8 Researchers at Aix-Marseille Université

Liberty is an ANR industrial chair and a collaborative effort in the field of computational fluid dynamics applied to the development of new H2 technologies. It aims at developing efficient Lattice-Boltzmann Methods (LBM) for the high-fidelity simulation of multi-species and multi-physics flows in realistic industrial applications such as aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, aerothermal and reacting flows.

The consortium consists of four partners: the M2P2 lab (AMU/CNRS/Centrale Marseille), two aeronautical manufacturers (Airbus and Safran), and a burner manufacturer (Fives-Pillard). The chair holder is Dr. Pierre Boivin (CNRS researcher, CR-HDR), an H2 combustion and safety specialist from M2P2.

Over the last few years, Lattice-Boltzmann Methods have become very popular for full-scale industrial simulations of isothermal, low Mach, non-reactive flows, as their outstanding computational efficiency and accuracy on complex geometries is no longer in question. Their recent extension to compressible, thermal and multi-species flows opens up a wide new range of applications that needs to be explored and matured. These extensions are crucial in the H2 transition context for both energy and transport applications, in line with France 2030 objectives.

The research program articulates around four work packages (WP), each focused on a major scientific difficulty in relation with the development of new H2 technologies:

WP1 deals with physical and numerical modeling of solid walls and turbulent boundary layers in aerothermal flows, focusing on the resolution of energy and mass conservativity issues typical of cut-cell approaches.

WP2 aims at modelling arbitrary moving and deformable bodies and lay the groundwork for simulating H2 tank rupture or large propeller deflection.

WP3 addresses combustion and safety concerns for future H2 low NOx combustion chambers, with an emphasis on mixing, flashback and instability studies

WP4 explores the possibility of using LBM for high-Reynolds multi-phase flows at high density ratios (both beneath and above critical conditions), such as those encountered in cryogenic and high-pressure H2 storage.