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Controlled CO 2 | Diversified fuels | Fuel-efficient vehicles | Clean refining | Extended reserves
IFP-Lyon Rond-point de l’échangeur de Solaize BP 3 - 69360 Solaize - France Tel.: +33 4 78 02 20 20
IFP (Head office) 1 et 4, avenue de Bois-Préau 92852 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex - France Tel.: +33 1 47 52 60 00 - Fax: +33 1 47 52 70 00
www.ifp.com
Communication Division- 150809 - Photos: © P. Chevrolat/Photo France, EyeWire Collection, J.J. Humphrey, IFP, RVI, Scopimag, N. Rodet, A. Chezière, X
ChemiseCVGB2.qxd
IFP-Lyon Research geared towards industry
IFP IFP is a world-class public-sector research and training center, aimed at developing the technologies of the future in fields of energy, transport and the environment. IFP provides public players and industry with innovative solutions for a smooth transition to the energies and materials of tomorrow – more efficient, more economical, cleaner and sustainable. It is funded both by a State budget and by resources provided by private French and foreign international partners.
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To fulfill its mission, IFP has five complementary strategic priorities Capturing and storing CO2 to combat the greenhouse effect As the bulk of CO2 emissions result from energy use, efforts to reduce them must be combined with efforts to capture CO2 wherever possible, i.e. primarily at industrial sites. IFP is developing processes for CO2 capture, transport and underground storage, in order to prevent its release into the atmosphere. A seamless transition between fundamental and applied research
Diversifying fuel sources To alleviate the transport sector's dependence on oil, IFP is working on transforming biomass, gas and coal in a bid to develop the fuels of tomorrow, such as biofuels. It is also examining longer-term solutions, such as hydrogen.
Developing clean, fuel-efficient vehicles
Cutting-edge research with a societal dimension
Supported by its cutting-edge experience in the field of powertrains, acquired in partnership with the world's major automobile manufacturers, IFP designs and perfects technological solutions aimed at constantly reducing
fuel consumption and minimizing the environmental impact of vehicles.
Converting as much raw material as possible into energy for transport On the strength of its know-how in clean refining processes and petrochemicals, IFP is developing technologies that will make it possible to produce larger amounts of environmentally-friendly fuels and composites.
Pushing back the boundaries in oil and gas exploration and production Because oil and gas exploration has so far been carried out only at the most accessible sites, IFP is inventing and supplying the technologies needed to exploit reserves that are as yet untapped, making it possible to go further and deeper, working more efficiently and for longer.
Scientific expertise In geosciences (geochemistry, geology, geophysics), chemistry (process engineering, physicochemistry), catalysis, physics and analysis (mechanical engineering, fluid and solid mechanics, rock physics), scientific and industrial computing, applied mathematics, applied sciences (hydraulics, electronics, electrotechnology) and economics.
Training
Transport: ensuring the energy transition
Key figures • 1,720 people including 1,109 researchers (engineering and technical staff) • An R&D budget of €246.3 million • 11 research divisions, 8 of which are represented at IFP-Lyon • 202 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers • 15th national applicant with over 150 patents filed every year in France and a portfolio of over 12,800 active patents • 7th largest patent applicant in the United States in the oil field, all nationalities taken into account • Over 600 IFP School students trained each year
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rowing world energy demand, the gradual peaking of oil and gas production, environmental imperatives and the difficulty of achieving any rapid large-scale substitution in the fields of transport and petrochemicals: these are the factors that will shape the energy landscape of tomorrow. In such a context, it is essential that we develop new solutions to gradually take over from these energy sources without delay, while simultaneously inventing technologies to optimize oil and gas use. IFP's research and development work, hinged upon five strategic priorities, regularly develops new technological solutions that serve industries’ economic competitiveness, thus creating growth and jobs.
Resources Representing more than 50 professions, from geological engineers to powertrain engineers, IFP’s employees, based in Rueil-Malmaison and Lyon, form a unique body of specialists and an unparalleled network of expertise. To successfully carry out their research work, they have access to an extremely high-quality technical environment, in terms of both facilities and testing resources.
