News LHEEA 2020

The main objective of Ocean DEMO (Demonstration Programme for Ocean Energy Pilot Farms and Supporting Technologies) is to help North West Europe enterprises working in low carbon technology to accelerate their transition from single prototype to multi-device farms by providing free access to world-leading test centres.

The aim of MEA is to progress the technical and commercial maturity level of early-stage (TRL 3 – 4) marine energy technology companies with the overall goal of reducing the risk of device failure in subsequent demonstration phases.

The advertised position is within the Hydrodynamic, Energetic and AtmosphericEnvironment Research Laboratory (LHEEA), whose missions include development of marine renewable energy, human and environmental safety in marine activities,reduction of polluting emissions associated with marine and terrestrial transport, and urban air quality. The position is attached to LHEEA’s hydrodynamic and oceanengineering tank (BHGO).

Following very encouraging initial results communicated last July, the 2 MW Floatgen floating wind turbine, equipped with Ideol’s patented floating foundation and installed on the Centrale Nantes Offshore test site Sem-Rev (Atlantic Coast of France), exceeded production and availability expectations in the second half of 2019.

The Blue-GIFT (Blue Growth and Innovation Fast Tracked) project is pleased to announce the 2nd call for applications that will open on the 20th of January 2020. The call will close on the 30th of April 2020 at 17:00 UTC. Applications can benefit from an early assessment if the test plan requires a starting date on Q1 & Q2 2020.

THeoREM's scientific and technical teams met at Centrale Nantes on 29-30 January 2020 for a technical workshop to discuss experimental tools and methods for hydrodynamic testing.

On November 19th, 2019, Jeroen Wackers (METHRIC team) defended his HDR on adaptive grid refinement for the simulation of complex flows.

The Ocean Energy Era-Net Cofund RESOURCECODE project partners met at Centrale Nantes on 4 February 2020 for a progress meeting to review implementation of the hindcast wave database, which is due to be integrated into the RESOURCECODE Marine Data Toolbox.

The Sea-GRID Call for Expression of Interest aims to develop concrete and innovative solutions, based on energy produced by marine renewable energy technologies (MRE) at the SEM-REV test site, run by Centrale Nantes. Sea-GRID is extended for a month, applications are expected until the 04th of May.

The MERS Carnot Institute (Marine Engineering Research for sustainable, safe and smart Seas) was one of 37 Carnot Institutes to be granted official certification on 7 February for a period of 4 years. Its ambition is to boost collaboration between companies and research laboratories to develop sustainable and ocean-friendly maritime activities.

Offshore wind is taking the next step: floating foundations for deeper waters are becoming a tested and proven technology. How can we further reduce their cost to accelerate their deployment?

Testing has been carried out in the Centrale Nantes towing tank to characterize a CRUISING hydrogenerator, as part of EMO (LHEEA) team's work on the FARWIND project.

On July 05th, 2019, Guillaume Oger (H2i team) defended his HDR on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Finite Volumes methods for the simulation of complex flows.

The scanning LiDAR, a wind measurement instrument recently acquired by the LHEEA (summer 2019, funding from the region, ERDF, PIA), was installed on the terrace of the seafront villa in Penn Avel park on the Croisic site on 28 October 2019.

On March 3 and 4, Centrale Nantes hosted the first FLOAWER event. Gathering around 40 people, it was the perfect opportunity to meet all the different partners of the project.

On November 22th, 2019, Antoine Ducoin (H2i team) defended his HDR (accreditation to supervise research) on "Contributions to the hydro-elastic study of flexible blades under unsteady loadings".

Confirming the outstanding production and availability numbers recorded throughout 2019, the 2 MW Floatgen floating offshore wind turbine, equipped with Ideol’s patented floating foundation and installed on the Sem-Rev test site (Atlantic Coast of France), achieved a new record monthly production in February.

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project has awarded recommendations for support to ten offshore renewable energy developers under its 2nd call. The awards will support developers on their path to commercialisation and ease the transition of ocean energy towards multi-device farms by providing free access to open sea test sites.

The topic of this post-doc is: "Turbulent boundary condition for floating offshore wind turbine simulation: coupling wind tunnel data to aeroelastic codes"

Turbocharging allows using engines in better operating conditions and reducing polluting emissions including carbon dioxide. The use of a turbocharger requires knowledge of the functioning of each of its elements, in particular the turbine, in the manufacturer’s map area but also outside this area, at off-design conditions, in particular to calculate the efficiency.

