Heat processes for high-quality desalination

The drinking water crisis announced for Sea water desalination

factory at Jubail (Saudi
2000 - 2020 has elicited strong interest in Arabia). Today, the largest
fast developing desalination techniques that fresh water producers are
are cheaper, simpler, hardier, more reliable, in the Middle East.
and, if possible, less energy-consuming and
more environmentally friendly. The CEA,
thanks to its acquired knowledge and its
development of innovative technologies, is
facing this technical and economic challenge
head on.
There are currently 1.4 billion people on
Earth without access to water suitable for
consumption. This figure will reach 2.3 bil-
lion within 25 years. The oceans (1.34 quin-
tillion cubic meters), with 97% of the Pla-
net’s water, constitute an inexhaustible supply
of drinking water, provided that fresh water
is extracted. This is much simpler and less
expensive than salt extraction, although refe-
rence is incorrectly made to desalinating sea
water. The cost of producing fresh water
through desalination, once quite high, has
considerably dropped: it can dip below 1
Euro/m3 for large capacity units.

Existing processes
Ch. Vioujard/GAMMA

The oldest and most widely used process

is distillation. In this process, the water eva-
porates and is then condensed while the salt, be lower than 100 thermal kWh per cubic tern countries, but today more and ever stron-
which is not volatile, remains in the concen- meter and even lower than 10 (electric) kWh ger demand is coming from all continents.
trated brine. This process recreates the cycle for steam compression cycles (see box). This concerns not only the arid and semi-
of evaporation and condensation of water in Moreover, production of fresh water is often arid areas, but also those with strong concen-
nature. The first industrial vessels, used more combined with electricity supply. trations of population, industry and tourism,
than two centuries ago, currently equip more The comparison of the advantages and where local drinking water resources are
than 60% of the world’s plants. The remai- disadvantages of each process allows an becoming inadequate or unfit for consump-
ning 40% principally use a membrane sepa- assessment of where they are best used. Dis- tion. The pressing demand, generally unsa- 91
ration process called reverse osmosis: under tillation is well adapted to large production tisfied, is a major concern and, in the short
high pressure (dozens of times that of atmos- capacities, although the maximum capacity term, is likely to bring about local catas-
pheric pressure), the water molecules contain- of factories using reverse osmosis is on a trophes and conflicts.
ed in sea water pass through a selective mem- constant upswing. Ultimately, the two pro-
brane, while the (larger) ions comprising the cesses partially overlap. As a general rule
dissolved salts do not pass through the mem- somewhat more expensive than reverse Since the 1960s
brane. This process, discovered in 1950, was osmosis, distillation produces water which
further developed in the sixties. It has bene- is extremely pure, independent of the qua- Since the 1960s, France, through a depart-
fited from progress made, particularly in lity and salinity of the initial water. Reverse mental order of June 1966, formed a com-
polymers, in manufacturing more and more osmosis is of much greater interest in the mittee in charge of desalination problems,
efficient membranes and in developing event of water which is only lightly salted, as bringing together most notably the DGRST
energy recovery systems. The distillation in briny water. (General delegation for scientific and tech-
process was itself improved with an eye to Today, fewer than 12.500 desalination nical research), the French electrical autho-
reducing the quantity of energy initially plants throughout the world produce daily rity (EDF), the CEA, and the Cnexo (Natio-
consumed in water evaporation (approxi- more than 20 million cubic meters of fresh nal center for marine exploitation). The CEA
mately 700 thermal kWh to evaporate one water: 14 million from sea water and the was in charge of carrying out decisions made
cubic meter of water, at approximately remainder from briny water. Factories pro- for promoting and coordinating the research
15 Euro for the energy portion). Due to cycles duce up to several hundreds of thousands of and development effort in the private and
more complex than simple distillation cubic meters daily with the help of a dozen public sectors. From 1966 to 1976, its cen-
(“multi-flash” evaporation, multiple effect, plants functioning in parallel. The largest ters in Saclay, Grenoble and Cadarache were
vapor compression), this consumption may fresh water producers are the Middle Eas- at the heart of a huge program studying pro-

