EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Working Party of Multiphase Fluid Flow

Minutes of the Business Meeting

• Meeting
  The meeting took place on the occasion of the 3rd International Symposium on Two-Phase Flow Modelling and Experimentation, Pisa, Italy, September 22-25.

• Welcome
  Prof Drahoš welcomed the participants, distributed copies of the auxiliary source material and outlined the Agenda.

1. Approval of the last Minutes (Granada, Spain, 2003)
   The minutes were approved without objections.

2. Information about the Meeting of WP chairmen in Frankfurt, June 2004 (Prof Drahoš)
   Prof Drahoš informed the participants about the main points of the Meeting.

   • The current structure of the WPs under EFCE was discussed regarding their 'vertical' vs. 'horizontal' profiles. The former reflects the present state and is focussed on the particular fields of research. The latter (the sections) covers a broader area - the problem is how to administrate the them.
   • It was noted that the fee for the 2005 WCCE in Glasgow is rather high (cca 1000 euro).
   • WP rules were discussed for an update (changes regarding the guest members, service period etc.)
   • The EFCE flagship journal Chem. Eng. Res. Des. (ChERD) will pay two issues to problems related to the Federation and its Working Parties. The members of WP are invited to serve as reviewers for ChERD.

3. Information about the EFCE Executive Board Meeting in Prague, August 2004 (Prof Drahoš)
   Prof Drahoš informed the participants about the main points of the Meeting: election to the Executive Board (Prof Drahoš was elected), financial report, WP and section matters, presentations selected WP activities (Prof Drahoš reported), strategic matters, activities in Brussels (results so far not very encouraging), progress of the WCCE7 and ECCE-5 organisation, decision to held ECCE-6 in Copenhagen (2007). This point was followed with an extensive and vivid discussion mainly devoted to the insufficient contact of WP with industries, where all attendees contributed. The major issues can be summarized as follows.

   • What is the purpose of WP? WP Directives say: "...WP are formed to deal with special fields with object of achieving active collaboration in Europe, e.g. by preparing progress reports, investigating important problems and suggesting symposia to be held...", further, "...The programme of activity in general shall be based on a critical assessment of what is known, and what is unknown, in the sphere under consideration...", i.e. WP is not primarily established to make links to industry.
   • What can WP offer to the industry? (industry have/hire the experts they need).
   • Organizing joint meetings? (questionable profit for industry, avoid overlap of academic and industrial events).
   • Drawbacks of collaboration with industry (secrecy, lack of sufficient information about the systems under study, etc.).
   • Make our WP more visible - rename? (e.g. WP on Industrial Fluid Flow/Process Fluid Flow).

   To conclude, the links with industry are mostly based on personal contacts. Our WP, as presently is, certainly cannot offer too much. Any activities and suggestions to improve the situation are welcome.

4. Information about 4th EMSI Meeting in Genoa, June 2004 (Prof Drahoš)
   EMSI admitted to be a virtual and dormant institution at present. Nevertheless, its inter-linking potential can quickly be activated in case of need, e.g. creation of a network for 7th FP, etc.

5. Joint projects within the 6th FP
   Unfortunately, our activities within the 6th FP have not succeeded. The application process does not enable the applicants to reply to the Revivers' comments (rather unfair). A strong lobbying must be done rather by industrial companies and not by academic institutions (low impact).

6. Presentations

   • Prof Andreussi (IT) "How to turn multiphase research into money".
   • Mr Clapham (UK) "Potential areas for continued/further flow assurance research work in multiphase oil and gas production systems".
   • Prof Soldati (IT) "Droplet and Particle Behavior in Turbulent Flow Fields: Physics and Modelling in Industrial Applications".

   All presentations were excellent and very interesting. The audience highly appreciated the effort spent by the contributors.

7. Progress in preparation the WP home page (Dr Ruzicka)
   Current state of the development of the WP Database on multiphase research in Europe was presented. The national representatives were given their passwords and encouraged to start filling the database with the national entries. True, dense, and up-to-date covering of the national research is the sole responsibility of the representatives.

8. Next WP Meeting
   After a discussion, it was agreed to hold the next meeting in Glasgow, UK, on the occasion of the World Congress of Chemical Engineering, 10-14 July 2005 (the date will be specified). Those not coming to Glasgow can meet at the GLS Congress in Strasbourg, FR, on 21-24 August 2005.

9. Miscellaneous
   The business meeting was closed by the traditional dinner. The delegates thanked to Prof Andreussi for excellent choice of the restaurant and menu, and for sponsoring this event.