Prof. Alessandro Parente is an assistant professor specializing in numerical simulation of reacting and non-reacting flows, gas turbine and rocket propulsion, lubrication, and renewable energies. His expertise includes developing predictive models for efficient combustion systems burning biomass-based fuels like hydrogen. He is currently working on a micro-CHP/gas turbine unit called NANOCOGEN+ that uses flameless combustion of methane and biogas fuels. Prof. Parente provides services to companies including R&D partnerships and developing numerical tools to analyze combustion processes and support decision making.

1. 1
Aero-Thermo-Mechanics
UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES, Bruxelles
Prof. Alessandro Parente
Assistant Professor
Lab’InSight « Biomass to Energy » -
CTA, December 11th 2012»

2. Fields of Expertise
• Numerical simulation of turbulent reacting and non-reacting
flows
• Gas turbine and rocket propulsion
• Lubrication
• Renewable energies/rational use of energy
Industrial application fields
• Conceptualization, development and testing of efficient
combustion systems for biomass-based fuels
2
Strée – December 11th 2012
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE AND
INDUSTRIAL TARGETS

3. 3
ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR HYDROGEN-
BASED FUEL COMBUSTION
Strée – December 11th 2012
H2-based fuels
• From biomass gasification
• Expensive purification for fuel cells
• Efficient valorization with direct combustion
But …
• H2 → high temperatures and pollutant emissions (NOx)
• New combustion systems needed
Integrated
approachExperiments
Modelling
(CFD)

4. Flameless combustion
• Homogenous temperature
• Very low NO formation
4
ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR HYDROGEN-
BASED FUEL COMBUSTION
Strée – December 11th 2012
350 K 2500 K 1270 K 1390 K
FLAME
FLAMELESS
Our expertise
• Predictive numerical
models for burner
modification/development
C. Gallletti, A. Parente, M. Derudi, R. Rota, L.
Tognotti, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 34, 8339-8351,
2009.

5. 5
ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR HYDROGEN-
BASED FUEL COMBUSTION
Strée – December 11th 2012
Applications
• Glass and steel industry
• Micro co-generation
CHP SOLO® Stirling burner (Stirling Systems GmbH)
Self-recuperative FLOX® burner (WS FLOX®)
A. Parente, C. Galletti and L. Tognotti”, Int.
J. Hydrogen Energy, 33, 7553-7564, 2008.

6. 6
Strée – December 11th 2012
DEVELOPMENT OF A MICRO-CHP/GT
UNIT FOR RESIDENTIAL APPLICATIONS
NANOCOGEN+
• In collaboration with the Walloon Region and a start-up
company, MITIS
• Flameless combustion chamber
• Designed for methane and biogas fuels
• Advanced design tools (CFD and multi-objective optimization)
• Ongoing (started in 2011)

7. 7
SERVICES PROVIDED TO COMPANIES
Strée – December 11th 2012
→ R&D partnership on research activities related to the
analysis/development of combustion technologies for biomass-
based fuels (biogas and syngas)
→ Development of numerical tools for process analysis and
decision making support

8. 8
Subjects
→ Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of fluid flows
with commercial and open-source software
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES
TRAINING
Strée – December 11th 2012

9. 9
Subjects
→ VALEBIO: Biomass valorisation - Continuing Education –
University Certificate - ULB / Ulg
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES
TRAINING
Strée – December 11th 2012
Objectives
• Opportunities
• Characterize valuable
biomass
• Technologies and processes
• Processing pathways
• Pathway implementation
For whom
• Managers
• Researchers
• Managers
• Government officials
• Consultants…
In practice
• From February 1st
2013
• 234 hours
• Every Friday, 1 year
• Partnership:
academic (ULB,
ULg, CRA-W)
industrial and public
authorities
Where
• ULB
• Gembloux
• On visites’ sites

10. 10
LABORATORY CONTACT INFORMATION
Prof. Gérard Degrez
Chef de service/Head of Department
gdegrez@ulb.ac.be - Phone : +32 2 650 26 48
Prof. Alessandro Parente
Assistant Professor
Alessandro.Parente@ulb.ac.be - Phone : +32 2 650 26 80
UNIVERSITÉ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES/Ecole Polytechnique
Aero-Thermo-Mechanics
Avenue F. D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique
http://mecapp42.ulb.ac.be/atm/
Strée – December 11th 2012