It was with Uni­LaSalle that research into methani­sa­tion was relaunched with­in UTC-TIMR in 2008. The research focus­es on bio­gas pro­duc­tion through the methani­sa­tion of organ­ic waste, as well as the gasi­fi­ca­tion of dry biomass.

This col­lab­o­ra­tion led to the cre­ation of Solimétha, a sci­en­tif­ic inter­est group­ing (GIS) between UTC and Uni­ver­si­ty LaSalle, with the aim of fed­er­at­ing research and train­ing activ­i­ties in the field of methani­sa­tion of agri­cul­tur­al waste and by-prod­ucts. After five years of activ­i­ty, the GIS has been renewed for a fur­ther five years and is over­see­ing a num­ber of research projects. These projects are car­ried out in a part­ner­ship with the Region, but also increas­ing­ly with indus­try, since they have led to three Cifre the­ses, which have result­ed in five patents, one of which is UTC property.

These projects have earned the UTC and Uni­LaSalle both aca­d­e­m­ic and indus­tri­al recognition.

The proof? The Cométha² project. “In this project, two play­ers in water and waste treat­ment in the Paris region, Siaap and Syc­tom, launched a call for inno­va­tion part­ner­ships for the codi­ges­tion of sol­id and liq­uid waste. The aim is to co-treat sludge from waste­water treat­ment plants and house­hold waste. Six con­sor­tia made up of indus­tri­al­ists and aca­d­e­mics were eval­u­at­ed, includ­ing ours with Sources and John Cock­er­ill. They select­ed four of them, includ­ing ours, for a two-year phase, essen­tial­ly based on R&D. Then, at the end of these two years, they select­ed only two for a pilot demon­stra­tion. We are one of them, UTC-Com­pieg­ne and Uni­LaSalle being the only French aca­d­e­m­ic part­ners select­ed for this project”, explains André Pauss.

The project is pro­gress­ing well, with a methani­sa­tion pilot plant now being set up at the Valen­ton site in the Val de Marne. The project could poten­tial­ly move into a third phase with the devel­op­ment of an indus­tri­al reactor.