The Bad News: Like all conferences, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 physical meetings of the HRSG Forum. The same is true for the associated HRSG user conferences co-chaired by Bob Anderson (Competitive Power Resources) and Barry Dooley (Structural Integrity Associates): the Australasian Boiler and HRSG Users Group (ABHUG) and the European HRSG Forum (EHF).
The Good News: All these user conferences are back in virtual action in 2021. The HRSG Forum began
conducting monthly two-hour virtual sessions in May (p 46) and a Vogt-sponsored Supplier Workshop in June (p 56). EHF held its annual meeting via four two-hour virtual sessions in May. ABHUG is scheduled to hold its annual meeting via virtual schedule similar to EHF’s in November.
The Current Status: HRSG Forum maintains cooperative relationships with several world-class organizations—including Power Users, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS), and Combined Cycle Journal (CCJ).
Attendees of the HRSG Forum virtual sessions have enjoyed the same level of expert and timely technical presentations and robust moderated question/answer and discussion periods previously experienced at HRSG Forum, ABHUG, and EHF physical meetings. Surprisingly, even with the time-zone challenges virtual events face, attendees at this year’s HRSG Forum sessions have hailed from 36 countries, making it a truly international event.
Attendance at HRSG Forum virtual sessions is free-of-charge to all. As with HRSG Forum, ABHUG, and EHF
physical meetings, in addition to HRSG owner/operators, OEMs, equipment suppliers, services providers, consultants, etc, are all welcome and urged to participate. In this way users can get their questions answered and problems addressed by experts across a wide range of subjects.
The Future: HRSG Forum will continue to conduct its regular monthly two-hour virtual sessions and occasional Vendor Workshops. These sessions are expertly hosted by Scott Schwieger of CCJ Online. Users and vendors wishing to make a technical presentation during an HRSG Forum session can submit an abstract to Bob Anderson at anderson@HRSGForum.com. Companies wanting to sponsor a Supplier Workshop can contact Scott Schwieger at scott@ccj-online.com. Details of future scheduled HRSG Forum sessions and recordings of past sessions can be found at www.HRSGForum.com.
While no plans are firm at this time, work is in progress to return the HRSG Forum to a physical event. Stay tuned to CCJ for information about that in-person conference and vendor fair as it evolves.
