CBOne: a chronology

  • October 2004: Fabrice Giuliani is appointed Head of the Combustion Department, with the task of building, staffing and equipping this new unit created at the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria. Giuliani has previous work experience at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (Belgium), the French Aerospace Lab (ONERA, France) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR, Germany). The combustion department is part of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and is located at the Institute for Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics. 

Under his leadership, the department benefits from third-party funding with two EU projects (Framework 6: the NEWAC project, Framework 7: the Alfa-Bird project, one EFRE infrastructure grant) financing 3 PhDs. Additionally, two academic research Austrian-funded projects (FWF) finance two PhDs. By 2010, the group has 10 people.

 

 

 

The department gathers experience in experimental combustion research. It designs its equipment, supervises its manufacture, performs testing and carries out testing and validation. Two examples are the pulsator called Siren (design by Andreas Lang, PhD 2011) and the burner with variable geometry (design by Thomas Leitgeb, PhD 2013). Despite the group's recommendation to apply for a patent, the TU Graz did not take its option - and this was one of the reasons why F Giuliani contacted the Science Park: there was an opportunity to be seized.   

This unique know-how and these technologies are key assets for Combustion Bay One, which later turned these ideas into reality through further development.

 

  • 1.12.2010: Fabrice Giuliani obtains his habilitation to direct research at the Graz University of Technology. 
    The last part of the written document (available here) is the statement and the work plan of Combustion Bay One e.U.
    While a habilitation to direct research usually leads to an academic career, in this case, it became a ramp to the free market! 

 

  • 5.5.2011: What should we call it? "Verbrennungstechnik Graz" or something a bit more punchy like "Baie de Combustion numéro 1"? Stéphanie opts for the latter, but in English, please. The wine is good, the evening is fine. OK. Combustion Bay One it is.

 

  • 1.6.2011: Otmar says "Well done. Welcome to the Science Park!". The Science Park is the incubator for academics in Graz, run by TU Graz. The project was selected after a 3-month bidding process - which is great. There had been a dossier with a business plan. Then a defence of the project takes place, with complex technical discussions in front of a hesitant jury, which also wondered why combustion sciences are relevant in the 21rst century. The rhetoric had been fine-tuned based on the previous experience, and this time the proposal was found convincing. CBOne would benefit from an excellent development programme, in a pleasant and comfortable working environment. There would be business coaching.
    That was the moment with a bit of drama.
    Leave the academic world behind and go to the free market.
    A little scary, a little exciting, and a lot of unknowns to sort out one by one in the coming months.

 

 

  • Who are you? I am Sunny Bag. Winterface, nice to meet you. Me I am Bike City Guide. I am Face X. Audible. Perception Park. Bright Red Systems. Trendley. Contain Me!... We are all start ups. We just miss the cape and the boots... with such names we could all be in a superhero comicbook! Everyone does something different. Everyone is motivated. It is nice to be at the Science Park.

 

  • September 2011: Giuliani steps down as Head of the Combustion Department at the Combustion Department of the TU Graz. But old love never rusts. So he continue to teach about gas turbine combustion and keep an eye on "his" doctoral students.
    The bright future is called Combustion Bay One.
    By September, everything is ready. We have a workplace, a website and a logo!
    CBOne - in short - exists!

 

Combustion Bay One provides sustainable combustion technologies. Initial thoughts were to use green patterns in the logo to emphasise the ecology. However, green flames are not recommended in terms of emissions (e.g. clearly visible with propane close to stoichiometry). What is recommended is a deep blue flame, a symbol of premixed lean burn - which is good. Many flame pictures on this site reproduce this colour.  This is why the deep blue colour (R85 G142 B213 O255 @ 100%) is always present in our corporate identity.

 

  • 27.3.2012: The company Combustion Bay One e.U. is registered as an engineering office specialising in advanced combustion management. Rock'n Roll! 

 

 

  • June 2012: First participation in the ASME Turbo Expo conference under the banner of Combustion Bay One. From 2012 to 2023, 14 papers will be published and presented at the same conference.

Fabrice Giuliani and Thomas Leitgeb present the burner with variable geometry at the ASME Turbo-Expo 2012 in Copenhague

 

 

  • June 2013: CBOne's first stand-alone research project is greenlit. Financed by the AWS, a methodology will be developed to fully burn gases with low heat contents such as biogas. The outputs are CBOne's Siren-3G, numerous publications, one prize as well as our first patent.

 

The MethaNull technology: A pilot flame operated in the lean regime and pulsed allows the complete combustion of the main stage, operated even leaner or with low-heat value gases.

 

  • September 2013: CBOne moves in new grounds. The addresses Schuetzenhofgasse 22 (Executive grounds) and Ruckerlberggasse 13 (Operative grounds) are architectures of the late 19th century, with elements of Art Nouveau. The tranquillity of the surroundings combined with the unique ambience of the interiors provides a creative, and inspiring atmosphere. 

 

 

  • October 2015: First stand-alone research project sponsored y the FFG about the precision injection of fuel in propulsion gas turbines. This is the rePorT project, that will open up our first creations using 3D-print of metal powders, and also lead to a patent.

The activities on 3D printing at CBOne start in 2017. This is a revolution: a part can be thought as an organ, optimised in terms of shape and congestion to fulfil its role. Furthermore, secondary or combined features can be implemented, such as heat exchanging effect or instrumentation. "Mathematics to Shape" is a speciality we will quickly do ours! 

 

  • 2015-2019: In co-operation with FH Joanneum / Aviation, CBOne develops a combustion monitoring technique combining acoustic and optic signals for a better and faster interpretation of the combustion status in near real-time. These are the emo(o)tion projects, also supported by the FFG. The probe is realised in two sizes, including a heat-resistant model sensitive to selected bandwidths. One patent is filed.

 

  • 2017: CBOne is a Million-Dollar Baby. This mark is achieved by summing up all turn-over and revenue promises over its 5 years of existence. It took these five years to come back to the acquisition performance of TUGraz' combustion department as of 2010, which is fine.
    2016 was the year of all dangers, whereas it often happens for start-ups, a delay in an industrial project put the company at risk. Suddenly, the costs dramatically exceeded the revenues, and adjustments had to be made. CBOne stopped its growth and went into protection mode for a short time. After the 2016 experience, the new strategy is to make the best use of the small team, invest in the industrial property, and let time do its job in establishing us as a serious and reliable partner. 
    The good news is that the company has passed the "third and fourth cursed years" (where early investments and deferred taxes have to be paid back, while at the same time the company is in a logic of expansion). Very quickly, as the company is managed by a director who behaves like a provincial notary, CBOne is debt-free. The company is profitable from 2013.  

 

 

  • December 2020: The future is hydrogen combustion - but some work must be done. Hydrogen combustion is not trivial. We are about to validate our technologies within the Bluetifuel project, with the support of the KlimaFonds and of the FFG.

 

 

  • March 2021: CBOne reveals that it has been working for two years on groundbreaking combustion technology, its fourth patent. This is the recursive sequential combustion, a process that produces lean and robust combustion with very low emission, and a promising candidate for safe hydrogen combustion. This is the MOeBIUS technology.

 

  • September 2022: Our first steps in artificial intelligence. The use of hydrogen disrupts the combustion patterns of conventional fuels. We need to detect things more quickly. The problems are different and we need to make different decisions when we change an operating point. We believe that artificial intelligence meets this need. The crystAIr programme was initiated by JOANNEUM RESEARCH MATERIALS.

That's all Folks! ... for now!