exceeding CHF can result in material degradation, reduced efficiency, or catastrophic failure.
In fusion energy systems, this challenge is particularly acute due to the extreme and sustained heat loads imposed on plasma-facing components. However, the underlying heat transfer limitations are shared with many industrial boiling systems, making advances in CHF enhancement broadly applicable across sectors.
Objective
This work investigates the use of passive in-tube enhancement devices to extend the thermal performance envelope of cooling channels operating under flow boiling conditions. The primary objective is to increase CHF and improve heat transfer performance, enabling more robust and efficient thermal system design.
Methodology
An industrially developed, purpose-built experimental facility was designed, assembled, and commissioned to provide high-fidelity measurements of flow boiling under asymmetric constant heat flux conditions. The facility replicates a single cooling channel and enables controlled, repeatable testing representative of demanding thermal environments.
A model fluid (HFO-1336mzz-Z) was employed to allow safe and practical investigation of CHF behaviour at reduced temperatures while preserving relevant boiling characteristics.
The study integrates:
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Baseline and enhanced experimental testing to quantify CHF performance
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Systematic variation of flow conditions, including mass flux
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Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to resolve detailed flow and thermal fields for different insert geometries
Results and Discussion
Initial experiments without enhancement devices validated the accuracy of the facility, demonstrating strong agreement with expected boiling trends, including increasing CHF with mass flux. These baseline results establish confidence in the measurement approach and provide a reference for performance comparison.
Testing with internal enhancement devices showed consistent and, in some cases, substantial increases in CHF relative to the smooth tube configuration. The degree of enhancement varied with insert geometry, indicating opportunities for targeted optimisation.
Complementary CFD simulations reproduced the experimental conditions and provided detailed insight into the flow mechanisms responsible for CHF enhancement, including turbulence augmentation and improved liquid rewetting of heated surfaces.
Conclusions
The new test facility has successfully enabled initial investigations of flow boiling and CHF enhancement in conditions relevant to both fusion and broader industrial applications. However, the experimental programme is still in its infancy; the results presented so far are based on a limited set of tests and serve primarily as proof of concept and facility validation.
A comprehensive campaign of experiments is planned, covering a wide range of heat fluxes, mass fluxes, pressures, and enhancement geometries. This extensive dataset will be used to develop accurate, predictive correlations for CHF and heat transfer enhancement, forming a robust basis for future cooling channel design and optimisation.
LOCAL SOVEREIGNTY IN ENGINEERING AI: BUILDING SECURE, BARE_METAL RAG PIPELINES FOR PROPRIETARY RESEARCH
Presenter: Chris Hart - Managing Director at Graham Hart Process Technology
ABSTRACT
This presentation outlines the architectural transition from legacy document indexing to an autonomous, self-hosted Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline for chemical engineering and heat transfer R&D. Operating entirely on-premise, the system addresses strict enterprise data privacy requirements and complex client NDAs. It details the journey from basic keyword searching and web interfaces to an advanced local ecosystem. By combining high-performance semantic retrieval with sub-agent execution loops, this setup bridges the gap between massive technical literature management and autonomous multi-step reasoning.
THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF HYDROGEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES – AN INDUSTRIAL PERSPECTIVE
Dr Hezlin Ashraf - Engineering Manager at EJ Bowman Ltd (Heat Transfer Technology)
ABSTRACT
Hydrogen internal combustion engines offer a promising route towards lower-carbon stationary power generation while retaining much of the established reciprocating-engine architecture.
This talk provides an industrial perspective on the thermal-management requirements of hydrogen-fuelled generator sets. It will consider the key heat-rejection duties, including charge-air cooling, engine jacket-water cooling, lubricating-oil cooling and exhaust-gas heat recovery. Particular attention will be given to the role of heat exchangers, operating conditions and practical design considerations.
The talk will also highlight opportunities for applying established heat-transfer technologies and for further industrial and academic collaboration as hydrogen engine technology develops.
HTS members also presented in other sessions:
A PERSPECTIVE ON PREPARING STUDENTS FOR A CAREER IN HEAT TRANSFER: HEAT EXCHANGER
Dr Hezlin Ashraf - Engineering Manager at EJ Bowman Ltd (Heat Transfer Technology)
IMPROVED OPERABILITY OF THERMOSIPHON REBOILERS BY THE USE OF hiTRAN® WIRE MATRIX ELEMENTS,
Presenter: Dr Peter Droegemueller – Director of Research & Development, CALGAVIN Ltd
AN INTEGRATED HYBRID MODELLING APPROACH FOR FOULING IN HEAT EXCHANGERS
Presenter: Nima Nazemzadeh - Hexxcell Ltd
OPTIMIZING AIR COOLER OPERATION IN A CRUDE PREHEAT TRAIN
Presenter: Edward Ishiyama - HTRI
MODELLING FOULING IN MILK POWDER MANUFACTURING FOR IMPROVED ENERGY AND PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE
Presenter: Maro Malliaroudaki - Hexxcell Ltd.
If you are interested in participating in future conferences or have any questions, please contact
Further information regarding the conference can be found here: Important Information | 19th UK Heat Transfer Conference | Newcastle University
