Short bioFadhel Ayachi began his Engineering studies at the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Tunis (INSAT – Tunisia) in 1997. He was first specialized in Instrumentation and was graduated in 2003. At the beginning of his professional career, he had known the industry environment and had worked from 2003 to 2010 at the Trans-Tunisian Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of ENI Group. During This period, Fadhel was the head of the Method Unit, in charge of the elaboration and the development of the operational procedures related to the gas compression stations and turbomachines. In 2009, he obtained a Master Degree in Energy & Transfers (INSAT – Tunisia). Thereafter, Fadhel had prepared a PhD in Energy & Process Engineering in France from 2010 to 2013 at the PROMES–CNRS Laboratory in Perpignan (Processes, Materials and Solar Energy) and the Center for energy Efficiency of Systems in Paris (CES Mines Paris-tech). Afterwards, he achieved a post-doctorate from 2014 to 2016 at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Grenoble. Fadhel’s research work has followed the two axes: the energy system axis and the energy component axis. Regarding the system axis, he was interested in the thermodynamic optimization of energy processes especially the low and medium grade Waste Heat Recovery processes as well as the Thermo-Electric Energy Storage by means of thermodynamic cycles. As for the component axis, he was interested in the retrofitting at a small lab scale, the experimental investigation and the modeling of the expansion devices in particular the scroll expander and the radial-inflow turbine. At the beginning of 2017, Fadhel joined the Energy Research Institute at NTU (ERI@N) in Singapore. He is working on a novel zero emission cryogenic energy system for Green Data Centre.

 

Projects

Green Data Centre system using a Novel Zero Emission Cryogenset

Data centres are essential to our modern digital age. They are more and more entrenched in the most elements of our life and have to be in step with the development and the growth of these elements. In fact, as the demand for data processing and warehousing is increasingly growing, data centres are subject to intense scrutiny due to the important proportion of energy consumptions and costs. In addition, the impact of data centres is made worse by the use of polluting diesel generators to provide backup power, which contributes directly to the emission levels of CO2 and NOx. In that context, the proposed Green Data Centre (GDC) project aims to define and investigate a novel zero-emission Cryogenset providing combined green power and cold energy to Data Centre. The project covers the assessment of various scenarios and various system designs as well as the potential synergies with renewable energy sources, Waste Heat Recovery processes and other plants.

 

Expertise

• Low and medium grade heat recovery processes (ORCs)

• Expanders for ORCs (Radial inflow turbine, Scroll expander)

• Cryogenic polygeneration

• Modelling & Simulation

 

Contact details: f.ayachi@ntu.edu.sg

 

Journal Articles

• Ayachi, F.; Tauveron, N.; Tartière, T.; Colasson, S.; Nguyen, D. Thermo-Electric Energy Storage involving CO2 transcritical cycles and ground heat storage. Applied Thermal Engineering 2016, 108, 1418–1428.

• Ayachi, F.; Boulawz Ksayer, E.; Neveu, P.; Zoughaib, A. Experimental investigation and modeling of a hermetic Scroll Expander. Applied Energy 2016, 181, 256–267.

• Ayachi, F.; Boulawz Ksayer, E.; Zoughaib, A.; Neveu, P. ORC optimization for medium grade heat recovery. Energy 2014, 68, 47–56.

• Ayachi, F.; Boulawz Ksayer, E.; Neveu, P. Exergy assessment of recovery solutions from dry and moist gas available at medium temperature. Energies 2012, 5, 718–730.