"Caractérisation du fonctionnement aérodynamique du e-Penon, capteur pour les pales d'éoliennes."
(Aerodynamic characterization of a sensor (e-penon) for the analysis and control of the state of turbulent flow on an aerodynamic surface).

The CRITT M2A Electrical Test Centre started work on the PEGAS²E (Energy Performance, Management and Autonomy of Electrical Storage Systems) four-year research programme on October 1st 2019.

You are cordially invited to attend the Ph.D. defense by Sajad Mozaffari on the subject "Adaptive Grid Refinement for Hybrid RANS/LES".

A photo of FLOATGEN, on SEM-REV, Centrale Nantes's offshore test site, is on display until 14 July at the gates of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.

Following the announcement of the 2nd call for applicants, Centrale Nantes opens the ESR5 position for application, until the 1st of July.

Given Centrale Nantes' dual vocation of training and research, the school strives to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible. Aurélien Babarit, research engineer at LHEEA* and specialist in Marine Renewable Energy, talks online about one of Centrale Nantes' 3 strategic themes: energy transition.

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project opened its 3rd call today. Successful applicants will receive free access to test their ocean energy products and services in real sea environments at the project’s network of test centres.

An update on wind tunnel testing in the LHEEA.

Like the other test facilities at Centrale Nantes, the engine test benches had to put their testing on hold in March 2020.

Marine Energy Alliance has reached a new milestone in june by awarding services to 23 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its Second Call for Applications.

The LHEEA is pleased to announce that the "NATO Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel Awards Committee" has awarded Ms. Ginevra Rubino with the "Fall 2020 NATO AVT Young Contributor Award" for her overall research work on NATO AVT collaborative research projects.

Étude expérimentale et modélisation phénoménologique des transferts thermiques aux parois des chambres de combustion des moteurs à allumage commandé
(Experimental study and phenomenological modelling of heat transfers to the walls of combustion chambers of spark ignition engines)

This webinar will take place on June 30, 2020 from 15:00 to 16:30.

The GDR EMR is organising an online workshop on 2 July on "Renewable Marine Energies & Power-to-X: Challenges and Opportunities"

Développements numériques de la méthode SPH couplée aux Eléments Finis appliqués au phénomène de l'hydroplanage
(Numerical developments of the SPH method coupled with Finite Elements applied to the hydroplaning phenomenon)

Ediz Önen, Master's student at Centrale Nantes is a keen skipper and Turkish sailing champion in 2017. In August, he is taking part in the single-handed ocean race Les Sables - Les Açores en Baie de Morlaix (SAS). Through this race he will accumulate more than 1,500 miles, the minimum required to qualify for the Mini Transat 2021.

PhD Defense, Marco CASTAGNA : at 2 pm on Thursday 9 July by videoconference.

The FOWT (Floating Offshore Wind Turbines) 2020 Conference is held Marseille (7 & 8 September, and broadcast live) and by video-conference (9 September).

ImageInCentrale is a virtual tour of the Centrale Nantes campus including the LHEEA test facilities.

Rogue waves are very powerful ocean waves, which can form on both calm and rough seas. This sudden and unpredictable phenomenon may be rare, but it needs to be studied. It has recently been the subject of joint collaboration between researchers from Centrale Nantes - via the LHEEA - the CNRS and the universities of Paris and Lille. Tests in wave tanks have shown that a set of random waves can also provoke the formation of rogue waves, thus providing better understanding.

The partners of the Sea-GRID Call for Expression of Interest unveiled today the five winning projects! Enthusiastic responses were received across the board to this call, which aims to develop concrete and innovative solutions for the smart management of electricity produced offshore on the Centrale Nantes test site, SEM-REV. The selected projects focus on new energy storage solutions, multi-use offshore platforms, onshore uses and the development of an underwater hub...

The 36th edition of the America's Cup will take place from 6 to 21 March 2021 in Auckland. In order to optimize the aerodynamics of the boats and the hydrodynamics of the foils, the teams are using numerical modeling software.

Farwind is developing a solution for converting offshore hydroelectric energy into renewable fuel. Created by Aurélien Babarit, Félix Gorintin and Arnaud Poitou, Farwind emerged from the FARWIND research project conducted at LHEEA since 2016.

Guillaume Ducrozet, Lecturer at Centrale Nantes in the LHEEA, will present his defense for his accreditation to supervise research (HDR) on Monday 28 September 2020.

This year, Centrale Nantes is taking part in the National Science Fair (Fête de la Science) with a 100% virtual tour of the campus. Immerse yourself in a fun and informative way to discover Centrale Nantes!