An integral part of IFP, the IFP School offers graduate training programs for engineers designed to meet the needs of industry. The quality of its teaching, combined with the extent and diversity of its partnerships with universities and industry, make it a prominent international force. Every year, more than 600 students from around the globe graduate from the school, fully prepared to take up the challenges posed by the energies of the future.
Technology transfer In a constant drive for progress, IFP aids the conversion from invention to innovation, from patent to product and from research to industry. In doing so, it ensures the progression from fundamental research, and applied research, through to industrial development. Since its inception, IFP has therefore been a major driving force for industrial development: it has always been committed to finding industrial outlets for its research results, supporting the creation of some thirty companies which have themselves become significant employers and exporters. A core component of the policy of technology transfer to the market, these businesses span all the research fields in which IFP is active: from oil research, consultancy and engineering to the supply of products, equipment and services, and new energy technologies.
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IFP-Lyon, a major technological player Experiment is an essential step in the process that leads from innovation to industrial development. IFP has brought together at IFP-Lyon all the expertise necessary to develop powerful innovative processes and effective solutions for clean transportation.
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Unique expertise based on a string of technological successes
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FP-Lyon groups design, modeling, experimental and extrapolation resources in the following areas: ■ CO2 capture and storage, ■ production processes for petroleum fuels, synfuels and biofuels, ■ oil production, ■ engines, with a strong focus on trucks and hybrid powertrain.
The work done at IFP-Lyon serves to validate the industrial feasibility of IFP's processes and technologies, make sure of their reliability, and guarantee their use on an industrial scale.
IFP-Lyon’s human, scientific and technical resources • 670 people, 535 of them researchers • More than 60 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers • 180 laboratories • 120 semi-industrial pilot units • 30 equipment test benches • 30 scale models for hydrodynamic studies • 7 engine test benches, 3 of them specific to trucks, and 1 vehicle test bench • 2 loops for fluid transport research
5 A 670-strong scientific community
Research geared towards industry: facilities at IFP-Lyon
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n the field of CO2 capture, three approaches are now being investigated at IFP: postcombustion, oxycombustion and precombustion capture. The projects under way are based on IFP-Lyon’s technical resources. These include laboratories specializing in the characterization of the solvents used for post-combustion capture, and scale models used to study contactors and to optimize the processes for the design of future industrial units. Work is also being done on various oxycombustion approaches, among them CLC (Chemical Looping Combustion), which is being tested in several research pilots. In the field of fuels, IFP is developing processes to convert crude oil to products meeting the environmental standards in force. Once imagined in the laboratory, these processes are tested in IFP-Lyon's pilot units, operating
under real-life conditions, in other words in the same temperature and pressure ranges as industrial units. IFP has in this way developed the first industrial biofuel production processes. Various second-generation biofuel production approaches are now in development, with in particular the installation at IFP-Lyon of a biomass roasting unit to study the thermochemical route. Using the teams' expertise in combustion and engine control, efficient powertrains for vehicles from mopeds to trucks are being developed at IFPLyon. The test benches serve to develop and fine-tune the technological, thermodynamic, combustion and aftertreatment aspects of powertrains. They also serve to incorporate technological innovations related to fuel formulations. Three of IFP-Lyon’s test benches are specific to research on truck engines.
The technological bottlenecks created by the extreme conditions of production of some crudes are, for their part, investigated using specialized experimental resources (test benches, loops, etc.). In its “Lyre” test loop, IFP reproduces the flows observed in pipes and oil processing equipment. The GOwSP test platform, developed with Total, is used for research into equipment to separate water, gas and crude under the conditions found in oil production installations.
Strong local presence Based in the Rhône-Alpes region since 1967, IFP-Lyon is very much part of the local fabric. Member of the region’s public-sector research federation (CEPRRA), it has built close ties with leading local industrial firms, universities, graduate schools and research centers. IFP-Lyon is thus the École doctorale de chimie (Postgraduate school of Chemistry) host laboratory.
