PIMENT works on 3 major research topics :
- Topic 1 : Energy-efficient buildings in districts and towns
Positive-energy buildings and districts : design, use, thermal performance,
user behaviour, building physics; building envelopes for energy storage,
ventilated walls, green roofs; air quality and comfort, including thermal and
fluid mechanics, thermal, visual, acoustic and olfactory heating comfort;
real-time control and optimisation for smart buildings; sustainable and
bio-sourced materials such as waste re-purposing and biological or non biological
materials; scientific breakthroughs in heating, thermodynamics,
shape optimisation, model analysis, mechanics, fluid mechanics, urban
engineering, thermal and energy engineering
- Topic 2 : Sustainable forms of energy
Resources potential : wind, temperature, sunlight; Systems behaviour
/ optimisation of components : SWAC (seawater air conditioning), OTEC
(ocean thermal energy conversion), solar air-conditioning, photovoltaics
(heat), air-conditioning and cooling systems ;Bioenergies : production of
biogas from waste Forecasting, real-time control, control from the resource
to injection into a smart network ; energy storage; transfer intensification;
Addressing irregularities
- Topic 3 : Mathematics and Applications
Sensitivity, optimisation, finished elements, contact mechanics and lubrication
Areas of expertise
We are experts for national organizations : ANR (BLANC, HABISOL, Générique, Méthodes Numériques, Villes Durables, etc.) OSEO; CEA.
Contributions in the fields of applications, including :
- Heat transfer ;Optimisation; Thermodynamic Systems;
- Analysis, Mechanics; Fluid mechanics; Digital Methods;
- Sensitivity analysis; techniques for forecasting, predicting and optimising systems.
- RAFSOL : Solar air-conditioning
- Enerpos : benchmark building for energy demand management
and positive energy research in French overseas departments and territories
- Pat – ETM (trial) : experiment to simulate ocean thermal energy conversion
- LGI Unit : a demonstration building in Reunion fitted with flow sensors, thermocouples and light meters
- ISOTEST : four reduced scale (1/3) buildings fitted with flow sensors, thermocouples and light meters
- Weather station (fixed) : thermohygrometers, anemometers, weather vanes, pluviometer, albedometer and a pyrgeometer
- Weather station (mobile)
- Outdoor light source (measurement of solar light flows)
- Blue box (calorimeter) : Measuring the thermal and physical properties of materials
- Solar tracker : Pinpointing diffuse sunlight, both direct and overall
- Green roof : A building heat study
- Durasol : Study of the behaviour (ageing, optimisation, yield, etc.) of a photovoltaic panel in a humid tropical environment.
- STATRON : Climate chamber in a controlled environment
- Biogas reactor : Model of a Reunion habitat
- Gas generator : producing electricity from biomass (green waste)
- Biogas reactor : processing sludge from a wastewater treatment plant
- P.I.V. (Particle Image Velocimetry) : acquisition of velocity fields in a fluid using non-intrusive measurement
DATA NETWORKS : OSU REUNION AERONET
ACADEMIC SOCIETY : INTERNATIONAL BUILDING PERFORMANCE SIMULATION ASSOCIATION, FRANCE
NATURAL VENTILATION
Partners : CEA; Intégrale Ingénierie ;PIMENT
2015 – 2018
ANR EQUIPEX DURASOL
2012 – 2019
SUNNY SHARK
Partners : Technopole; CIR ;PIMENT
2012 – 2019
TK BOIS
Determining the heat performance of wood shavings
Partners : TK BOIS; PIMENT
2016 – 2018
LETCHI PROJECT
Platform for expert appraisals of low-energy buildings in tropical
environments
Partners : ADEME ;IMAGEEN ;PIMENT
Fostering research excellence
Research centers or research group