My work focuses on processes allowing the optimal implementation of chemical reactions while ensuring the intensification of heat and mass transfers and guaranteeing safety. It relates to the concept of compact heat exchanger-reactor which represents a continuous alternative to batch or semi-batch reactor. The aim is to develop processes that will improve energy efficiency, cleaner and safer production, reduced environmental impact and lead to more compact and multifunctional installations.

The studies carried out relates both to numerical approaches for dynamic modeling in view of optimization, control, supervision (i.e. fault detection, isolation and identification) and scaling-up of the processes as well as to experimental applications on pilots to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodologies.

A recent study concerns anaerobic digestion reactor modelling taking into account ammonia inhibition phenomena in order to develop a prevention tool to optimize the process.

Research interest:  Process Intensification – Process safety – Design and operation of heat exchanger-reactors for batch to continuous transposition of chemical reactions – Stoechio-kinetic modelling of reactions – Experimental design – Control and supervision of batch or continuous processes

Applications: Liquid & liquid-liquid chemical reactions – Exothermic reactions – Anaerobic digestion

Research supervision:

• PhD students: Zoé ANXIONNAZ-MINVIELLE (2008), Laurène DESPENES  (2010), Chawki AMMARCHA (2011), Céline FUSTIER (2012), Pierre PARDO (2013, Xiaojuan ZHAO (2013), Maxime MOREAU (2014), Léo VIOLET (2016), Mei ZHANG (2017), Hanbin SHI (2019), Alexandre BOUTOUTE (ongoing), Antoinette MAARAWI (ongoing)
• post-doc: Marwa SAÏD (2018)

Teaching activities in the Chemical Engineering/ Process Engineering department of the Paul Sabatier University Institute of Technology: Liquid-liquid extraction – Process safety – Process control and supervision – Sustainable processes

Collaborators:

• Academics: Christophe GOURDON, Richard GUILET, Nathalie RAIMONDI, (LGC), Boutaib DAHHOU (LAAS Toulouse), Lionel ESTEL, Sébastien LEVENEUR, Lamiae VERNIERES (LSPC Rouen), Mondher FARZA, Mohamed M’SAAD (LA Caen) Jean-Marc COMMENGE, Laurent FALK, Jean-François PORTHA (LRGP, Nancy), Régis PHILIPPE, Claude DE BELLEFON (LGPC, Lyon)
• Industrialists: Zoé MINVIELLE (CEA Grenoble), Stéphane HATTOU (ARKOLIA ENERGIES Mudaison)

Companies: ARKOLIA ENERGIES (Mudaison), ELKEM (Saint-Fons), PROCESSIUM (Villeurbanne), SANOFI