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 THE RATIONAL USE OF ENERGY

Sea water desalination

through mechanical vapor compression
The process of sea water desalina- concentration factor equal to two:
tion through mechanical vapor com- 1 m3 of sea water (35 g/l of salt) yields
pression (see figure) may be likened 500 l of fresh water, and 500 l of brine
to that of a heat pump; the sea water to 70 g/l of salt are cast into the sea.
is evaporated after having been pre- This allows consumption at around
heated in a heat recuperation exchan- ten electric kilowatts per hour instead
ger. The water vapor produced is of the usual 700 heat kWh for simple
compressed after its droplets – pro- distillation.
duced by a separator – are removed. The European Union is financing a
As its pressure is high, the vapor program on desalination with a consor-
condenses at a temperature above tium of industrial companies and
that of the evaporator; the evapora- research organizations. This project,
tion and condensation cycles function carried out under the Craft procedures,
thanks to the latent condensation heat involves small- and medium-sized com-
that is transferred. The condensed panies and aims at achieving a small-
vapor – from fresh water – is extrac- capacity plant (up to 1 l/h) for mecha-
Osmonics ted, as is the concentrated brine that nical vapor compression using a
Example of a reverse osmosis membrane contains the salt. Due to corrosion maximum of polymer materials. These
used for water desalination. and incrustation problems in the com- are highly resistant to corrosion and
ponents, this type of device generally incrustation, including that occurring
functions at a temperature no greater on exchange surfaces. The project’s
than around 60° C (sea water boils goal is to cut installation and mainte-
under a partial vacuum), with a nance costs as far as possible.

cesses, thermohydraulics, incrustation and

corrosion, the type of materials to be used in droplet
reverse osmosis membranes, the prelimi- separator
nary projects for large desalination plants
coupled with nuclear reactors, technico-eco- water vapor
nomic and optimisation analyses, as well as
compressor electric
the coupling of desalination with other motor
sources of renewable energy. The CEA had evaporator/condenser
a major role in these projects and in the inter-
national invitations to tender in tandem with
French industrial companies (Alstom, CGE,
Pechiney, Sidem, Kestner, etc.). This enabled brine
the CEA to acquire an international level of
fresh water
R&D.
92 heat recuperation exchanger
Increased demand
sea water throughput
Today, the Research Group on Heat
Exchangers (GRETh) at CEA /Grenoble is
called upon for desalination projects relating
to heat distillation for plants producing from
several cubic meters up to several thousands sion. Finally, desalination must be lasting: at the CEA/Cadarache, studies of combined
of cubic meters per day. Independent of the to the extent possible, factories must be lin- production of fresh water and nuclear
need-based market relaunch, recommenda- ked to renewable energy sources and the heat electricity could also provide an answer to
tions drawn up by organizations and inter- waste from other activities such as incinera- the massive demand for low-cost quality
national experts have generated new deve- tion or electricity production must be put to water. ●
lopments, of which three in particular bear good use.
mention. First, quality desalinated water must Progress achieved in materials, heat
be widely available: thus, desalination costs transfers, manufacturing technologies and
must be reduced and the reliability and ease biodegradable treatment products are all
of use of the plants must be enhanced. Their appropriate responses to these recommen- Philippe Bandelier
environmental impact must also be taken dations. GRETh has already engaged in and Jean-Claude Deronzier
into account: polluting wastes must be redu- these programs in cooperation with indus- Research Group on Heat Exchangers
ced. These include metallic ions produced trial companies and through European (GRETh)
from corrosion and chemical products which projects. In parallel, and in association with Technological Research Division
combat biological incrustation and corro- one of the nuclear energy division teams CEA/Grenoble

