COMASYS

Energy continuum project: from material to systems

Project objectives

Created in 2021, the COMASYS project « Continuum of Energy: from material to systems » draws on the expertise of many laboratories on the University of Lille site*. This project is structured around 4 thematic pillars (energy recovery, energy storage, hydrogen production and recovery, advanced modular nuclear reactors) with a common methodological base and internal demonstrators.

Financed by the University of Lille, initially by I-SITE ULNE (a certification label of Excellence for Lille Nord-Europe University) and then as part of France 2030, COMASYS is intended to be at the interface between HUB 2 « Innovation in the service of a changing planet” and HUB 3 “Digital world in the service of people”. COMASYS works to propose advances in the field of energy by drawing on fundamental expertise ranging from materials to system design. It is a cross-disciplinary research project that aims to attract students from diverse backgrounds via thesis, master’s and post-doctoral projects. COMASYS will strengthen the interactions between the various local partners and reinforce the links with the Hauts-de-France Region and the various competitiveness and excellence clusters.

The project is composed of 4 thematic pillars, and is based on a common methodological foundation and demonstrators.

Pillar 1 is dedicated to the recovery of mechanical, thermal or electromagnetic wave energy for the micro-production of electrical energy. This intermittent energy produced can either be used directly to power a sensor, for example, or be stored via micro energy storage devices (MDSEs).
Pillar 2 focuses on the storage of this recovered energy. The main idea of this pillar is to address the entire value chain enabling the manufacture of Micro-Energy Storage Devices (MESDs) in order to ensure the energy autonomy of the miniaturised electronics of the future
Pillar 3 focuses on the production and valorisation of green hydrogen. Hydrogen allows the storage of electricity produced by intermittent power. Applications cover a wide range of power, including in embedded systems : from vehicles with fuel cells to the connected objects of the future with micro-cells. 2D/3D animation here
Pillar 4 is dedicated to the study of advanced modular nuclear reactors. SMRs (for « Small modular reactor ») are envisaged to support the production of electricity from intermittent sources that require load supervision (wind, solar, etc.).

The common internal demonstrators aim to structure the research undertaken in each pillar. Each demonstrator takes up concepts developed in the pillars and the methodological base.

The objective of the first demonstrator, « hydrogen chain », is to highlight the technological advances of the COMASYS project in all the stages of production of green hydrogen, its storage, its transformation into electricity, its use in an on-board system such as an electric vehicle, energy management and supervision.

The objectives of the second demonstrator, « micro energy generator », are to show the feasibility of multi-source recuperators, i.e. combining at least two energy sources of different origins (from electromagnetic waves, the deformation of a structure or thermo-electric effects) and also to integrate the storage device as well as possible into the system.

The methodological foundation that runs through the four pillars of the project is based on the development of multi-scale modelling tools and also on energy management and process control methods. Energy production systems are complex systems due to the interaction of several phenomena (thermal, mechanical, electrochemical, electrical, etc.). The multiphysical nature of such systems requires a unified and graphical approach for analysis by dynamic models, and also for supervision in terms of control, electrical energy management and operational safety. The Macroscopic Energy Representation (MER) and the « Good Graph » approach are particularly suitable and complementary tools.

COMASYS works to propose advances in the field of energy by drawing on fundamental expertise ranging from materials to system design. It is a cross-cutting research project that aims to attract students from various backgrounds via thesis, master’s and postdoctoral projects. COMASYS will strengthen the interactions between the various local partners and reinforce the links with the Hauts-de-France Region and with the various competitiveness and excellence clusters.

Period : Oct 2022 /

Keywords : Energy, nuclear, recovery, storage

Website : https://l2ep.univ-lille.fr/laboratoire/comasys/

Partners : CRIStAL, GEMTEX, IEMN, L2EP, UCCS, UMET, CHEVREUL, IRCICA

Ensait contact : Aurélie CAYLA – François RAULT

Energy continuum project: from material to systems

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