Keynotes

Marc Delpech

Title: Nuclear energy systems : from generation II to generation IV

Marc Delpech is belonging to Nuclear Energy Division of CEA (CEA/DEN). His field of interest is the reactor and fuel cycle physic. He has managed OECD working groups and French Research Group on innovative fuels and reactors. He has participated to the international GEN IV forum evaluation. More recently, he has managed R&D programs at CEA/DEN. Now, he is deputy director of the innovation and nuclear support division which is responsible of the research and development programs at CEA/DEN.

Abstract:
France has launched a nuclear power program in the 70s, based on the technology of Light Water Reactors (or PWR: Pressurized Water Reactors) allowing producing nearly 80% of the electricity needed in the country and reducing its need for fossil resources. Worldwide, some nations have had or are launching similar programs. Since the 70s, reactor design has evolved to improve safety and economy. In parallel, the fuel cycle technologies have also evolved with the same objectives. These developments were made possible by a process of continuous improvements and research of innovations. Thus, the roadmap from the 2nd generation to the 3rd and the 4th generation brings significant advances in safety, resource saving and waste reduction. In the frame of an international consortium, CEA, AREVA, EDF and its partners are working on a Generation IV system, the Sodium Fast Reactors and are designing an industrial demonstrator with a power of 600 MWe called Astrid (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration) and its associated fuel cycle facilities. The presentation will be devoted to medium and long term prospective scenarios of nuclear systems, to the basement of the choice of the SFR technology versus others and to the new technologies implemented in ASTRID.

Jamal Chaouki

Title: Co-combustion of coal and waste: experiment, modelling and environmental impacts

Jamal Chaouki obtained his engineering degree from ENSIC in Nancy, France in 1979 and Ph.D. degree from Polytechnique, Montreal in 1985. He was also post-doc fellow at UBC Vancouver from 1985 to 1986.

Prof. Chaouki is full professor from 1995 at Polytechnique, Montréal. He has supervised more than 80 Ph.D. and Master Students and more than 40 post-docs. He published more than 400 reviewed articles in refereed journals and in different reviewed proceedings and more than 450 other scientific articles and edited 6 books. He has more than 17 patents on different processes. He is now editor of the « Chemical Product and Process Modeling ». He is also director of Biorefinery Center and member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He has co-chaired 8 International Conferences including the 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering 2009 where he has acted as technical director , he is also member of the 10^th World CChE 2017 and he is the president of the Fluidization 15^th Int. Conf. He is now supervising 34 researchers (22 Ph.Ds, 8 PDFs, 3 research associates and 1 researcher). He is a member of the Board of the Ecole Polytechnique and several companies. He is world-renowned consultant for at least 20 national and international companies. He has created 4 start-ups with his students: Formmat Tech. Inc., Shopmedia Inc., Pyrowave Inc and Ecolomondo. He is Principal Chaire Holder of NSREC-Total Group in hydrodynamic modeling of multiphase processes at extreme conditions. His work is mainly dedicaded to develop processes from waste and biomass to heat & power, fuels and chemicals. At Polytechnique, he has one of the largest laboratories for thermal treatment of waste in the world.

Abstract:
Coal is the second largest source of energy worldwide and is predominantly use to produce electricity. In the United States, around 650 power plants, which majority was build before the 1980's, produce electricity from coal. They are the major source of U.S. SO₂ emissions. It is therefore crucial to develop low cost, easy to implement, retrofitting techniques to improve environmental performance of existing coal-fired power plant. The technology studied is this paper was developed by the American company Accordant Energy™. It combines waste derived fuel co-firing and sorbent furnace injection, with a novel engineered fuel composed of both waste and alkaline sorbent. This novel fuel is called ReEngineered Feedstock™ or ReEF™. Co-firing ReEF™ led to a higher sorbent utilization and a higher sulfur emissions reduction than the use of sorbent alone. Several combinations of calcium-based and sodium-based sorbents were tested at different stoic. Emissions of SO₂, NOx and HCl associated with the feed composition and the furnace temperature and air injection pattern are studied. SO₂ emission reductions up to 55% were observed during experiments at gas residence time 4 times lower than that of pulverized coal boiler. The slagging propensity of the ashes in the reactor was also studied. Finally, a model was developed that satisfactorily predicted the experimental SO₂ emissions. This model was further applied to conditions typical of existing PCB.
Authors: O. Vekemans, J-P Laviolette and  J. Chaouki

Cécile Boesinger
and
Gabriel André

 Title: The role of gas in the energy transition

Gabriel André: Master in Energy studies (University of Melbourne) and Master in Asset Management (Paris Dauphine University). 10 years’ experience in gas and power industry (utilities and infrastructures).  Transport Account Manager at TIGF.

Cécile Boesinger : Engineer and Ph.D in chemical engineering from the university of Pau. She has been working in TIGF for 10 years. In charge of the Research and innovation.

