It is only possible to avoid inevitable and irreversible climate changes if massive and immediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are made (IPCC, 2021). Nuclear safety is one of the ten priority actions to be performed to accelerate the energy system transformation and to reach future low-carbon energy system.
As nuclear power plants in Europe are ageing, extending their lifetime provides the necessary time for the transition to a low-carbon energy system. Flow-induced vibrations may cause failure in main nuclear steam supply system components such as fuel assemblies and steam generators. An in-depth understanding and prediction of FIV phenomena will assure the safe operation of the existing plants, especially those involved in long-term operation programs.
The GO-VIKING project aims to improve the safety of contemporary reactors and the design evaluation of new concepts, as well as to generate and disseminate knowledge on flow-induced vibrations among nowadays and upcoming stakeholders in the nuclear field.
The GO-VIKING project is coordinated by GRS, a non-profit organisation. It is financed mainly by carrying out publicly funded research projects and by providing expert opinions.
GO-VIKING Open Lecture on Flow-Induced Vibration: The Experimental Approach
The P2O project seeks to significantly reduce CO2 emissions associated with the production of olefins by introducing two new reactor concepts. These two reactors will make traditional steam cracking processes more sustainable.
Steam cracking Olefins, including ethylene, are a group of vital building blocks in the chemical industry. Today, they are mainly produced through steam cracking of hydrocarbons. This process results in significant CO2 emissions.
A mature process Steam cracking is performed almost exclusively in tube-shaped reactors that are heated up in open flame furnaces. By intensifying the heat transfer to the process vapor stream, residence times can be reduced, and ethylene yields can be increased. Yet, as the industry matured, such yield gains have become increasingly difficult to achieve due to engineering restrictions.
A radically new reactor To overcome these restrictions, P2O aims to develop a radically new reactor concept that can drastically intensify the heat transfer using renewable electricity: an electrified rotor stator reactor (e-RSR).
Methane Another issue with steam cracking concerns methane, which is produced during the cracking process and often combusted after separation from the product stream, resulting in CO2 emissions. In principle, setting aside current engineering challenges, this can be avoided by converting the methane into ethylene or aromatics through methane coupling, or oligomerisation.
Therefore, P2O seeks to develop yet another new reactor concept: a non-thermal plasma catalytic reactor. This reactor can convert methane from the product stream of the naphtha or ethane cracking process, enabling higher ethylene yields at a lower CO2 footprint.
Impact By combining two new reactor concepts and pursuing innovations in the traditional steam cracking process, P2O will allow Flemish industries to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions while increasing their ethylene yields.
Project Details
Project type: cSBO in MOT3 Electrification & Radical Process Transformation Approved on: 18/11/2020 Start date: 01/03/2021 (expected duration of 48 months) Budget: €2.928.939
Partners
The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics is proud to be part of the project Be-HyFE (Belgian university Hydrogen Fundamental Expertise), the Belgian base for hydrogen expertise. Ghent University, together with 13 partners, is building a PhD network for academic hydrogen expertise in which VKI is full partner and is hosting one of the PhDs.
With the PhD network, we will support the industry in their technical and societal challenges related to hydrogen R&D. 16 Early Stage Researchers (PhDs) will execute a PhD in selected hydrogen topics, covering the whole hydrogen value chain.
In addition to the research itself, emphasis will be placed on acquiring specialized skills through training and the exchange of knowledge within the academic-industrial network.
The project will run for 4,5 years, is coordinated by Ghent University, and is financially supported by the Belgian federal Energy Transition Fund and the FPS Economy.
COOLFluiD is an object-oriented scientific computing environment designed for handling high-performance computing problems, with focus on complex CFD and MultiPhysics simulations.
LAPCAT II is a logical follow-up of the previous, co-funded EC-projec LAPCAT whose objective was to reduce the duration of antipodal flights (that is, flights between two diametrically opposite points on the globe) to less than two to four hours. Among the several vehicles studied, only two novel concepts – for Mach five and Mach eight cruise flight – are retained in the new program. The project, co-funded by the European Commission under the theme of air transportation, will last for four years and involves 16 partners representing six European member states.
MuTEch project aims at providing new generic numerical and experimental tools to study heat and mass transfer, gas evolution and fluid turbulence in electrochemical systems of practical interest. This project is financed by the IWT (Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders).
