Formalization of the area of responsibility of the actors of the electricity market
The CEA is currently developing a simulation tool which models the energy exchanges between the actors of the electricity market but which models, in addition, the exchanges of information between those actors. The first results of this work show that, for some new energy exchange schemes, ’indirect’ interactions between actors may appear and may cause financial damage (for example, the failure of a source of production of one actor may impact the income of another). Thus, the borders which clearly delimited until now the areas of responsibility of each actors could be brought to blur and their areas of responsibility could "overla". The candidate will be responsible for:
- Formally define the area of responsibility of an actor in the electricity market,
- Model the interactions, including ’indirect’ ones, that may appear between these actors,
- Apply formal proof techniques (such as ’model-checking’) to detect overlaps in areas of responsibility,
- Define the conditions of exchange between the actors which would guarantee the non-recovery of the areas of responsibility.
Dynamic monitoring by light scattering of mass transfer between two phases in multiphase flows
The understanding and the modeling of recycling processes studied at CEA, require the measurement of both local and average properties of multiphase flows involved in chemical engineering devices. Moreover, as the R&D studies are generally conducted on small-scale experiments, access to these quantities is often difficult, especially considering that measurement methods should not disturb the observed system. In this context, optical methods, associated to extensive and rigorous physical simulations of light/particles interactions, are particularly relevant and, accordingly under specific developments since several years. Therefore, the DMRC/LGCI (CEA Marcoule), in collaboration with the laboratory IUSTI (CNRS and Aix-Marseille University), develops two optical interferometric techniques suitable for R&D studies: the Digital In-line Holography (DIH) and the Rainbow Refractometry (RR). Previous works have shown that DIH allows a simultaneous measurement of 3D-positions, shape and size of flowing particles, even considering astigmatic geometries, while RR gives access to the size and refractive index of each particle or of set of particles, which considering linear optics is directly linked to their composition. This study aims to go further in multiphase flows characterization with these two technics by following three main objectives: 1) propose original solutions for the characterization of materiel compositions thanks to DIH, 2) deepen inverse methods in RR to allow the study of clouds of particles with variable compositions and to take into account gradients of concentration around a sessile drop, 3) evaluate the relevance of these technics for lab on chip systems.
Study of a transient regime of helium dispersion to simulate an accidental release of hydrogen from a fuel cell.
CEA and industrial partners want to improve their knowledge, models and risk mitigation means for the conséquences of an accidental release of hydrogen from a H2 Fuel Cell. The dispersion of helium as a replacement for hydrogen takes place in a private garage and the transient state will be studied. Different scenarios of release are considered: from a cubic idealized fuel cell, then with different aspect ratios and finally with varying main dimension. The goal is to study some scaling effects. For the first case, we will measure helium concentration with katarometres and possibly velocity fields with PIV methods. Then mitigation processes will be tested. At last comparisons with models and numerical simulations will be performed.
AlGaN/GaN HEMTs transfert for enhanced electrical and thermal performances
Due to their large critical electric field and high electron mobility, gallium nitride (GaN) based devices emerge as credible candidates for power electronic applications. In order to face the large market needs and benefit from available silicon manufacturing facilities, the current trend is to fabricate those devices, such as aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN)/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), directly on (111) silicon substrates. However, this pursuit of economic sustainability negatively affects device performances mainly because of self-heating effect inherent to silicon substrate use. New substrates with better thermal properties than silicon are desirable to improve thermal dissipation and enlarge the operating range at high performance.
A Ph.D. student in the lab. has developed a method to replace the original silicon material with copper, starting from AlGaN/GaN HEMTs fabricated on silicon substrates. He has demonstrated the interest of the postponement of a GaN power HEMT on a copper metal base with respect to self heating without degrading the voltage resistance of the component. But there are still many points to study to improve the power components.
Post-doc objectives : We propose to understand what is the best integration to eliminate self-heating and increase the voltage resistance of the initial AlGaN/GaN HEMT. The impact of the component transfer on the quality of the 2D gas will be analyzed.
The same approach can be made if necessary on RF components.
Different stacks will be made by the post-doc and he will be in charge of the electrical and thermal characterizations. Understanding the role of each part of the structure will be critical in choosing the final stack.
This process will also be brought in larger dimensions.
This post-doc will work if necessary in collaboration with different thesis students on power components.
