Context

The presence of phase change (e.g. evaporation) in multiphase flows becomes a major scientific challenge, 
especially in applications involving cryogenic fluids. This is the case for hydrogen, which is considered one of the decarbonized alternatives to fossil fuels for aviation, 
aerospace, ground transportation, heat production, the metallurgical industry, etc. 
In an effort to optimize its energy density, hydrogen storage and transport are considered in its liquid form. 
The evaporation or boiling process of liquid hydrogen then becomes a net loss, or even a safety hazard for the facilities, which must be predicted and controlled.

In recent years, the TASC department of the CORIA laboratory (a public research institution under the auspicies of CNRS, INSA and the university of Rouen) 
has become a significant contributor to the advancement of scientific knowledge and technical methods to tackle this challenge. 
A numerical platform named ARCHER has been developed, which enables to shed light on the full complexity of the mechanisms at play within turbulent multiphase flows 
in the presence of phase change. 

Objectives

Recent work by our team has revealed a close relationship between the evaporation rate and the curvature of the liquid-gas interface [1]. 
The present PhD proposal aims at following this line and use the ARCHER platform to simulate and model the evaporation rate in canonical turbulent flow situations with some surrogate fluids. 
The case of forced isotropic turbulence will be explored and the evaporation rate will be studied in function of the local curvature of the interface and the turbulent strain rate acting on the interface. 
These results will constitute the foundations for new predictive models for the evaporation rate which will extend the capabilities of the ELSA-InterFOAM framework [2] to flows with phase change. 

This framework can then be used to predict boil-off losses (due to tank self-pressurization) for terrestrial applications, such as liquid hydrogen storage and transport, 
and to better understand the behavior of propellants in microgravity for space applications, particularly in the context of reusable launchers. 
Therefore, the main objective of this PhD is to determine a relevant model based on interface density, strain rate, and curvature, which will ultimately improve the sizing of cryogenic tanks, for example.

Environnement

The PhD is hosted at the CORIA laboratory. The candidate will take part of the TASC department and the ARCHER team constituted of several permanent researchers, engineers, 
post-docs and PhD students. She/he will be supervised by B. Duret (assistant professor at university of Rouen) and F. Thiesset (CNRS researcher). 

Candidate profile

The applicant should justify a research education: Master degree (Bac+5) or Engineering school. 
Strong background in fluid mechanics, in CFD and programming (fortran, python) are expected. 
The PhD contract holds for 3 years starting the 1st October 2025. The gross salary is 2290 euros per month. 

Further Informations

Applicants should contact F. Thiesset (fabien.thiesset@coria.fr) and B. Duret (benjamin.duret@coria.fr) for further details.


[1] MARTINEZ, L. G. & DURET, B. & REVEILLON, J. & DEMOULIN, F.X. (2023) Vapor mixing in turbulent vaporizing flows. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, vol. 161, p. 104388.

[2] ANEZ, J., AHMED, A., HECHT, N., DURET, B., REVEILLON, J., & DEMOULIN, F. X. (2019). Eulerian–Lagrangian spray atomization model coupled with interface capturing method for diesel injectors. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 113, 325-342.