Numerical flow simulations for microalgae cultivation and treatment processes

Context:

The SIAME Laboratory of UPPA is composed of four teams, two located in Pau and two in Anglet on the Basque Coast Campus. The two teams in Pau (EE and PHT) will be involved in the proposed studies. The EE team (Flows and Energetics) works in the field of complex flows involving transfers (heat, mass) and the PHT team (High Voltage Processes) develops systems involving high pulsed electrical power for various applications.

For some time, the SIAME laboratory has been working on processes for the cultivation of microalgae and the pre-treatment of algal biomass to extract compounds of interest.

Microalgae are grown in innovative tubular photobioreactors with the objective of intensifying transfers to improve biomass production and CO2 sequestration yields. Experimental trials are currently conducted in the framework of a PhD project carried out in collaboration with the APESA Technology Center (Marie-Ange Leca's PhD started in May 2021) based in Montardon (64).

Once cultivated, the microalgae can be used according to the principle of "cascade bio-refinery" to valorize all the extracted compounds. In this perspective, a pilot-demonstrator of a continuous pre-treatment process of microalgal biomass products by using pulsed electric fields will be built in partnership with the company ASMA of the ARTZAINAK group (64).

These projects are funded by ADEME (MiACE-PEF project, Graine), the Carnot Institute ISIFoR and the New Aquitaine Region.

• Strong mastery on computational fluid dynamics (CFD): meshing, simulations in laminar and turbulent regimes (turbulence models), data post-processing (Paraview, scripts, Phyton routines), computation on parallel machines, OpenFoam, ANSYS FLUENT or other codes.
• Taste for the development of bioprocesses.
• Ability to present results and write articles in English.
• Knowledge of the French language is desirable.
• Dr. in fluid mechanics - numerical flow simulations or possibly a Master's degree or an Engineering degree with experience in these fields.
• Driver's license recommended.