Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) has emerged as an efficient oxy-combustion process for capturing carbon dioxide. Its advantage lies in the easy separation of CO2 from other flue gas components. This process involves two reactors connected in a loop, where a solid metal known as the oxygen carrier circulates between them, transferring oxygen from the Air Reactor (AR) to the Fuel Reactor (FR). In the FR, combustion takes place with pure oxygen, resulting in a high concentration of CO2, which facilitates efficient carbon capture and contributes to achieving carbon neutrality.
This thesis is part of the PEPR OXY3C project which is an innovative French project aimed at enhancing knowledge and expertise in oxy-combustion. The project brings together eight academic partners who specialize in two approaches: chemical looping combustion (CLC) for biomass and oxyfuel flames for biogas. The consortium relies on its recognized proficiency in advanced diagnostics applied in oxy-combustion experimental facilities, as well as high-performance numerical simulations, to develop refined databases and numerical modeling tools. These technologies can be applied to a wide range of applications, including gas turbines, boilers, glass, steel, power, and cement plants, with a focus on sober and highly energy-efficient solutions.
In the aforementioned project, a multi-scale approach is adopted for the CLC simulation to model heterogenous reactions in a two-phase gas-solid dense regime reactive flow encountered within the Fuel Reactor (FR). The PhD candidate will initially extend the in-house code RESPECT-FUGU features, from homogenous and surface reactions to heterogeneous reactions in order to simulate at the particles scale the biomass pyrolysis and the char gasification present in the FR. Once these developments are validated, Particle-Resolved Direct Numerical Simulations will be performed to provide a very fine characterization of the reactive particulate flow typical of a fuel reactor and develop closure laws to be used at macroscopic scale.
We invite individuals who are rigorous, motivated, creative, and hard-working to join us in this exciting opportunity to develop their research abilities within a top-level research environment equipped with advanced laboratory infrastructure. The ideal applicant should hold (or be in the process of obtaining) an MSc or Engineering School degree in numerical fluid mechanics and/or combustion.
