From fundamental principles to experimental developments

Human activities have pushed several planetary boundaries beyond their safe operating limits, calling for a profound transformation towards a more sustainable society. Achieving a sustainable society requires, notably, profound changes in industrial production. Among the most challenging sectors, the cement and lime industries remain major contributors to global CO₂ emissions. In this context, this thesis investigates a novel electrochemical pathway for calcium hydroxide production. This approach offers the potential to fundamentally redesign lime and cement manufacturing with a reduced environmental footprint, although it currently remains at a low technology readiness level. The process was experimentally investigated in two-compartment cells. Excess and batch feedstock addition strategies, as well as in-situ and ex-situ precipitation methods, were compared. Based on the theoretical framework developed in this work and experimental results, key guidelines are established to achieve the desired stoichiometry throughout water electrolysis, feedstock dissolution, ion migration, and calcium hydroxide precipitation. The limited CO₂ recovery caused by gas-liquid mass transfer limitations was identified, and strategies to overcome this limitation are proposed. Membrane fouling, responsible for voltage instability, was characterized under various operating conditions and strategies to prevent calcium carbonate contamination during ex-situ precipitation are provided. The influence of various natural feedstocks was also investigated. The effect of particle size distribution on dissolution, the congruence of impurity dissolution, and the feasibility of using reclaimed mortar as an alternative feedstock were assessed. The properties of the resulting calcium hydroxide products were compared. Finally, the energy requirements and prospective CO₂ emissions of the process are assessed together with other environmental implications. This work establishes the fundamental principles governing electrochemical calcium hydroxide production and provides a coherent framework for its future scale-up. The findings also demonstrate the potential of the electrochemical route to improve both process performance and the sustainability of lime and cement production.

Membres du jury :

• Prof. Joris Proost (UCLouvain)(Promoteur)
• Prof. Paul Fisette (UCLouvain) (Président)
• Prof. Patricia Luis Alconero (UCLouvain) (Secrétaire)
• Prof. Tom Leyssens (UCLouvain) 
• Prof. Diane Thomas (UMons)
• Dr. Aurélien Chardon (Carmeuse)

Soutenance publique également accessible par visio-conférence via le lien (TEAMS) : 

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/342087054716503?p=RZyhRoDKFJUO9ZWZwW

This dissertation addresses a critical challenge in wind energy research: accurately predicting wind turbine wakes using Large Eddy Simulation (LES), which depends heavily on high-quality experimental validation data.

The work introduces a new model-scale wind turbine called TWIST (Turbine for Wind tunnel Investigation & Scaled Testing), designed and experimentally characterized in a controlled wind tunnel environment with detailed hot-wire measurements. On the numerical side, several methodological advances enable cost-efficient and physically consistent LES, including wall-modeled LES implementation, novel inflow control methods (RPS and ACTIF), and a continuous Actuator Line Model (cALM) for representing turbine aerodynamics.

These developments are integrated into an LES-based digital twin of the TWIST experiment. Comparisons with experimental measurements show that the framework captures essential near-wake flow features and reproduces observed trends under varying operating conditions, demonstrating strong predictive quality. Overall, this combined experimental-numerical approach provides a solid foundation for future investigations of wind turbine wakes and more reliable LES-based tools for wind energy research.

Membres du jury :

• Prof. Grégoire Winckelmans  (UCLouvain)(Promoteur)
• Prof. Renaud Ronsse  (UCLouvain) (Président)
• Dr. Matthieu Duponcheel  (UCLouvain) (Secrétaire)
• Prof. Jeroen van Beeck (von Karman Institute) (Co-promoteur) 
• Prof. Joris Degroote (UGent)
• Prof. Sandrine Aubrun (École Centrale Nantes)
• Dr. Sophia Buckingham (ENGIE Laborelec)

Soutenance publique également accessible par visio-conférence via le lien (TEAMS) :

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/35513448113251?p=o966pBIJhilmKKie2d

Meeting ID: 355 134 481 132 51

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