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 The compact heat exchanger, an ecological
and cost-effective innovation
The drive to minimize capital investment Visualization of boiling on a
and improve energy efficiency has led to the high-performance heat
exchanger tube.
introduction of compact, high-performance
heat exchangers in industrial processes,
where heat exchange plays an essential role.
The CEA, having gained substantial exper-
tise in the nuclear field, is helping to opti-
mize heat exchangers along with its industrial
partners.
A heat exchanger is meant to heat (or cool)
a fluid by means of another without the two
mixing. A compact exchanger is characteri-
zed by a large heat transfer surface per unit
of volume (more than 400 m2/m3) or mass,
requiring smaller channels. Intensification
techniques allow either an increase in the
heat transfer surface or an increase of the
heat transfer coefficient close to the wall Wieland
brought by change in the flow structure near
the wall or in the center of the flow.
Advances made in recent years in under-
standing fundamental mechanisms, numeri- The European high-performance exchanger
cal methods, and manufacturing processes
may lead to increased industrial applications
project for industrial processes
for compact exchangers and intensification In the context of a European pro- equipped with high-performance
processes. Additionally, the heat exchanger, ject coordinated by the CEA/GRETh, tubes. Without this solution, it would
long considered a piece of equipment allo- bringing together ten partners among have been necessary to add a steam
wing for more rational use of energy, has which seven industrial companies, a boiler to the circuit in order to heat
now become, for numerous applications, the high-performance heat exchanger pro- the water before it entered the heat
very core of the process. In treatment of totype of 300 m2 and 5 MW heat duty exchanger. This would have involved
VOC (volatile organic compounds), for was installed on a polypropylene – high installation costs and higher ope-
example, the condensation processes use an plastic material with multiple appli- rating costs to account for the
heat exchanger for the principal function. In cations – production site provided by consumption of water vapor. With the
natural gas production units, partial distil- the company Targor in Germany. The new heat exchanger, the energy
lation of fluid may be obtained directly from heat exchanger is installed at the foot savings are estimated at 1.7 tons/hour
the compact exchangers. of a distillation column for the purifi- of water vapor (or 1 MW), which
cation of the propylene, and the bot- represents savings of around 150.000 93
tom of the column is filled with pro- Euro per year. The heat exchanger was
pane that is vaporized in the heat built by CIAT (one of GRETh’s partner
A European specialty exchanger. The company wanted to companies) and incorporates structu-
increase the production capacity of its red surface tubes that, upon boiling,
Within the current framework of market
plant by 20% without fundamentally yield performances 2 to 3 times grea-
globalization, national industry must inno-
modifying its procedures. It was thus ter than those of a smooth tube. The
vate and market performing technologies,
necessary to generate an additional heat exchanger has operated since
for technical as well as economic reasons. 20% of propane vapor while maintai- April 2000 at a performance level
As it happens, compact heat exchangers are ning the same heat source. As this above that required at the inception
a “European specialty”. In France, there are heat source came from the cooling of of the project.
numerous companies that manufacture and two chemical reactors, a given tem- In the course of this project, a close
install them, in particular small and medium perature and flow rate had to be used. association between the different part-
sized companies. There is currently no sec- Given the temperature difference bet- ners allowed for the development and
tor that does not use these types of exchan- ween the heat source (water) and the definition of the basic shape of the
gers but, in spite of good performance, some cold source (propane), it was neces- tubes, performance tests on a small
industrial companies are reticent to use them sary to increase the heat performance pilot (1 m2 in exchange surface) and,
on their production sites. Thus, it must be of the exchanger by at least 50%, while finally, the carrying out of an industrial
proven that this equipment offers better per- conserving an identical volume in pilot. Precision modeling of the two-
formance than do conventional exchangers, order to limit adjustments. The solu- phase flow was performed in parallel
all the while ensuring reliability. In order for tion lay in replacing the existing heat using calculation codes developed by
that to happen, research and development exchanger with an heat exchanger the CEA for nuclear safety.
projects must be entered into on three levels.

