Two IFP School students win 3rd prize at the 24h of Innovation at the center of the Earth

Two students from IFP School's Class of 2022 won third prize at the 24 hours of Innovation at the center of the Earth, which took place on November 18 and 19 at the École supérieure de commerce in Pau.

Mathilde Haemmerlein, a student in the Reservoir Geoscience and Engineering program, and Pierre Ginisty, a student in the Petroleum Engineering and Project Development program, took part in this event, during which, in 24 hours, they had to set up multidisciplinary teams and take up one of the 14 challenges proposed by one of the member companies of the Avenia cluster in fields related to the subsurface.

"It's 24 hours of non-stop work! We have to generate many ideas while responding to the constraints of the subject, staying in time and being constantly challenged by the project leaders. It's an experience you have to live at least once!” exclaims Pierre.

"I loved the competition" adds Mathilde. "Not being innovative by nature, I signed up to push myself to the limit and try to think differently. I was not disappointed!”

Mathilde and Pierre were part of the "C Pau Sorcier" team, made up of three other students from the University of Montpellier and UniLaSalle Beauvais. The team distinguished itself on the subject presented by the company Modis: "How to ensure the integrity of a CO₂ storage site and perpetuate the information for future generations?”.

"We imagined a system of audible gas leak detectors thanks to CO₂ sensors, powered by a cesium battery, placed above the CO₂ storage site and spread over the most at-risk points," explains Pierre about the proposed solution.

"We also imagined a dye mixed in the gas by molecular encapsulation, i.e. we inject capsules with the CO₂" continues Mathilde. "The outer layer of the capsules would be hydrophobic and thus prevent dissolution. When the leak is confirmed, the capsules would rise to the surface with the CO₂ and the decapsulation would be done by UV reaction, the gas would then color on contact with the air, which would alert the population of a leak.“

Nicolas Pelissier, a graduate of IFP School (GOL 2007) and president of the start-up 45-8 Energy, was the president of the jury for this 6th edition. He was accompanied by Laurent Escaré, an IFP School graduate (GOP 1995) himself and Senior Geologist - Geosciences Leader at Storengy.

Congratulations to Mathilde and Pierre for this award!