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FP-Lyon is also a founding member of the Association for the sustainable development of the Vallée de la chimie (chemistry valley), which brings together companies and municipalities in the region. In addition to strengthening the synergies between its various members, the association aims to promote concrete local initiatives for sustainable development.
IFP-Lyon’s local presence is further cemented by around thirty partnerships set up each year with local SMEs and it stands out through its high level of involvement in two regional competitiveness clusters: Axelera (Lyon and Rhône-Alpes ChemistryEnvironment), a global cluster, and Lyon Urban Truck and Bus.
An SME initiative for local industrial players
The Smart Vehgan, developed by IFP in partnership with ADEME, Gaz de France and Valeo, combines the advantages of hybridization and the use of a low-carbon fuel, natural gas
The development of pollutant trapping technologies on the truck test bench
Using IFP’s expertise, a regional office supports SMEs in their technological innovation: a partnership in which risk and success are shared equitably. A number of companies in the RhôneAlpes region manufacture or market products using IFP-developed technology.
7 Acknowledged expertise in process intensification
Competitiveness clusters in the Rhône-Alpes region Axelera - Lyon and Rhône-Alpes Chemistry-Environment This cluster is aimed at speeding up the shift to groundbreaking chemistry that incorporates environmental protection from the outset through eco-design. Its application areas are catalysis, processes and materials. IFP is a founding member of the cluster, with responsibility for the Processes theme. The projects in which IFP-Lyon teams are particularly involved concern: ■ intensifying processes, in other words designing production units that are more compact, consume less energy, and have a smaller environmental footprint, ■ replacing fossil raw materials by renewable materials and water treatment, ■ cutting costs of the current postcombustion CO2 capture process and developing new breakthrough processes.
IFP is also involved in the Lyon Institut de Chimie and in regional research clusters.
Lyon Urban Truck and Bus IFP is a founding member of the Lyon Urban Truck and Bus (LUTB) cluster, within which it takes part in many initiatives. The LUTB cluster’s goal is to design, test, develop and export transportation solutions that will enable large urban areas to optimize the way they manage the movements of goods and people. The projects of this cluster overlap IFP's main skill areas in engines: combustion systems, alternative fuels including NGV, hybridization, energy recovery and storage, emissions aftertreatment, powertrains adapted to new fuels, and engine control. IFP is especially active in the theme, “Development of environmentally-
friendly internal combustion and hybrid engines”, dealt with in the Powertrain program it leads. The objective is to come up with innovative responses to the challenges industrial vehicles must overcome: lower consumption, combined use of electricity and internal combustion, use of alternative fuels, reduction of air pollution and noise. IFP is also associated with approaches aimed at pooling the equipment used within the cluster by its members.
IFP-Lyon, know-how serving innovation IFP-Lyon’s eight research and development divisions boast expertise that complements that of the Rueil-Malmaison site. The work done at IFP-Lyon attests to the transition from research to development that prevails at IFP. All of IFP's research activity is ISO 9001 certified.
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Catalysis and Separation
Physics and Analysis
Process Modeling and Design
This division’s teams design and optimize catalysts, supports, adsorbents, absorbents and trapping masses for the new energy, refining, petrochemical and automotive technologies.
The research work carried out in this division is aimed at developing effective methodologies to characterize petroleum products, substitute fuels and materials (including catalysts and adsorbents). As a result of this development work, detailed characterizations of solids and advanced molecular descriptions of products are now available.
This division’s teams develop and improve processes and technologies for refining, gas treatment, biomass conversion and energy production. They build process simulators and models of reactors, making sure that the descriptions chosen take the necessary physical phenomena into account: chemical mechanisms and kinetics, transfers of matter and heat, hydrodynamics.