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 THE RATIONAL USE OF ENERGY

numerous applications, the operating cost

of process plants is relatively high and signi-
ficant savings can be obtained by using
more efficient heat exchangers. Additio-
nally, in numerous process plants, it is
important to reduce the size and the weight
of the installations. This is particularly true
for portable units (treatment of polluted
soils). Environmentally speaking, the use
of compact heat exchangers, in an environ-
mental context, allows on the one hand an
increase in energy efficiency, and on the
other reduced volume and cost. In this
context, demonstration projects and ther-
mal and hydraulic tests must be undertaken
under real conditions. Technologically spea-
king, exchangers used in treatment pro-
CIAT
Heat exchanger with high-
cesses operate either at high temperature
performance tubes being (VOC incineration), or must be corrosion-
manufactured by CIAT, partner resistant (treatment of solvents and acid
of CEA/GRETh. wastes), and require the use of delicate or
companies in this field, reference must of innovative materials, which in most cases
necessity be made to the emergence of these are more expensive than conventional steel.
technologies in the United States. This trans- Here, a reduction in heat transfer surface
lates into American companies’ repurchase of allows a reduction in the global impact of
European manufacturers of compact exchan- the exchanger, integrating the phases of
gers, and substantial development of R&D material design and development. ●
Basic studies must lead to better mastery of programs in the United States.
the physics of heat transfer, allowing for the
use of new structures and shapes. Global stu-
dies must validate thermal and hydraulic per- Niches in environmental
formance under industrial conditions. This protection
requires platform testing. Finally, other stu- Bernard Thonon and Pierre Mercier
dies must integrate the exchanger within its In environmental protection, apart from Research Group on Heat Exchangers
productive context. treatment of VOC by condensation, heat (GRETh)
If there is to be any mention of the inno- exchangers serve strictly to condition fluids Technological Research Division
vative role played by European industrial before and after treatment. However, in CEA/Grenoble

94 The problem of electronic cooling,

and solutions
Heat control is a key point in the tronic chip below a critical level reduces heat
design of electronic movement in the semiconductor network.
equipment, as the The component’s connector temperature,
quality and reliability which represents the average nominal heat
of equipment compo- level of the chip, is around 125° C for silicon.
nents are highly Homogeneity of temperature in the volume
reliant upon the of the component also limits thermo-mecha-
temperature. Minia- nical stress.
turization only serves The architecture of a conventional com-
to increase the sensi- ponent (figure) shows the heat path and the
tivity of heat dissipa- way that calories are dissipated from the base
tion. This is why the CEA, unit. This unit is the chip made of semi-
in coordination with the Gre- conductor material and housing the electrical
Microprocessor noble polytechnic institute, is stu- function toward the card or toward the prin-
with improved gie
s
dying solutions to different problems ted circuit via the substrate. The substrate,
nolo
performance, covered by Tech
en posed by the rational use of energy in this made up of numerous levels of different
its system of heat vergre
E
evacuation. field. Just limiting the temperature of an elec- materials, assures the mechanical hold, or

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 conducting chip Architecture and heat pathway
in an electronic component.
links
link
coating

