We have some very interesting test infrastructure at our disposal on our campuses where our researchers can perform tests for your verifications
Infrastructure
E-cube | Zero Energy Test House
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The E-cube is a zero energy test house for researchers developing energy efficient building components and systems. It is a full scale test facility, operated by the Research Group Building Physics of Ghent University, to investigate innovations designed for the zero energy buildings of the future in realistic climatic conditions.
Recent research contributes to the development of energy efficient ventilation systems, and investigates the influence of environmental parameters (wind speed, direction, solar irradiance, temperature, relative humidity) on the indoor air quality with particular focus on volatiles released by building materials
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In 2011 the E-cube participated in the worldwide solar Decathlon competition in the US, a contest among universities to design and build a solar energy driven house. The E-cube was 16th in the global competition and won 1st prize for the most affordable dwelling.
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Research topics
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In-situ performance of energy systems
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Energy neutral construction concepts
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Quality of the indoor environment
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Building physical performance of building components
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Validation of simulation models for energy use and indoor air quality in buildings
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Downpour load on facades
Principles of design
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Passive house principles
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Affordable and modular DIY package
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Phased: upgrades with extensions
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Plug and play for all techniques
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Structural flexibility: pallet racks as load-bearing elements
Pictures: Beeldbank UGent
Coastal & Ocean Basin
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Flanders Maritime Laboratory, Wetenschapspark 8, 8400 Oostende
The Coastal & Ocean Basin (COB) wave tank facility in Ostend (Belgium) has been designed to study the effect of waves and currents on coastal and offshore engineering scale models, as well as the hydrodynamic behaviour of floating and marine renewable energy devices. With wave tank dimensions of 30 m x 30 m, a variable water depth up to 1.4 m and a central pit with up to 4.5 m water depth, the infrastructure offers excellent test conditions for coastal to near offshore applications.
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The state-of-the-art generation and measurement systems boast several unique features, such as the ability to generate waves and current at any relative angle. Extreme directional wave conditions with a wave height up until 0.55 m can be generated, in combination with maximum current velocities of 0.4 m/s. The Qualisys motion capture system, a unique twin system of above and underwater cameras, enables users to accurately capture 6-Degree-of-Freedom motions of floating or semi-submersed objects. The wide range of testing possibilities includes – but is not limited to – coastal defence solutions, renewable energy technologies such as offshore (floating) wind turbines, wave energy converters or floating photovoltaic systems, as well as capturing seagoing ship motions, testing of marine observation equipment or mooring applications.
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The Coastal & Ocean Basin is situated within Flanders Maritime Laboratory, which also houses a towing tank for manoeuvres in shallow water. The COB is managed by a consortium composed of Ghent University, KU Leuven and Flanders Hydraulics Research. Fully operational since first half of 2023, the COB welcomes users from academia, industry and governmental institutions.
Labo Lemcko
We use our research equipment to detect your voltage dips, harmonics, imbalance, flicker, EMC problems. You want to know which measurements and analyzes we do in our lab? Discover which troubleshooting we perform for you:
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Test field PV systems | Test different technologies side by side in various setups
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Test field for decentralized production and storage | Realistic distribution grid with different grid configurations, Power injection from PV park, Freely adjustable grid quality up to 180 kVA
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DC Net | DC bus energy storage
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Generator test bench (grid-emulator) | Wind turbine emulator up to 150 kW, GenSet & CHP emulator at different synchronous speeds, Emulation of electric vehicles and impact on the grid
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EMC lab | Semi-anechoic cage in EMC lab
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Power Quality lab | Freely adjustable grid quality up to 180kVA
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Pictures: Labo Lemcko
HomeLab
HomeLab is a unique residential test and co-innovation environment for smart home services of 600 m2 in Ghent, Belgium. HomeLab is both a lab and a real two-story house in which people can live temporarily to test and co-create IoT services. It supports innovation from brainstorming, over early proof-of-concept testing to pre-pilot testing in a real living environment for a variety of application domains (home automation, health & care, energy, social robotics, audio & video, AR/VR, etc.).