Simulation of thermal exchange between fluid and structure in turbulent channels
There is presently a huge effort in Europe for the Development of high power (PW range), high repetition rate (1-10 Hz) lasers: the ELI project in three countries of Eastern Europe , the Apollon program in France have the objective to install multipetawatt high repetition rate lasers for scientific research and applications in various fields of physics. These large projects result in – and demand – an increased mastering of most challenging issues in laser technology; at high repetition rate one of the greatest issues consists in the cooling of the laser amplifiers for the highest repetition rates. In order to master this technology, CEA (Grenoble and Saclay, with a collaboration with Grenoble/LEGI) has decided to start an R&D program, with the following tasks to perform: (i) simulation of the cooling of amplifiers; (ii) validation of the calculations; (iii) design of an appropriate cooling system dedicated to future high power high repetition rate lasers: for this, cryogenic helium gas is a very interesting fluid, as working at low temperature for laser amplification allows a better thermal conductivity of the amplifiers (consequently a better uniformity of their temperature), and an increased efficiency of the laser amplification.
This postdoc position is associated with the first (simulation) task.
Simulation of supercritical helium flows in the cooling circuits of tokamaks
Future fusion reactors such as tokamaks (ITER, DEMO) will have to demonstrate the safety of their systems, validated by thermal hydraulic codes. To meet this requirement, the CATHARE code has been chosen as scientific computing tool. The work will consist in adapting the CATHARE code to helium at low temperatures and then to benchmark it with other thermal hydraulic codes used by the DRF (Direction de la Recherche Fondamentale), as well as with experimental data available at CEA Grenoble.
The study will be threefold. The first phase will be dedicated to a literature survey on the thermal hydraulics of helium, featured by closing equations for monophasic helium (friction and heat transfer coefficients). In a second step, the engineer will implement these laws in the code and perform some validations tests. The last part will focus a benchmark based on three applications: the study of a cryo-pump, the study of a supercritical helium discharge and the study of a superconducting cable.
Simulation of PEMFC flooding phenomena
The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is now considered as a relevant solution for carbon-free electrical energy production, for both transport and stationary applications. The management of the fluids inside these cells has a significant impact on their performance and their durability. Flooding phenomena due to the accumulation of liquid water are known to impact the operation of the cells, causing performance drops and also damages that can be irreversible. With the use of thinner channels in ever more compact stacks, these phenomena are becoming more and more frequent. The objective of this post-doc is to progress in the understanding of flooding in PEMFCs. The work will consist in analyzing the link between the operating conditions, the design of the channels and the materials used in the cell. It will be based on a two-phase flow modeling approach at different scales, from the local scale at the channel-rib level, up to, via an upscaling approach, the level of the complete cell. The study will also be based on numerous experimental results obtained at the CEA or in the literature.
New packaging for power electronics : application to SiC components
In continuity of ongoing work (PhD thesis) on the 3D assembly of vertical Silicon power components, the purpose of the post-doc proposal is to develop a similar assembly on vertical wide-gap SiC power components. The required work will be to define the components (high frequency / high voltage) with the supplier and to adapt them to the best vertical integration (Cu finishing, topology,...), to adjust the metal leadframe design for the 3D assembly, and to develop the transfer layer technology adapted to this new material. The candidate will also take care of the electrical characterizations of the final stack to validate the interest of this 3D packaging on wide-gap power devices.
Design of a power integrated circuit using GaN on Si, characterization, implementation.
The objective is to propose an innovative solution to supply low voltage electronics (3 to 12VDC) or to charge accumulators, using industrial alternating voltages (230VAC / 400VAC). This type of device should benefit greatly from the contribution of integrated passive technologies and the possibilities offered by the ASICs developed at Leti, in particular GaN ASICs. This research program is part of the Leti’s ’power roadmap’. From the state of the art and concepts envisaged by CEA researchers, the post-doctoral student will have to imagine an original solution, to design it and then to characterize the prototype. The research program involves other academic partners, which allows the post-doctoral student to immerse himself in an upstream research context. An industrial application has been identified. The post-doctoral student will be encouraged to enrich the subject with additional functions in the control (regulation) at very high frequency, the transmission of isolated signals via the converter or any other proposals.
Implementation of a software package for the simulation of the Infrared Thermography Non Destructive Testing method
The CEA LIST implements simulation tools for several Non Destructively Testing (NDT) techniques, integrated to the CIVA software platform. The different methods used, nowadays in the CIVA platform, concern the ultrasonics, eddy current and radiography techniques. The TREFLE is a reference lab in thermics and had developped some original modelling approachs for the control by Infrared Thermography (IR) method. In the frame of a project funded by the Aquitaine region, these two labs collabore to implement simulation tools for the NDT by the Infrared Thermography technique, dedicated to industrial applications and accesssible to a non-numericians public.
The objective of this post-doc position is the implementation of physical modelling (in a matlab environment) for the resolution of transient thermal problems in multilayers configurations (like composite materials used in aeronautics), eventually anisotropic, for a flash or a periodic excitation with uniform or point irradtiation.