Renewable energies and the environment: IMT Atlantique and SEGULA Technologies create a joint laboratory

Recent crises have highlighted the urgent need to strengthen the role of renewable energies in the available energy mix. The different parameters of their management, whether in terms of treatment, storage or reuse, are the subject of in-depth research to ensure that their potential is reached in a virtuous, optimized way.

Collaboration for innovation

The LabCIS research program aims to uncover, study and develop innovative methods and processes to address energy and climate issues. The planned work will focus on linking academic research and experimental studies to concrete industrial and societal issues. This research should mobilize nearly 15 specialists from IMT Atlantique (UMR CNRS 6144 GEPEA) and SEGULA Technologies, who will combine their talents to advance knowledge and methods.

"Innovation is at the heart of SEGULA Technologies' DNA. We conduct over 200 R&I projects per year, and are in constant contact with research centers, start-ups and companies," explains Jean-Luc Baraffe, SEGULA Technologies' Research & Innovation President. "This joint laboratory is an illustration of our constant desire to anticipate and accelerate innovations, to continue to develop the skills of our engineers and to be a force for change for our clients around the world."

"Supporting research for industry is at the heart of our mission as an institution of the ministry in charge of industry and digital transformation, so we are used to working with industrial partners," emphasizes Laurence Le Coq, director of research and innovation at IMT Atlantique. "When the collaboration is so fruitful and the skills are so complementary, we are happy to continue through the creation of a joint laboratory to go further. All the moreso here as the 3 axes of this LabCIS are in line with IMT Atlantique's strategy of ecological and societal transformation."

IMT Atlantique's academic mastery is illustrated in the field of gases and liquids: gas and liquid effluent treatment, bioprocesses, experimental studies and numerical modeling of flows, mass and heat transfers, energy optimization of processes, gasification and pyrolysis. To this mastery, SEGULA Technologies adds its expertise in innovation, design and development of industrial processes in the energy, pollution control and environmental sectors. This joint partnership, which began with the REMORA project, is intended to formulate solutions to resolve concrete operating problems.

_{Albert Subrenat, professor in the Energy Systems and Environment Department at IMT Atlantique and Line Poinel, head of research and innovation at SEGULA Technologies}

An ambitious scientific program

The 3 main axes of development of the joint laboratory are established around the following issues:

• Energy storage and conversion
• Separation and reprocessing of gas flows for energy purposes
• Treatment and valorization of fuel or co-products of fuel treatment, with an environmental aim

Research areas

• The first line of research, on energy storage and conversion, is an extension of the nine years of collaboration between SEGULA Technologies and IMT Atlantique on the REMORA project. More broadly, the aim is to develop and study various innovative systems for storing energy using compressed air. The aim of the work will be to verify the technical feasibility of these energy storage processes, to analyze the physical processes involved and then to optimize their performance.
• The second axis of development is the separation and reprocessing of gas flows for energy purposes. It follows on from the work carried out jointly since 2019 on a gas flow compression and purification process.
• The third research axis concerns the treatment and use of liquid or co-product of liquid treatment. The activities targeted here include the biological treatment of co-products from the desulfurization of fuel oils, developed by SEGULA since 2015.

* REMORA: an offshore compressed air energy storage solution.
Energy storage is a major issue in the management of intermittent renewable energies, guaranteeing continuous electrical availability. The need for energy storage is increasing due to the growing share of intermittent renewable energies in the energy mix. Whether for cooling a compression system or maintaining air pressure, the marine environment offers significant advantages for storing energy.
REMORA is a high-efficiency storage solution patented by SEGULA Technologies. It is based on the principle of isothermal air compression and involves  a floating platform with a capacity of 15 MW and underwater tanks with a storage capacity of 90 MW. The solution, optimized for moderate depths and therefore particularly suitable for most coastlines, provides a sustainable supply of electricity.