Research and development at IFP-Lyon

Multidisciplinary research

IFP-Lyon houses operations spanning 8 different research divisions working in tandem with their peers in Rueil-Malmaison near Paris.

Three research divisions are based in IFP-Lyon:
- Catalysis and Separation,
- Process Experiments,
- Process Design and Modeling,
- Physics and Analysis.

Six departments report to research divisions based in Rueil-Malmaison:
- Engines, After-Treatment and Fuels,
- Measurement Processing, Automation and Control,
- Fluid Mechanics,
- Mechanics,
- Materials,
- Computer Science and Applied MathematicsApplied.

Channeling research and development towards industrial applications

Bridging the gap between experiments in laboratories and real-life industrial applications is the single most important issue we look at when we devise new techniques and products. That is what determines a new solution’s industrial credibility and worth.

IFP-Lyon’s core focus is precisely that: paving the way to industrial applications. It uses specific skills, efficient methods and modern facilities to do so in the fields of oil production, treatment, usage and substitution.
Industrial development involves three main goals:

feasibility (creating, building and running products or prototypes in conditions that resemble real-life industrial operations as closely as possible),
reliability (ensuring research processes can stand the test of time and handle deliberate hitches and other incidents without irreparably drifting off track or out of control),
scale-up (research findings have to work in real-life industrial-scale operations).

IFP-Lyon can count on the skills and resources it needs to deliver on those three fronts. The wide variety of issues it handles likewise entails building teams of specialists in a large number of fields, namely:

- chemical engineering,

- process engineering,

- technologies,

- models,

- chemical kinetics,

- catalysis and catalytic engineering,

- organic chemistry,

- physics and analysis

- materials,

- engines,

- mechanics,

- information technology,

- applied mathematics,

- artificial intelligence,

- pilot engineering,

- badvanced control.

IFP-Lyon teams can also count on considerable and bespoke logistical resources, and on ancillary expertise in mechanics, automation, electronics, computer-assisted design (CAD) and other fields, to achieve their goals.

Key facts and figures (2007)

· 630 staff (incl. 580 researchers)

· 3 ISO-9001:2000-certified divisions

· 50 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers

· 170 semi-industrial petroleum-fuel and alternative-fuel production-process pilot units

· 30 equipment test benches

· 30 models for hydrodynamic research

· 2 loops for fluid transport research

· 7 engine test benches (incl. 3 for heavy-goods vehicles and 1 vehicle test bench)