substrate

radiation
conduction

convection

conduction convection card, printed circuit

the electrical insulation between the chip and New technologies

the casing and the transmission of electrical
to be implemented
signals outward. The chip/substrate combi-
nation, constituting the casing, is generally There is thus a real need for innovation
coated with a protective resin. In power elec- in mounting, connecting and cooling of
tronics (see Toward low-tension, energy components. In recent years, studies on
saving and low cost power electronics), there micro-exchangers in copper integrated in
is no card, and the casing is threaded together the substrate of the power components, and
with other elements. functioning in forced convection with a
cooling fluid in a laminar flow regimen or
in diphase form (liquid and vapor phases)
have been carried out. The studies showed
An increasingly tricky the usefulness of such methods of cooling
problem when the densities of evacuated flows reach
400 W/cm2 with water. However, these sys- Infra-red photograph showing the
Electronic applications are everywhere tems have several flaws, in particular the network of the microchannel,
and have seized the public’s interest. In all lack of electric insulation when water is the two collectors and the two
fluid power supply holes of a
fields – military, space, industrial, household used, and the overall thermo-mechanical silicon-etched micro-exchanger.
– an increase in response speed is called for, ageing when an insulating ceramic is inser-
as are size reduction, more complex opera- ted between the chip and the exchanger.
ting methods, and greater reliability. Moo- Another solution is to design micro-coolers
re’s Law, that predicts that semi-conductor in the silicon, using deep etching techniques 95
performance will double every eighteen (rectangular and hexagonal channels with
months, continues to hold out since the start internal hydraulic diameter of around
of the 1970s for all components – micro- 250 mm) and automatic soldering of silicon
processors, memories, logic circuits, power wafers, techniques with which the CEA’s elec-
components. tronics and information technology labora-
The problem of heat evacuation is present tory (Leti) are highly familiar. In this type
today at the very level of the component, of structure, which serves both as support
because of the strong increase in flow density, and casing, the cooling is carried out in for-
owing to miniaturization and the increase in ced laminar convection, with a single-phase
operating frequencies. Heat flux densities fluid. It is pertinent for applications in which
of 50 W/cm2 are the rule for the new gene- the component dissipates power greater than
rations of microprocessors. As for electro- 100 W. The electrical insulation is facilitat-
nic power converters used for electric traction ed through the insertion of a thin layer of
on rails and future hybrid vehicles, their silicon oxide, which reduces to two the num-
volume is impressively reduced (by several ber of interfaces between the neighboring
grades). The IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar expansibility materials (silicon and silicon
Transistor), with a surface area of around oxide). Its small volume also allows for a
cm 2, transfers high voltage and current, more compact and lighter micro-cooler. The
works at high frequencies and with flow den- flow densities measured range from 200 to
sities up to 400 W/cm2. Laser diodes dis- 400 W/cm2 (depending upon the shape of
sipate 500 W/cm2 and more. the channel) with a variation of 40°C
CEA

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 THE RATIONAL USE OF ENERGY

Prototype of the two-phase

cooler with four IGBT4
(dimensions 50 X 50 mm)

site of power-supply
connectors

channel for
incoming fluid

channel for
outgoing
fluid

sites of chips

site of power-supply connectors

CEA

IGBT module (Insulated Gate

Bipolar Transistor) with channels
for incoming and outgoing fluid. between the extraction fluid and the chan- are now investigating this, among them the
nel wall. Coolers with hexagonal channels CEA laboratories. ●
are less efficient but more flexible and less
expensive. Alain Bricard
For lower-power applications, i.e. less than Research Group on Heat Exchangers
one hundred watts, it would not be appro- (GRETh)
priate to implement a structure in silicon with Technological Research Division
powerful heat evacuation capacity, but rather CEA/Grenoble
to put into place a structure with strong dif- and Christian Schaeffer
fusion capabilities. The concept of a passive, Grenoble electrotechnical laboratory
silicon with integrated heat pipe type exchan- ENSIEG (Grenoble national college of
ger, functioning in dual phase, and with a electrical engineers)
flow density potential of 100 W/cm2, is very Grenoble Polytechnic Institute
promising. Numerous research laboratories
CEA/LETI

96

Toward low voltage power,

energy saving and low cost electronics
New and renewable energies pose new conversion systems with low loss and in is a synergy between the progress of micro-
challenges to power electronics, in which reduced volumes. Among the primary appli- processors and that of power electronics: the
electrical energy is transformed through elec- cations of power electronics are train engine recent components have a surface structure
tronic devices based on semiconductor controls (from trams to TGVs), switch mode similar to that of microprocessors and memo-
acting as switches that alternately close and power supplies for individual computers (pro- ries, where hundreds of thousands of
open at high frequency. bably the most important market) and high- MOSFET transistor cells (for Metal-Oxide-
These components transfer energy bet- frequency regulators (ballasts) for low- Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) are
ween capacitors (electrostatic energy sto- consumption lamps. connected in parallel. For ten years, the pro-
rage) and coils (inductors: energy storage in The power fields range from watt to mega- gress of microprocessors has been directly
magnetic form). Switch mode technologies watt, from circuits of several cubic centi- linked to that of micro-lithography techniques
are used, which produce electrical energy meters to very large-scale installations. There developed for memories.

