ULB: Transfers, Interfaces and Processes (TIPs)

General expertise of the research group

At the TIPs (Transfers, Interfaces and Processes) Department of ULB, the main goal of the ongoing research is to develop new theoretical, numerical and experimental methods allowing to understand and predict the behavior of multiphase systems, and to design or optimize industrial processes dedicated to the transformation of matter (mineral, organic or biological) and energy. There are essentially six main research themes: mixing, gas-liquid mass transfer,dynamics of interfaces and their instabilities, wetting, porous media, heat transfer and phase change (evaporation, crystallization, …). The Department is made of two complementary research units: the Fluid Physics Unit and the Chemical Engineering Unit. The Fluid Physics Unit collaborates with a number of scientific and industrial partners in Belgium, Europe, USA, Israel and Canada, in the frame of several networks funded by the European Commission or by the European Space Agency, and also thanks to support at National level (BELSPO, FNRS, Brussels and Walloon Regions). The team investigates mostly fundamental and/or generic questions, i.e. common to several natural or industrial processes. Studied problems most often involve notions of nonlinear dynamics, physical chemistry (equilibrium and non-equilibrium), statistical mechanics

Specific hydrogen- related expertise & research topics

• The research of Professors Benoit Haut, Pierre Lambert and Benoit Scheid at the TIPs laboratory focuses in particular on gas-liquid flows within industrial processes, with a multi-scale approach ranging from the single bubble (formation, dynamics) to the complete process, but also on problems of coatings and additive manufacturing on small scales. This project, offering a new application framework, will strengthen the expertise of TIPs in these areas, in particular by focusing on the relationship between formation of bubbles by electrochemical reaction and structure/coating of the electrode, or on the dynamics of a swarm of bubbles in complex structures or environments.

Available equipment/tools:

• The used tools are either theoretical (stability analyses, scaling laws, asymptotic techniques, …), numerical (commercial or ‘home-made’ software), or experimental (fluid behavior visualization by interferometry, Schlieren, infrared thermography, …).

Participating in FL/B/EU funded projects with H2 related research:

• ESA projects (with additional funding from BELSPO) related to fluid physics:
• Non Inflammatory NO Change (NINOC): collaboration with Karolinska-Institutet (Sweden)
• Microgravity effects on partial phase separation and structure formation in thin films– solvent effects on a model system for organic optoelectronics (DIPCOM-2): collaboration with Karlstad University (Sweden)
• European Network on boiling-related research in microgravity (MAP and PRODEX Heat transfer)
• European Network on evaporation-related research (MAP and PRODEX Evaporation)
• Topical Team Bioprocesses and Bioreactors in Space
• The last three projects bring together more than 30 partners in around ten countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Switzerland