on March 6, 2025
Ce partenariat stratégique, d’une durée de cinq ans, vise à développer des solutions concrètes pour rendre les moteurs de forte puissance plus sûrs, plus flexibles et plus performants afin de répondre aux enjeux énergétique et maritime de demain. This five-year strategic partnership wants to find concrete solutions to make high-power engine safer, more flexible and more efficient to meet the energy and maritime challenges of tomorrow.
Maritime transport is essentiel for international business, but it faces major environnemental challenges. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) wants to reduce CO2 emissions from the sectir by 40% by 2030. It requires:
In addition, nuclear electricity production offers a mature solution for decarbonizing our energy mix. MAN Energy Solutions has a key role in the international nuclear safety. It supplies emergency and ultimate backup power generators. These generators must be reliable, start fast and work in extreme conditions (earthquakes, heat waves...).
The joint laboratory between Man Energy Solutions and Centrale Nantes is part of this dynamic, to accelerate the development of concrete technological solutions for safer, more flexible and more efficient engines.
The joint laboratory wants to find concrete solutions directly applicable to the maritime and energy industries, based on three pillars:
The joint laboratory's work will focus on improving MAN-Pielstick engines, both new and retrofitted, in order to reduce their consumption and emissions, while adapting to new operational constraints and emerging fuels. It is based on an approach combining advanced simulation and experimental validation. The aim is to improve engine performance during transitional phases (cold start, load variations) and to limit pollution at source.
The joint laboratory will also focus on developing innovations in system control and monitoring for real-time equipment tracking. This collaboration will study the implementation of a hybrid supercharging system to improve energy flow management between engine components. In addition, the teams will address the issue of energy management in multi-source microgrids, particularly those using renewable energy sources. The aim is to use advanced control techniques to ensure continuity of service and optimize engine consumption.
The joint laboratory's work will focus on deploying the WAAM metal additive manufacturing process (a technology derived from arc welding for stacking layers of material) for the manufacture or repair of engine components. Additive manufacturing should enable better control over component quality while securing the supply chain.
This laboratory relies on close collaboration between academic and industrial teams to ensure rapid application of results. This new collaboration involves three Centrale Nantes research units (LHEEA, GEM, and LS2N) certified by Carnot MERS, four research engineers supported by one to two technicians, two doctoral students, all supervised by three Centrale Nantes faculty members alongside four to five MAN Energy Solutions employees.
“This new phase of collaboration with MAN Energy Solutions perfectly illustrates Centrale Nantes' ability to support different sectors in their energy transition. This joint laboratory will enable us to combine expertise and accelerate innovation for more sustainable marine propulsion. It reaffirms the emergence of a center of excellence in this field in our region.”
Jean-Baptiste Avrillier, Director of Centrale Nantes. In the photo: Jean-Baptiste Avrillier, Director of Centrale Nantes, and Nicolas Bulot – Technical Director and Member of the Executive Committee of MAN Energy Solutions France