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 Power switch and control
on board the same chip made
at the CEA/Leti.

CEA/LETI

Technological breakthroughs made, better control over silicon deep etching Today several small power components
achieved and the growth of successive deposits has (transistors and passive components) and
today produced transistors with an on-state their associated control mechanism are being
Components that were considered uni- resistance five times lower than that defined built on-to the same chip, something which
maginable yesterday exist today. More and by the law (see figure). used to be seen in data processing circuits
more fine-tuned etching technologies have The appearance of new large bandgap only. This essentially responds to the need
permitted the emergence of extra low vol- semi-conductors such as SiC (silicon car- for single feature cost cutting. The CEA/Leti,
tage MOSFET transistors (30 to 50 volts), bide) has resulted in devices with conside- in cooperation with ST Microelectronics, has
with on-state parasite resistance (the residual rably improved on-state resistance and swit- developed numerous approaches for this inte-
resistance of the switch when it closes the ching speeds when compared to their silicon gration.
circuit; Ron) of several milliohms, necessary counterparts. SiC devices, unlike the silicon Until now, the generally accepted rule was
for energy management in portable compu- components, can work at very high tempe- that the maximum voltage of a component
ters and for lower and lower power supply ratures (up to 600 degrees C), which consi- should never be reached over the life of the
voltages in microprocessors. Whereas for derably simplifies the problem of cooling. product, or it might lead to the component’s
MOSFETs with higher voltages the on-state The first commercial SiC components have destruction. Some components now reach
resistance increased very quickly in relation been announced while others are sure to fol- this voltage in a peak before letting the cur-
to the reverse blocking voltage (V2.4 law) low. A team of around fifteen persons is rent through. This has resulted in optimized
owing to the technological compromises developing this new branch at the CEA/Leti. product rating and increased performance,

97
on-state resistance X surface of the chip (⍀mm2)

500 V MOSFET
20
state of the art
16

12

technological limit
8

4
new generation
2 MOS

0 Figure. Illustration of the

technological breakthrough
relating to MOS transistors and
1980 1990 2000 the spectacular drop in surface
on-state resistance.

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 THE RATIONAL USE OF ENERGY

Micro-transformer on silicon
made at the CEA/Leti.

CEA/LETI

cost and reliability. The work of the CEA on work of several hundred volts cannot be
the characterization and operation of such directly extrapolated to lower voltages. Their
components constitutes a reference point for implementation technologies are currently
specialists. Lower on-state resistance values much too expensive. Thus, the challenge
mean much lower energy loss through the being faced is that of the creation of low-
Joule effect (i.e. evacuated as heat). Other voltage, high-power power electronics, with
than energy savings, it also means that less modes of implementation allowing for low
expensive technologies can be used. costs in a high-volume production layout.
For moving and motorized applications, it
The challenge of is also necessary to gain factor five in density.
new energies In order to do so, it will be possible to revert
to progress in recent units in power electro-
The transformation of electrical energy nics that, in particular, allow for substantial
coming from new energies (in particular fuel reduction in energy lost and dissipated in the
cells) and renewable energies (photovoltaic, equipment. Energy deregulation and the hoo-
wind, small hydraulic) brings about new king up of numerous delocalized sources will
needs that are also challenges. In fact, in this bring about the need for power electronics-
Characterization bench for type of energy, the electrical power is sup- based electrical energy transformation/
98 components in avalanche up
plied or stored at a different voltage or wave- conversion stages. In this case it will also be
to 1000 amperes.
form than the main (distribution line at 50 Hz necessary to face the technological challenges
for Europe), for example at a very low vol- that have not been appropriately met to date:
tage unit: 0.8 volts for fuel cells and photo- units with very high voltage levels, optical
voltaic cells, 1.2 to 3 volts for batteries and controls, cost minimization and associated
2.5 volts for super-capacitors. As for the losses, as well as minimization of energy sto-
generator and the storage systems, these are rage elements in electrostatic or magnetic
high power: several kilowatts for scooters, form. ●
for example, and individual fixed genera-
tors, fifty to several hundred kilowatts for
cars and fixed collective generators. The new
technologies can thus not develop unless
costs are competitive in relation to other avai-
lable solutions. Daniel Chatroux
The two large existing technologies cannot Nuclear Energy Division
respond directly to need. Switch mode power CEA/Valrhô-Pierrelatte
supplies are inexpensive thanks to high-
volume manufacturing, they are compact and and Jean-Pierre Joly
supply low voltages. But their power is limi- Leti Electronics and information
ted to several hundred watts. technology laboratory
Motor controls and other high-power Technological Research Division
applications that operate on a voltage net- CEA/Grenoble
CEA