Frédérique Vidal, the Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation visited the Centrale Nantes campus on 22 October as part of a national tour.

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project has awarded recommendations for support to 12 offshore renewable energy developers under its 3rd call. The awards will support developers on their path to commercialisation and ease the transition of ocean energy towards multi-device farms by providing free access to open sea test sites.

You are cordially invited to attend the Ph.D. defense by Hashim Elzaabalawy on the subject "Towards High-Order Compact Discretization of Unsteady Navier-Stokes Equations for Incompressible Flows on Unstructured Grids". Due to the specific sanitary conditions, the defense will take place by videoconference on Friday, November 6th at 14:00.

Eva Lassauge spent a few months with SEM-REV in the spring of 2020 on her internship. She shares her experience below!

SWEL, Sea Wave Energy Ltd, is a UK based company with its testing facilities located in Larnaca, Cyprus. The company came to Centrale Nantes in October under the MEA programme, an Interreg North West Europe project which aims to increase the technical and commercial maturity of upcoming technologies by providing access to industry leading testing facilities and experts from over the EU.

Catherine Ramirez Villalba will defend her PhD on Friday, November 20, 2020. The PhD is entitled "Towards an efficient modeling of fluid-structure interaction". This PhD defense is confidential.

Alexis Bazin is an assistant engineer in the TSM research group (LHEEA) at Centrale Nantes. As a specialist in a particular model of lithium battery, he was contacted on a matter of urgency by a Vendée Globe Skipper, Sébastien Destremau, to help him pass the endurance test following an unsuccessful initial attempt. Sébastien Destremau's boat is equipped with an electric motor. The Vendée Globe class measurement rules require that competing boats must be able to sail at an average of 5 knots for 5 hours. The endurance test is used to verify this capacity and must be passed successfully in order to compete. To this end, a Vendée Globe official carries out the test with the skipper on the open sea. Alexis was contacted to see if he ascertain what was wrong with two batteries and help ensure that the second attempt was successful. We interviewed Alexis to find out what happened next!

OPIN is organising a workshop at OEE2020 in conjunction with the OceanDEMO project. Both projects have been in operation since 2019, are Interreg NWE funded and have been engaged in providing novel and innovative supports to help the Ocean Energy sector address challenges for development and deployment.

One year on from the restoration work on the dome of the Cardinaux lighthouse, the wind measurement instruments at the Cardinaux lighthouse are back in service.

Améliorations de la précision et de la modélisation de la tension de surface au sein de la méthode SPH, et simulations de cas d'amerrissage d'urgence d'helicoptères.
(Improvements in the accuracy and modeling of surface tension within the SPH method, and simulations of emergency helicopter landings)

The SOFTWIND project, run by Centrale Nantes, and more specifically its LHEEA and LS2N laboratories, and the company D-ICE, allows for small-scale wave-tank testing of wind turbines by overcoming the incompatibility between hydrodynamic and aerodynamic scaling.We take a look back at this project with some footage of the testing in the Centrale Nantes hydrodynamic and ocean engineering tank and interviews:

Blue-GIFT is pleased to announce the third call for applications to test Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) technologies at the project’s test sites.

Zhenrong JING will defend his PhD on Friday, December 11, 2020. The PhD is entitled: "Numerical Simulations of boundary layer transitions on rotating blades: Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine and Marine Propeller"

Nicolas DESMARS will defend his PhD on Friday, December 11, 2020 at 2pm. The PhD is entitled: "Real-time reconstruction and prediction of ocean wave fields from remote optical measurements".

Vincent ARNAL will defend his PhD thesis on Friday 11 December, 2020. The PhD is entitled: "Experimental modelling of a floating wind turbine using a 'software-in-the-loop' approach".

On 3 December, the company EOLINK and Centrale Nantes formally agreed to install a 5MW floating wind turbine on the SEM-REV test site, off the coast from Le Croisic. Since hosting FLOATGEN, the first floating wind turbine in France on site from 2018, Centrale Nantes is pushing ahead and is set to welcome EOLINK shortly with its innovative and promising wind turbine prototype.

Within the framework of the ePARADISE project, led by the LHEEA, with the CSTB, MerAgitée and the VALOREM group, an 80-metre instrumented mast was installed at the end of October, for a period of 18 months, on the wind farm at Saint Hilaire de Chaléons. This research project aims to measure, and thus gain a better understanding of, aerodynamic disturbance on wind turbine blades.

The LHEEA is looking for 2 PhD students in the Thermodynamics of Engine Systems (TSM) team. Find here these 2 offers.