CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Varennes (CETC-Varennes)

CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Varennes (CETC-Varennes) designs and implements technological solutions, and disseminates knowledge in order to produce and use energy in ways that are more efficient and sustainable, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to improve innovation capabilities of targeted sectors of the Canadian economy.

Eligibility Criteria

CETC-Varennes assists businesses and organizations to improve their competitive position and meet their energy-efficiency and environmental goals. The Centre serves a broadly based clientele, including energy and manufacturing industries, consulting engineers and public utilities.

The Centre also serves technology users and the manufacturers that commercialize them. It has clients in most industries, particularly the pulp and paper, textile, wood processing, chemical, heating and ventilation, refrigeration and alternative energy source sectors.

Summary

The Centre's areas of activity are industry, buildings and renewable energy. The Centre also develops and implements process integration methods that help reduce energy and water consumption and effluent releases in industrial processes. In addition, the Centre develops industrial drying technologies and provides industrial users with information to help them improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their drying operations. CETC-Varennes' work in the building sector is firstly intelligent buildings. The areas of application are a better operation of the electromechanical systems in the commercial, institutional and government buildings. The Centre also develops refrigeration technologies and ensures their transfer in order to increase the energy efficiency of systems and reduce the environmental impact of refrigerants. Its target clients for these applications are arenas and supermarkets. In the field of renewable energy, activities are focused on developing and deploying tools for assessing the potential and cost of various options. The CETC-Varennes is also responsible for the Canadian program for developing and deploying solar energy technologies (photovoltaics).

Fee Structure
Fees are normally charged for the services and technologies. Contact the Centre for details on their fee structure.

Inquiries
The service providers will endeavour to provide a timely response to all inquiries.

CETC-Varennes concentrates its activities in the following areas:

Industrial System Optimization
The purpose of this program is to develop and disseminate methodologies, tools and technologies that aim at optimizing industrial processes through the optimal use of resources, mainly energy, water and hydrogen that will contribute to:

• the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of industrial processes in Canada through energy efficiency improvements;
• jobs and wealth creation through improvements in industrial productivity and competitiveness, and by helping the Canadian energy efficiency industry capture growing domestic and international market.

These activities aim at enhancing the energy performance of existing equipment, such as dryers, or the optimization of energy, water, or hydrogen consumption over an entire industrial site through the use of process integration techniques such as pinch and exergy analysis. The main activities that are ongoing or in development include:

• developing analysis tools to optimize steam production and utilization in complex industrial sites;
• developing methods to simultaneously optimize water and energy networks in industrial sites;
• optimizing the planning and operation of cascade separation systems, particularly membrane systems for both liquid and gaseous separations;
• developing optimal sequences for the processing and utilization of industrial by-products or wastes, particularly pulp and paper sludge;
• developing advanced dryer control systems, particularly for wood drying operations;
• energy optimization of thermal processes through pulsed combustion integration;
• specific projects: the Centre will assist businesses or research organizations wanting to solve specific questions related to the optimal management of industrial resources, mainly energy, water and hydrogen.

Undertaking this program requires the collaboration of multiple partners, including universities, research centres, consultants and manufacturers that work with the more energy-intensive industrial sectors in Canada.

Areas of Expertise

• Oil and Gas
• Food Processing
• Environment
• Chemicals
• Petrochemicals
• Pulp and Paper
• Metallurgy
• Energy and Power

Refrigeration Technologies
The Refrigeration Technologies group studies and examines advanced refrigeration and air conditioning technologies. It targets supermarkets, arenas and curling rinks. The group focuses on:

• refrigeration technologies;
• transferring knowledge, know-how and technology to government departments, universities and the private sector through conferences, workshops, publications and demonstration projects; and
• performing commercially targeted R&D in partnership with the private and public sectors in advanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) applied to the building and industry sectors.
• The group's activities are focused on the development of improvements to commercial vapour compression chillers using new system designs and environmentally friendly (CFC-free) refrigerant mixtures, and optimizing energy use in arenas.

Areas of Expertise

• Environment
• Energy and Power
• Refrigeration

Intelligent Buildings
In this area, our research team is applying modern control techniques as well as artificial intelligence tools to solve the problem of properly commissioning and recommissioning of the electromechanical systems of commercial-size and institutional buildings. The whole spectrum of problems is covered, from fault detection and diagnosis at the HVAC components level (i.e. chillers) to optimized operation of the whole building. Enabling tools such as a computer-based BES (Building Emulator System) have been put together to help building operators and control systems manufacturers speed up the solution to their development, optimization and operator training problems.

Areas of Expertise

• Electronics
• Control/Measurement
• Computer Software
• Construction
• Energy and Power

Renewable Energy
The Renewable Energy Team stimulates the adoption of renewable energy technologies so they become a preferred option in terms of reliability, affordability and environmental friendliness. The team's mandate is threefold: support the development and use of photovoltaic (PV) energy in Canada, facilitate renewable energy capacity-building, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The chief objective of the PV program is to help develop and apply photovoltaic solar energy technologies in Canadian and foreign markets. The goal of the Renewable Energy Capacity-Building Program is to promote renewable energy systems in Canada and abroad by building the industry's capacities to implement projects successfully. The program's three components are: creating knowledge, transferring knowledge and providing project implementation support. One tool developed by the Centre is the RETScreen renewable energy project analysis software, which is available free of charge on the Internet. The software is used to assess energy production, the life cycle cost and GHG emission reductions for various renewable energy technologies.

Areas of Expertise

• Training and Manuals
• Other - Renewable Energy
• Environment
• Energy and Power
• Computer Software

Ontario Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Ms. Sonia Ringuette
Manager, Commercialization Group
CANMET Energy Technology Centre - Varennes (CETC-Varennes)
Natural Resources Canada
1615 Lionel Boulet Boulevard
P.O. Box 4800
Varennes, Quebec  J3X IS6
Telephone: 450-652-4971
TTY (hearing impaired): 613-996-4397
E-mail: sonia.ringuette@nrcan.gc.ca