First part (G. André):

The world gas market: current trends and long-term outlooks
The gas production has significantly increased over the last 30 years worldwide, while the global gas demand has been driven by various factors depending on the considered time frame (short, medium and long-term). Recently the gas market as a whole has been facing important structural changes, due to the spread of new technologies, economic downturn, environmental  requirements. Despite strong challenges, the natural gas is expected to pursue its development especially through the growth of consumption outside OECD and through the probable boom of unconventional gas production.

Presentation of the TIGF business
TIGF offers and develops natural gas transmission and storage solutions for the European market, driven by the principles of sustainable development, guaranteeing reliability and safety to meet the highest standards in the industry.

Second part (C. Boesinger):

The gas systems have a key role to play in the energy transition.
It could facilitate the increase in the share of renewable energy and enable the development of a low-carbon economy.
The share of sustainable green gas in the infrastructure will be increased through biomethane by fermentation or produced by “gasification” of solid biomass.
With the increase in the share of variable renewable energy sources in electricity production, the need for flexibility and back-up will increase. Gas functions as an instantly available back-up in case of shortages and as an efficient storage medium in case of surplus. For example, by converting excess electricity into hydrogen, or even Synthetic Natural Gas, which allows the reuse of CO₂, electricity can actually be stored in gas networks and storage installations. In this way, gas helps the electricity networks to accommodate the large future volumes of sustainable energy supply and helps prevent sub-optimal use of costly sustainable energy.

 Dominik Godde

Title: The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol – evaluation of a new tool for an old technology

Dominik Godde is an independent consultant (H2GO) with over 25 years of experience in the areas of hydro power and hydro engineering. During his time in the energy industry (E.ON SE) he was Managing Director and hold various other management positions for over 10 years in the hydro power sector in Germany and Sweden. Previously he worked for nearly a decade for an international contractor (HOCHTIEF AG) being responsible for large hydro engineering and construction projects in Europe, Asia and Africa; finally being appointed CEO of a group’s branch in Germany. Dr. Godde gained in depth expertise in managing hydro engineering projects and hydro power plants, development of strategies, benchmarking, efficiency and cost reduction programs, energy economics, HR, safety and stakeholder management. Dr. Godde is board member of national and international associations, such as the International Hydropower Association, World Energy Council - Germany and DTK (German national committee on large dams). Dr. Godde studied Civil Engineering at Technische Universität München, from where he also obtained his Ph.D. degree. He has been appointed honorary professor by the Technische Universität München, where he teaches Energy Economics and Hydro Power to international master students. 

Abstract:
Hydropower as such is undisputed a renewable energy. But its sustainability is a subject of debate. In this context the adoption of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) some years ago brought a new component into the equation as the HSAP now for the first time enables all hydropower stakeholder to speak the same language with respect to sustainability. In view of the expected doubling of hydropower capacity worldwide by 2050 the question is obvious whether the protocol constitutes a chance or a risk for hydropower. The presentation explains the HSAP, reports on its application and experiences gained so far and discusses its future role for hydropower.

Isabelle Czernichowski-Lauriol

Title: Use of the subsurface in the energy transition

Dr. Isabelle Czernichowski-Lauriol joined BRGM in 1988 with an Engineering degree in geology (ENSG Nancy) and a PhD in geosciences. She initially worked on geothermal energy and water resources. From 1993, she became deeply involved in CO₂ geological storage research, in particular as President of the CO₂GeoNet European Association, Coordinator of the FP7 CGS Europe project, and CCS Programme Officer at the French National Research Agency (ANR). In 2012 she was appointed Programme Officer on Geo-Energy (CO₂ storage, energy storage, geothermal energy) at the BRGM Direction of Research. She is the French representative of ENeRG - the European network for research on geo-energy, and is the Chair of the 3rd EAGE Sustainable Earth Sciences Conference “Technologies for Sustainable Use of the Sub-surface to serve the Energy Transition”, to be held in October 2015 in Celle, Germany.

Abstract:
Underground resources and storage capacities can contribute significantly to the transition towards a low-carbon, clean, efficient and secure energy system, and the mitigation of climate change. Focus will be given to three innovative technologies with significant development potential worldwide:

• Geothermal energy, a non-intermittent renewable energy for producing electricity and heat for buildings, agriculture, and industry;
• Geological storage of carbon dioxide, for massive reduction of CO₂ emissions from industrial plants, and even for the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere when combined with the production of sustainable bioenergy;
• Underground energy storage, namely massive storage of electricity and heat, in order to manage the growing importance of intermittent renewable energies in the energy mix.

An overview of the current status of development, bottlenecks and perspectives for each technology will be given. The importance of subsurface spatial planning will be stressed. Not only can different levels of this space be earmarked for specific functions, but it is also possible to develop synergies and joint utilizations. It will also be necessary to succeed in managing usage competitions once the different technologies are deployed on an industrial scale, to avoid interactions liable to disturb two adjacent projects, and prevent any negative impact on the environment – for example on groundwater used to supply drinking water.