Smilingly, Dr. Jean-Charles de Hemptinne of IFP Energies nouvelles labels himself as a salesman at this years’ CERE Discussion meeting.
“We are inviting both industry and academia to become partners in an upcoming project on electrolyte thermodynamics. This conference offers a nice crowd for selling the idea.”
IFP Energies nouvelles is a longstanding member of the CERE industry Consortium and partner in numerous projects. As for Dr. de Hemptinne, he has attended several Discussion meetings but not during the most recent years.
“We try to rotate, so different members of our thermodynamics group get the chance to participate. But participation is definitely a priority. In my view, CERE is one of the only two, or maybe three, consortia in Europe functioning really well within chemical engineering.”
Uniquely, IFP Energies nouvelles has a leg in both the academic and the industry camp. It is a private group created by the French state and relying on both public and private funding. A majority of the private income originates from sale of subsidiaries, based on license agreements for patented inventions.
Jean-Charles de Hemptinne is in the 15 permanent staff thermodynamics group. The group provides assistance to colleagues engaged in a wide range of applications.
“Our fundamental interest is quite similar to that of CERE. We also share the devotion to applying the thermodynamics. Still, we do cover a wider range of applications – fields like mixed solvents, biomass processes, corrosion issues or batteries to name some,” says Jean-Charles de Hemptinne.
“Historically, we have been in CERE because we – like CERE – came from hydrocarbon applications. But today, as indicated by the “Energies nouvelles” in our name, we are active in a number of other energy applications. These include bio-energy, for which I am in charge of the Tuck foundation chair on thermodynamics.
Our activities concern both upstream and downstream businesses. Thus, I am happy to see CERE and the KT-Consortium getting closer. This years’ format with overlapping conferences is nice. But even better in my view would be just a fully merged conference.”