Description du sujet de thèse

* Project overview
Join an acknowledged research group dedicated to improving safety in industries handling hybrid fuel mixtures—combinations of gaseous and solid components commonly found in pharmaceuticals, hydrogen storage, biofuels, and waste management. These mixtures, despite their widespread use, pose unique risks that are often underestimated, leading to preventable accidents. This PhD project aims to deepen our understanding of the ignition and explosion mechanisms of these mixtures and develop new safety standards and tools.
* Some Key Aspects of the PhD research
• Accident Analysis: The project will begin with an extensive analysis of accident reports to identify
trends and key factors contributing to the ignition and explosion of hybrid fuel mixtures.
• Experimental Studies: experiments will be conducted to determine the minimum ignition energy, lower explosive limit, and explosion severity using equipment with test procedures adapted for hybrid mixtures. The influence of temperature on the gas/solid ratio and, consequently, on the minimum ignition energy will be investigated. Additionally, the impact of low combustible concentrations (gaseous or solid) on the overall mixture behavior will be studied. Other parameters, such as particle size distribution and turbulence, will also be considered using a design of experiments approach.
• Innovative Experimental Setup: A more detailed analysis of the limiting steps in the explosion process will be undertaken using an innovative experimental setup that allows for the decoupling of the heating and gas generation phase from the ignition of the hybrid mixture and flame propagation. This will enable the separation of the pyrolysis mechanisms of the solid phase from the oxidation of the gaseous phase, thereby improving our understanding of the observed synergistic effects in hybrid mixtures.
• Numerical Modeling: In addition to the direct experimental results, which will be valuable for enhancing the safety of the studied industrial processes, numerical models will be developed to evaluate the explosivity of these mixtures, taking into account the specificities of thermal transfers and reaction mechanisms.
The outcome of this PhD project will be a structured risk assessment approach for hybrid gas-solid fuel mixtures, which will be a significant step towards improving safety in the numerous industrial sectors that utilize these mixtures.
* Impact and Benefits
• Direct Industrial Application: Enhance the safety protocols for industrial processes utilizing hybrid fuel mixtures.
• Contribute to the development of international safety standards specific to hybrid mixtures.
• Work at the intersection of chemical engineering, safety engineering, and industrial processes.

Contexte de travail

The Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (UMR 7274) is a joint unit of the CNRS and the Université de Lorraine. Its general scientific objective is the study of processes in their globality and complexity.
The LRGP develops the scientific and technological knowledge required for the design, study, management and optimization of complex physico-chemical and biological processes for the transformation of matter and energy.
The unit currently employs more than 300 people, including 12 researchers, 78 teacher-researchers, around 30 technical and administrative staff, around 100 PhD students and some 20 post-docs and ATERs. The laboratory also welcomes around a hundred trainees a year.
The thesis will be carried out in the SAFE (Sécurité Aérosols Filtration Explosion) team of the PERSEVAL (Procédés pour l'Environnement, la Sécurité et la Valorisation des Ressources) Axis.

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.

Contraintes et risques

Occupational risks related to dust explosion