Numerical methods and optimization

The European HIPERWIND project has ollowed to gain a better understanding of the complex physics influencing the design and operation of large offshore wind farms with a view to enabling substantial cost savings for their owners and, ultimately, for electricity consumers.

The purpose of the CIROQUO consortium, bringing together academic and technological partners, is to solve problems related to the use of numerical simulators that deal with complex phenomena, with computation times that can extend over several hours or days.

Karst formations are complex networks of underground passages resulting from the dissolution of rock, which can extend for hundreds of kilometers. Their reaction to climate change is crucial given their importance in freshwater supply, but also their role as a buffer against extreme weather events, which are set to become more frequent.

When wind turbines are assembled on a wind farm, under certain wind conditions they may interact with each other through what is known as the wake effect. When a wind turbine captures the kinetic energy contained in the wind, due to the conservation of energy, the wind flow downstream experiences a decrease in speed and an increase in turbulence. As a result, wind turbines located in this wake see their electricity production fall significantly, while also undergoing increased mechanical fatigue. These wake effects cause annual production losses of as much as 20%.

[ Simulation for the mastery of physical phenomena ] Compared with conventional stirred reactors, microfluidic systems are of great interest for process intensification, combining low reagent requirements with better performance in terms of mass and heat transfer. In this type of micro-reactor, segmented flows in micro-tubes (also known as Taylor flows) have, for example, been successfully tested at IFPEN to intensify the ethylene oligomerization reaction.

[ DIGITALIZATION AND IA - 2/2 ] One of IFPEN's main areas of research concerns processes and catalysts for the production of bio-based fuels. This is reflected in a large number of experimental projects, the results of which generate knowledge that is then harnessed to develop models. However, this modeling requires the acquisition of large sets of experimental data, which are costly in terms of both time and resources.

Contribution to the study of couplings in interfaces, polymers and porous materials The work of Laurent Cangémi relates to the field of modeling and concerns the formulation of multiphysical couplings in materials. It applies to all porous media exposed to the effects of mass transfer, heat, plasticity or damage, such as catalyst supports or natural underground environments.

Economic Analysis of Energy Systems : a large-scale regional approach This research focuses on the economic analysis of large-scale systems, i.e. targets such as the energy systems of regions, countries, territories and major cities or vast metropolitan areas. In terms of the economic analysis, it extends beyond pure, autonomous economic elements to include issues related to geopolitical, technical and environmental aspects, as well as energy policies, obviously.

In urban zones, road traffic is responsible for a high proportion of pollutant emissions, with a significant impact on air quality, which represents a major public health issue. Atmospheric dispersion can be comprehensively taken into account using CFD. However, random uncertainties, of both natural and anthropogenic origin, can affect its predictive capacity. Concerning this prediction, the PhD research was aimed at quantitatively evaluating the impact of uncertain parameters: firstly, meteorological and, secondly, those related to road traffic. To do this, “high-fidelity” simulations of pollution dispersion on a micro-urban scale (neighborhood) were conducted...

IFPEN is a global leader in the development of fossil feedstocks hydrotreatinga for clean fuel production. Processes from the same family now apply to a broader diversity of feedstocks: plastic and tire pyrolysis oil, in the context of chemical recycling, vegetable oils for biofuel production, etc. For these processes themselves to be eco-efficientb, beyond the targeted environmental benefit, their operating conditions need to be optimized by the use of kinetic or hybrid modelsc, as a function of the feedstocks employed and the specifications sought for the target products...