1. Aero-Thermo-Mechanics
UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES, Bruxelles
Prof. Alessandro Parente
Assistant Professor
Lab’InSight « Biomass to Energy » -
CTA, December 11th 2012»
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2. FIELDS OF EXPERTISE AND
INDUSTRIAL TARGETS
Fields of Expertise
• Numerical simulation of turbulent reacting and non-reacting
flows
• Gas turbine and rocket propulsion
• Lubrication
• Renewable energies/rational use of energy
Industrial application fields
• Conceptualization, development and testing of efficient
combustion systems for biomass-based fuels
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3. ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR HYDROGEN-
BASED FUEL COMBUSTION
H2-based fuels
• From biomass gasification
• Expensive purification for fuel cells
• Efficient valorization with direct combustion
But …
• H2 → high temperatures and pollutant emissions (NOx)
• New combustion systems needed
Integrated Modelling
Experiments approach (CFD)
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4. ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR HYDROGEN-
BASED FUEL COMBUSTION
Flameless combustion
• Homogenous temperature
FLAME
• Very low NO formation
Our expertise
• Predictive numerical
models for burner
modification/development
350 K 2500 K 1270 K 1390 K
FLAMELESS
C. Gallletti, A. Parente, M. Derudi, R. Rota, L.
Tognotti, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 34, 8339-
8351, 2009.
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5. ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR HYDROGEN-
BASED FUEL COMBUSTION
Applications
• Glass and steel industry
• Micro co-generation
Self-recuperative FLOX® burner (WS FLOX®)
CHP SOLO® Stirling burner (Stirling Systems GmbH)
A. Parente, C. Galletti and L. Tognotti”, Int.
J. Hydrogen Energy, 33, 7553-7564, 2008.
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6. DEVELOPMENT OF A MICRO-CHP/GT
UNIT FOR RESIDENTIAL APPLICATIONS
NANOCOGEN+
• In collaboration with the Walloon Region and a start-up
company, MITIS
• Flameless combustion chamber
• Designed for methane and biogas fuels
• Advanced design tools (CFD and multi-objective optimization)
• Ongoing (started in 2011)
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7. SERVICES PROVIDED TO COMPANIES
→ R&D partnership on research activities related to the
analysis/development of combustion technologies for biomass-
based fuels (biogas and syngas)
→ Development of numerical tools for process analysis and
decision making support
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8. OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES
TRAINING
Subjects
→ Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of fluid flows
with commercial and open-source software
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9. OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES
TRAINING
Subjects
→ VALEBIO: Biomass valorisation - Continuing Education –
University Certificate - ULB / Ulg
Objectives For whom In practice
• Opportunities • Managers • From February 1st
• Characterize valuable • Researchers 2013
biomass • Managers • 234 hours
• Technologies and processes • Government officials • Every Friday, 1 year
• Processing pathways • Consultants… • Partnership:
• Pathway implementation academic
Where (ULB, ULg, CRA-W)
• ULB industrial and public
• Gembloux authorities
• On visites’ sites
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10. LABORATORY CONTACT INFORMATION
UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES/Ecole Polytechnique
Aero-Thermo-Mechanics
Avenue F. D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique
http://mecapp42.ulb.ac.be/atm/
Prof. Gérard Degrez
Chef de service/Head of Department
gdegrez@ulb.ac.be - Phone : +32 2 650 26 48
Prof. Alessandro Parente
Assistant Professor
Alessandro.Parente@ulb.ac.be - Phone : +32 2 650 26 80
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