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001

 Energy conservation in Buildings:
Electrochrome window panels

CEA
Demonstrator of a CEA-developed
Electrochromic window panels are a good manufactured using a vacuum deposition conducting polymer
example of technology that combines energy technique such as cathode sputtering. The polyanilin/tungsten oxide (PANI/WO3)
control with the notion of well-being. In this electrochromic layers with cathode colou- electrochrome window panel in
coloured and transparent modes.
they also illustrate the CEA ’s scientific contri- ring(1), such as WO3 tungsten trioxide, and
bution to the rationalisation of energy in the anode colouring(2) (electrochromic layer
building sector. N°2) (EL2), such as IrO2 or LiNiO2 iridium
The growing demand for bay windows oxide, take on and lose their colouring at the
and the need to control energy expenditure in same time, as shown in the diagram of the tor (Li+) which acts as an electrical insula-
buildings are behind the move to develop panel cross-section (see figure). tor. When a negative voltage is applied to
“smart” windows able to adapt to circum- The layers are deposited on a transparent tungsten trioxide, the simultaneous injec-
stances. The electrochromic panels used in electronic conductor acting as a current col- tion of H+ ions and electrons reduces the
these windows have also found outlets in the lector and are separated by an ionic proton tungsten making a bright blue coloured
space, military and automobile industry sec- conductor (H+) or an ionic lithium conduc- centre appear. The corresponding electro-
tors, in anti-dazzle mirrors for instance. The chemical reaction is: 99
panels are in fact systems with built-in opti-
cal properties that, in accordance with cli- WO3 + xH+ + xe- → HxWO3
matic conditions, change when a small vol- At the same time, the second electrochro-
tage is applied to them. Thus, in summer the mic layer is oxidised (positive voltage
windows absorb light and heat (coloured), protective layer applied) giving the panel its colour. Thus,
while maintaining a certain level of bright- + when WO3 and IrO2 are used together, the
transparent conductor
ness in the room, and in winter they retrans- total reaction is expressed as follows:
mit this light and heat (transparent). Good e- EL2
WO3 + yHx/yIrO2 = HxWO3 + yIrO2
control of solar energy (visible and close to Li+ ionic conductor transparent coloured (greyish blue)
infrared) transmitted through double glazed
windows can cut energy expenditure on heat e- WO3 (EL1) The basis of this system could lead to other
-
and air conditioning by up to 50%. These transparent conductor types of window panel, in which energy
systems have reached an advanced state of substrate savings are combined with the comfort of
development since, at the end of 1999, Pil- heating and lighting that can be modified as
kington installed prototypes on the façade required. ●
of the Stadtparkasse in Dresden (Germany). (1) Cathode colouring: colouring occurring
Working with the Ademe, the CEA is leading when a material is reduced following applica-
research on monolithic electrochromic win- tion of a negative potential.
dow panels based on a flexible substrate. (2) Anode colouring: colouring occurring when Patrice Topart
They are made up of a multi-layered pile in a material is oxidised following application of Military Applications Division
a positive potential.
the same way as micro-batteries and are CEA/Le Ripault

CLEFS CEA - N° 44 - WINTER 2000-2001