Catalysts, at the heart of the processes
Efficient analytical laboratories
Modeling the temperature in a hydrogen production reactor - European Cachet Project
Technology, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics This division's researchers contribute to IFP's R&D projects in a high-tech environment and a highly crossdisciplinary context. Scientific computing, software architectures, optimization, statistics, automatic control, real-time hardware and software technologies, data acquisition and processing techniques, power electronics are their areas of expertise. They provide innovative solutions in software, electronic equipment for both in-house and industrial use.
Engines IFP in Lyon develops innovative solutions in the fields of engines, hybrids, after-treatment systems and gaseous fuels that are so many steps towards the major goal of reducing fuel consumption and emissions of pollutants and CO2. For this purpose, the teams make use in particular of test benches, for both light-vehicles and truck engines.
9 Development of new engines and new fuels The construction of a model using a scatterplot makes it possible to cut the number of tests needed to determine the optimal formulation of a catalyst
Process Experiments This division’s teams design and develop more powerful new experimental tools, with a special focus on innovation and technological breakthroughs. They also work to optimize operations of equipment and most of the pilot units at IFP-Lyon. These pilot units yield reliable results that can be extrapolated to industrial units and used to validate the development of models.
Applied Mechanics Materials The research is aimed at characterizing polymer and composite or metallic materials, in order to determine laws to predict their behavior under realistic conditions of use, and at developing new materials for IFP's main fields of activity.
The research work done in this division concerns not only mechanical engineering but also solid mechanics and fluid mechanics. It is aimed both at improving oil and gas production technologies and developing technical solutions relevant to the new energy technologies (transport of hydrogen, compression/storage of CO2). This work is based on the use of large-scale tests, which reproduce the actual operating conditions and lead to new computing tools, facilities and innovative systems for industry.
Specialized electrochemical equipment for battery measurements
Pilot units, a step in the industrial extrapolation of processes
In addition, the skills in corrosion and electrochemistry that have been built up at IFP-Lyon allow more effective investigation of the corrosion resistance of steels in equipment, and are now focused on optimizing the use of the various types of batteries available for hybrid vehicles.
The GOwSP (Gas-Oil-water Separation Platform) yields a better understanding of the phenomenology of three-phase separation (gas-crude oilwater)
IFP-Lyon, promoting knowledge
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Conference organized at IFP-Lyon in 2008, bringing together the members of four European projects on CO2 capture: Castor, Encap, Cachet and Dynamis
FP contributes to France’s scientific and technical influence by ensuring that its research results are available in professional spheres the world over. It organizes, in particular, conferences to disseminate this knowledge.
A branch devoted to continuous training
The IFP International Conferences (Les Rencontres scientifiques de l'IFP), bringing together researchers from all regions and fields to work on new themes each year, are a prime example of the dialogue fostered with academic spheres. Some of these events are organized on the IFP-Lyon site, which has the necessary facilities to host international-scale conferences.
Over 10,000 professionals receive training each year
IFP’s knowledge is also disseminated through continuous professional training. The Lyon branch of IFP Training caters to the regional energy industry’s stafftraining needs. It provides 700 training days per year in the fields of refining, petrochemicals, chemistry, engineering and engines. www.enspmfi.com/eng/centres/lyon.htm IFP-Lyon also has an information center that houses IFP’s refining and petrochemical document holdings, which include more than 15,000 books and 530 scientific and technical publication collections. The center is essential in the documentary and bibliographical investigation work of information officers and researchers.
19/08/08
17:01
Page 1
Controlled CO 2 | Diversified fuels | Fuel-efficient vehicles | Clean refining | Extended reserves
IFP-Lyon Rond-point de l’échangeur de Solaize BP 3 - 69360 Solaize - France Tel.: +33 4 78 02 20 20
IFP (Head office) 1 et 4, avenue de Bois-Préau 92852 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex - France Tel.: +33 1 47 52 60 00 - Fax: +33 1 47 52 70 00
www.ifp.com
Communication Division- 150809 - Photos: © P. Chevrolat/Photo France, EyeWire Collection, J.J. Humphrey, IFP, RVI, Scopimag, N. Rodet, A. Chezière, X
ChemiseCVGB2.qxd
IFP-Lyon Research geared towards industry