A Consortium of Large Scale Facilities in the Field of
Energy, Combustion and the Environment

Professor Dr.-Ing. Klaus R.G. Hein graduated from the Technical University Aachen, Germany, in Chemical Engineering in 1964 and - after a post-graduate scholarship of one year at Imperial College London, UK - joined the International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF), IJmuiden, The Netherlands, in 1966 as research engineer with particular emphasis on coal characterisation, burner design and all areas of the combustion process.

In 1971 he was appointed Head of the Research & Development Department of the RWE Essen, the largest utility group Germany. His main efforts had been directed towards solving practical problems in coal combustion systems by scientifically based research in close cooperation with universities and by operating various research facilities on semi-technical scale. Major areas of these activities were erosion, corrosion, deposit formation and emission control. In particular his investigations of and his solutions towards the reduction of deposit formation - fouling, slagging - on heat transfer surfaces during coal firing resulted in important improvements of the availability of utility boilers. Furthermore, the development of the dry sorption technology for SO2 emission reduction in the 70ies (via prototypes with single unit size up to 150 MW and up to 2500 MW total capacity) and combustion modifications for NOx minimisation below 100 ppm for brown coal fired boilers in the 80ies were the major tasks of Prof. Hein. For these achievements i.e. the integration of emission control into fossil fuel fired power stations, he was awarded in 1983 with the „Heinrich-Mandel-Preis“ of the VGB (boiler operators' association, Germany).

The technology developed for NOx control - in close cooperation with the equipment suppliers - became the solution for compliance with the German emission limitations for all brown coal boilers in the Rhineland (up to 600 MWe). From 1989 onwards Prof. Hein was also in charge of transferring such West German experience to prototype boilers in East Germany as beginning of a successful retrofit of all brown coal fired units.

During the time at RWE Prof. Hein finished his PhD in 1972 with the University Stuttgart, Germany, on radiation from industrial pulverised coal flames. In 1986 he was - in addition to his function in Germany industry - appointed Professor at the Technical University Delft, The Netherlands, in the field of combustion technology.

Besides his function in Delft he was assigned in 1992 Director of the Institute for Process Engineering and Power Plant Technology at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. Under his guidance this institute grew to one of the largest research stations in science and technology in the field of large scales energy conversion within the European university scene and beyond, and gained a particularly high international recognition in combustion of fossil and biomass fuels, air pollution and air quality control including mathematical modelling of industrial boilers and furnaces.

At the University of Stuttgart he was also Dean of the Faculty of Energy Technology and has been recently appointed Provost (Vice-President) of this University in the field of Research and Technology. In addition, he was chosen Honorary Professor in the P.R. China by the Universities Tsinghua, Beijing from 1992, Huazhong Wuhan from 1995, Southeast Nanjing from 1998, Jiao Tong Shanghai from 1999, Inner Mongolia College of Hohhot from 1996 onwards and he also acts as Chief Advisor for the Thermal Power Research Institute (TPRI) of the Ministry for Electric Power, P.R. China since 1993. 

For his achievements in the scientific cooperation between China and Europe he received the „Steed Award“ from the Government of the Autonomous Province of Inner Mongolia/China.

Professor Hein is involved in extensive training and consultancy activities in Europe and abroad. He is member of various international specialists' groups (e.g. VGB, GVC, DECHEMA, IFRF, DVV, ASME) and took part in expert delegations of the German Government as well as of the European Union (EU) to the USA, Australia, Indonesia, China and Japan. Among his international commitments Professor Hein has organized several scientific and application oriented training courses in Asia, the USA and Eastern Europe in the 80ies and is since 1992 also engaged in various activities of the EU, e.g. Directorate General XVII (Energy) and Directorate XII General (Science, Research and Development) as assessor and as coordinator of multi-country, multi-partner research programmes.

The scientific and technical work of Professor Hein is summarized in more than 250 publications.

Professional career:

• Investigator, International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF), IJmuiden, The Netherlands, 1966-1971
• Head of Research and Development Section, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk (RWE) Essen, Germany, 1971-1992
• Professor for Fuel Conversion, Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands, since 1986
• Professor and Director of the Institute for Process Engineering and Power Plant Technology, University of Stuttgart, Germany, since 1992
• Vice Dean, University of Stuttgart, Germany, Faculty of Energy Technology, 1994 – 1995; 1998
• Dean, University of Stuttgart, Germany, Faculty of Energy Technology, 1996-1997
• Pro Rector (Vice President), University of Stuttgart, Germany, 1999-2000

Membership of professional bodies (selection):

• The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Deposit and Advisory Committee, since 1981
• IEA Coal Research, PFBC Working Group, 1986 - 1990
• European Union, EU-China Exchange Programme, lecturer/ coordinator, 1987 – 1997
• International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF/NL), Board Member, since 1988
• European Union, Programme Human Capital and Mobility, Assessor, since 1992
• European Commission, Advisor, since 1992
• VGB (German Boiler Operators Association), Scientific Advisory Board Member, since 1992
• German-French Institute for Environmental Research, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, since 1993
• Thermal Power Research Institute, Xian, P.R. China, Chief Advisor, since 1994
• FDBR (German Power Station Supply Organisation), Vice-Chairman for Research, since 1995
• Member of the Finnish Academies of Technology, since 1996
• Advisory Professor Wuchang Boiler & Container Works, P.R. China, since 1997
• Australian Government, Clean Coal Research, Assessor, since 1998

Awards:

• Heinrich Mandel Award of the VGB (German Boiler Operators Association) for work on integration of emission control in fossil fuel-fired power stations (1983)
• Steed Award of the Inner Mongolia Government for scientific cooperation between China and Europe (1999)

Honours:

• Guest Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, since 1992
• Honorary Professor, Huazhong University, Wuhan, since 1995
• Honorary Professor, Inner Mongolia College, Hohhot, since 1996
• Visiting Professor, Southeast University, Nanjing, since 1998
• Guest Professor, Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, since 1999
• Honorary Professor, Timisoara University Romania, since 2000