Estimation of the cost temporal evolution of new technologies

IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) est un acteur majeur de la recherche et de la formation dans les domaines de l’énergie, du transport et de l’environnement. De la recherche à l’industrie, l’innovation technologique est au cœur de son action, articulée autour de quatre priorités stratégiques : Mobilité Durable, Energies Nouvelles, Climat / Environnement / Economie circulaire et Hydrocarbures Responsables.

Dans le cadre de la mission d’intérêt général confiée par les pouvoirs publics, IFPEN concentre ses efforts sur :

• l’apport de solutions aux défis sociétaux de l’énergie et du climat, en favorisant la transition vers une mobilité durable et l’émergence d’un mix énergétique plus diversifié ;
• la création de richesse et d’emplois, en soutenant l’activité économique française et européenne et la compétitivité des filières industrielles associées.

Partie intégrante d’IFPEN, l’école d’ingénieurs IFP School prépare les générations futures à relever ces défis.

Estimation of the cost temporal evolution of new technologies

The techno-economic assessment of a new technology is complex and uncertain. At IFPEN, the internal evaluation tools currently incorporate the evolution of costs based on capacity variations. However, deployment time is also an impactful parameter in the case of new technologies. Indeed, their costs tend to decrease more significantly over time compared to mature processes. Therefore, it seems important to assess this learning effect.

In the literature, certain methodologies allow this effect to be taken into account through a learning curve applied to the entire process. However, the learning effect is then overestimated because the cost of certain components will not evolve significantly (pumps, standard exchangers, etc.). A recent publication, however, has established and validated a methodology to evaluate the temporal evolution of the cost of new technologies through specific "learning curves" assigned to different components of the technology based on their levels of complexity and standardization. IFPEN is interested in applying this methodology to its new processes, particularly for CO2 capture.

Description

The internship aims to develop and evaluate this methodology using internal IFPEN examples. First, the intern will need to familiarize himself with a preliminary version of the methodology developed prior to the internship. The version will include both a workflow outlining the key steps to follow and a tool for calculating the final cost. 

The workflow will include, among others, the following points:

• Creating a list of the technology's components.
• Sizing and costing each component using IFPEN's internal tools.
• Assigning a learning curve (LC) to each component based on its characteristics (particularly its level of complexity and standardization). For certain components, determining these characteristics will require developing a questionnaire to be submitted to specialists.

During the internship, several objectives will be addressed:

• Conduct a brief literature review on existing methodologies.
• Test the methodology on real cases using a preliminary version. The examples potentially studied will be technologies related to CO2 capture (DMX, Direct Air Capture, Rotating Packed Bed, etc.).
• Propose and implement improvements to the methodology (workflow, calculation tool, etc.).
• Test the influence of certain parameters on the results.

Required profile

Process and chemical engineering, good relationships skills

Additional information

Duration of the internship: 6 months
Workplace : IFPEN Lyon, Rond-point de l'échangeur de Solaize, 69360 Solaize
Transport : public transportation / personal vehicle
Paid internship : 1080€/month