On Friday, November 23, 2018, Edem N’TSOUKPOE, a specialist in energy and process engineering at the Laboratory for Design Optimization and Environmental Engineering (LOCIE) at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB), will defend his habilitation to supervise research (HDR) based on his work titled “Solar Thermal Energy: production, utilization, and rationalization of management.”
The defense will take place at 10:30 a.m. in Room C105 at Polytech Annecy-Chambéry, on the Bourget-du-Lac campus.
SUMMARY
This thesis provides an overview of the research I have conducted over the past ten years and highlights several original findings regarding solar heat storage, based on theoretical and experimental analyses. It reflects a variety of themes and questions underlying the rational use of solar thermal energy when considering thermal storage at low temperatures in the form of chemical potential or at high temperatures in the form of sensible heat. The various thermal storage applications on which I have had the opportunity to work led me to ultimately address the issue of evaluation criteria for thermochemical or sorption storage processes, reexamining the very nature of these processes through theoretical and experimental analyses. This led me to focus on developing strategies to improve the performance of these processes. In any case, the development of thermochemical storage processes cannot proceed without taking into account the most realistic potential availability of the various resources required for their implementation, as well as the associated constraints. I subsequently turned my attention to the provision of sustainable energy services in Africa by giving greater consideration to local potential and needs. The few examples I present show that we are in a context conducive to the development of innovative concepts.