Technical corridors, hollow floors and ceilings allow to add and hide new devices and prototypes ensuring a natural interaction with the services under development and test. An extensive sensor infrastructure captures relevant context information (temperature, air quality, energy consumption, user presence, etc.) supporting in-depth analyses of the performed experiments. Via an open home automation system all functional elements (HVAC, blinds, curtains, switches, doors, windows, etc.) can be controlled and monitored. The captured sensor and actuator data are stored in a scalable and secure data platform providing access to real-time and historical data.
HomeLab aims at serving the needs of different stakeholders including SMEs as well as large businesses, researchers, non-profit organizations, etc. HomeLab is also ideally suited for organizing brainstorms, demonstrations, hackatons, trainings, and even small-scale events.
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Example use cases for which HomeLab could be used:
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Detection of typical residential user activities & lifestyle patterns for home automation and assisted living services
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Validation of smart home energy management systems with real assets
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User interaction with social robots
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Subjective video quality testing
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Evaluation of residential AR/VR services
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Accurate speech recognition in (challenging) home environments
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IoT interoperability testing
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Pictures: IDLab
STFES Lab
The STFES lab, which stand for 'Sustainable Thermo-Fluid Energy Systems', is a state-of-the-art laboratory for both fundamental research and industrial services. It is broadly divided to accommodate engine test cells and research in thermodynamics and heat transfer.
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Thermodynamics and heat transfer
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Measurement of thermal conductivity of building materials using the guarded hot plate method
The guarded hot plate method is a steady-state measurement method that determines the thermal conductivity of a material by using the electrical power output of a hot plate with guided heat conduction.
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Testing of heat pumps and other HVAC equipment
The testing of this equipment is carried out in a controlled environment which is simulated using a climate chamber. This test cell is designed according to the EN 14511 standards and is fitted with various components such as cooling batteries, fans, heaters, and humidifiers.
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Performance evaluation of heat exchangers with gas and fluids
In the air-to-air heat exchanger test-rig we are able to measure the performance of heat exchangers. This can either be done with constant heat flux boundary conditions and one airflow to measure the heat transfer capabilities of one side. For example, a new fin design. Another possibility is to use two air streams to measure the performance of a heat exchanger.
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Flow calorimeter for measuring fluid thermal properties
The calorimeter is used to measure the isobaric specific heat capacities of different fluids and consists of a stainless steel inner tube, a micro heater, a vacuum pump, a vacuum chamber around the inner tube, an aluminum radiation shield, and exterior insulation.
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Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC’s) high-temperature heat pump testing for industry
The test facility is equipped to test ORC’s and high-temperature heat pumps with 300kW heating and 250kW cooling capacities. These test facilities are also used to test the performance medium-large scale phase change material (PCM) energy storage units. The lab is situated on the Kortrijk campus of Ghent university.
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Engine test cells
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Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) Engine
The CFR engine is a spark ignited single-cylinder engine with a variable compression ratio. It is used to perform fundamental investigation on the behaviour of experimental and/or sustainable fuels. Because of the versatility of this research engine, alternative combustion methods like Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) or Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion techniques can be investigated as well.
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Volvo T3 engine
The Volvo T3 engine is a state-of-the-art spark ignited turbocharged production engine, equipped with a fully programmable engine control unit and a high-speed combustion analysis system. It allows for performance- and emission measurements of experimental alternative and/or sustainable fuels in real-life engine conditions for light-to-medium duty applications.
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Toyota D4D engine
The Toyota D4D engine is a late-generation, turbocharged common rail diesel engine. The stock engine control unit has been replaced with a fully programmable unit and a high-speed combustion analysis system. It allows for performance- and emission measurements of experimental alternative and/or sustainable diesel fuels in real-life engine conditions.
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Volva Penta
The Penta engine is a medium-to-heavy duty marine diesel engine which can be operated in diesel, dual-fuel (diesel/methanol) or spark ignition mode. The versatility of this engine allows for fundamental research on different experimental and/or sustainable fuels that can be used together (dual-fuel) or separately (diesel or spark ignited). It features a fully programmable engine control unit and advanced data capturing system, allowing for advanced combustion analysis.
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GUCCI (Ghent University Combustion Chamber I)
The GUCCI is a sophisticated Constant Volume Combustion Chamber with a high-speed optical data measurement system. It allows for analysis of injection spray behaviour in a combustion chamber at different combustion chamber pressure and temperature conditions, which is important for suitability testing of experimental and/or sustainable fuels in existing or newly designed fuel injection systems.
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