Integrated Transformation of Renewable Matter (TIMR)

This research team associates the skills and know-how of UTC in process engineering and those of the Compiègne based École Supérieure de Chimie Organique et Minérale (ESCOM) in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.

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Objectives

The objectives of TIMR are: to develop, validate and implement the knowledge and know-how intended for the processes and reactions of transformation of renewable material.

The unit's research activities are part of scientific and technological issues, and current societal issues related to the optimization of the use of resources and the renewal of industrial processes in connection with a sustainable development approach.

Research teams and thematics

TIMR's research activities revolve around 5 teams with complementary skills and the Chemistry and Green Processes Chair of Excellence:

Microbial activities and bioprocesses (MAB)

Characterization, monitoring of microbial activities in complex natural and industrial environments, and control of bioprocesses via a multidisciplinary approach.

Environmental Protection In Chemical Engineering (EPICE)

Participation in the design and development of industrial processes with the constraints of minimizing environmental impacts and controlling industrial risks.

Interfaces and divided environments (IMiD)

Mastery of the behavior of complex dispersed systems in the processing and shaping processes, interface phenomena, behavioral properties of divided solids.

Organic Chemistry and Alternative Technologies (OCAT)

Alternative techniques for synthesizing new molecules from biomass, clean and economical synthesis processes, valorisation of biomolecules and biobased materials.

Agro-industrial technologies (TAI)

Mastery of biomolecule extraction and separation processes, implementation of unconventional physical transformations, emerging transfer intensification processes.

Chair of excellence in chemistry and green processes

The objective of the chair is to amplify the integration between chemistry and process engineering through a multidisciplinary approach favoring the development of innovative processes.

Research projects and partnerships

Involvement in many partnership research projects with academic laboratories in France and internationally: european programs Marie Curie Actions (Initial Training Networks), FUI projects, projects supported by the Hauts-de-France Region and the FEDER, by the Industries and Agro-Resources competitiveness cluster, by ADEME, by Sorbonne University…
Strong investment in the Investments for the Future program, as part of the Institute for Energy Transition PIVERT (Picardie Innovations végétales, enseignements et recherches technologiques).
Important componant of activities in relation to companies, in patnerships with large groups (Areva, groupe Avril, Maguin, L'Oréal, Nestlé, PCAS, PSA, Saint Gobain, Sanofi, SIAPP, Sofralab, Solvay, Tereos, Veolia, Weylchem…), research organizations and EPIC (CEA, CETIM, IFPEN, INERIS, ITERG, Terres Inovia…), but also SMEs (Aaqius, Metarom, CCL…) and start-ups (SAS PIVERT…).
Active participation in many networks and research groups such as: ANCRE and AllEnvi alliances, ANSES, SFR Condorcet (FR CNRS 3417), European Federation of Chemical Engineering, GIS Solimetha, Société française de génie des procédés, Société chimique de France, Société française fluide-particules, programme MOCOPEE, actions COST…

Zoom on 2 projects

Could plants save the chemical sector ? This is the challenge addressed by the bio-refinery that is going to be built in the framework of the Pivert project (acronym in French for Picardie Plant Innovations, Technological Teaching and Research), which has become the only ITE (Institute for Excellence in Carbon-free Energies) under the recent Government programme called "Invest for the Future", specialised in plant chemistry on a national scale (France). "The idea is to replace molecules that have their origins in petrochemical industries by plant molecules and, at the sametime, to imagine new processes that require less energy input thanks to the plants used and through studies in stoves that burn plant residues", said Daniel THOMAS, former Vice-President of the Science Council and Professor at the Enzyme and Cell Engineering Laboratory (GEC) at UTC.

The research work at UTC focuses on oilbearing plants (colza, sunflowers, flax…). The company Sofiprotéol has already made investments in a second generation biodiesel refining unit, at Venette near Compiègne, precisely where the Pivert platform is being assembled. This new installation uses whole plants and not just the grains of colza or sunflower. Daniel THOMAS pointed out that "ARKEMA, RHODIA, SOLVAY or CHIMEX the chemical division of L'OREAL, i.e., the big names in French chemistry are already present on the site".

"We are going to study and work with the plant itself, from an agronomic stand-point. How, for example, can we encourage a plant to produce more (and other) attractive molecules such as branched fatty acids, close in structure to unsaturated fatty acids that can therefore be used as lubricants, waxes or plasticisers". Another line of research will be on the specific techniques employed at the site (subcritical water, electric fields and microwaves) used to separate the constituent parts of the plants. "We are also going to look at possibilities offered by catalysis and bio catalysis (using enzymes) in order to consume less energy to transform the plant."

The project will also use the property of self-assembly that characterises lipids to create biodegradable nanostructures or invent new formulae that prove attractive to the cosmetics industries. Pivert will also include a more global industrial ecology approach. A bio refinery must prove to be a place where a rational use of raw materials must be demonstrable : using proximity energy sources, recycling all wastes into new energy sources or indeed into new products.

Manure is gold, so we say, or rather a source of electricity. The UTC Laboratory- Integrated Transformation of Renewable matter (TIMR), headed by Maurice Nonus proposes a flexible methanisation process for French farmers. Methanisation, we recall is the process whereby organic matter is converted into biogas (CH4) is not at all a revolutionary discovery as visitors to marshlands and stagnant waters can witness 'Will of the wisp'.

On site methanisation is highly developed in German farms. More than 7000 farmers feed the methane convertors with manure they collect from their livestock and other vegetable waste ; these are large-scale units. The methane produced in sufficient quantities to become the prime mover for a combustion motor coupled to a generator. "Some of these farmers have even given up the breeding/raising activities and cultivate crops that they feed directly and completely to the converters, for example, maize, and are now classified as industrial electricity and heat producers". In France, we haven't reached this stage yet. EDF buys back the electricity produced in this 'private' manner but the authorities have not yet issued permits to cultivate plants solely for the purpose of generating electricity via methane converters.

"What we have here (and are offering) is a modular, mobile concept" says Maurice Nonus. The methane converter looks like a traditional transport container. The farmer fills it with manure, etc., with a single 30 tonne load, and closes the convertor for nature to take its way. Methanisation occurs only in a closed milieu. "Our work consisted of integrating in the converter various devices to wet the contents, initiate the methanisation, warm the juices produced, measure, analyse and extract the methane. The farmer then only has to programme the production cycle to suit his schedules." The methane collected is delivered to a burner driving a motor coupled to a generator for the electric final output and the heat recovered also in the process can be value-added, both energies providing for extra income to the farmer who exploits the process. The 'ultimate' wastes are spread in the fields.

What attracted the farmers was the financial gain possible. "In order to break even, and have a positive income, you have to start with around 70–100 heads of livestock". The investments can be adjusted accordingly, buying extra converters as appropriate. Inasmuch as the process sequesters the methane, it also contributes to reducing the GHG effect (NB – methane is a strong GHS).