Prestigious ERC Advanced Grant

The €2.5 million awarded by the European Research Council to Prof. Hans Kuipers (IMPACT) means that his research group can radically expand its research into multiphase reactors.

He wasn't even the first to read the all-important e-mail from Brussels. In his absence, Kuipers' colleagues Martin van der Hoef and Niels Deen were checking his mailbox and saw that there was news about 'your ERC Advanced Grant application'. "Very exciting," Van der Hoef admits. "But as soon as I read the word 'pleased', I knew it was good news." And it certainly is: Kuipers' Fundamentals of Chemical Reaction Engineering research group is to receive €2.5 million. Competition for this subsidy is fierce, Kuipers says: "This makes the Advanced Grant highly prestigious." This is the second Advanced Grant for the University of Twente: a previous recipient was Prof. Albert van den Berg of MESA+.

Research

Kuipers' research group, part of the IMPACT institute of which he is Scientific Director, concentrates on multiphase reactors such as fluidized beds. Particles and gas or liquid streams interact in a fluidized bed. They are the workhorses of the processing industry, in for instance the production of fuels, plastics, washing products and food. This often involves large-scale processes, in which the reactor is the heart of the refinery. Thorough contact between the particles and the gas is crucial.

Multi-scale modelling

The development of new multiphase reactors is a process that demands great precision. Given the scale involved (reactors can be up to 40 metres high) there is little room for error. In order to fully understand the process in question, researchers study the interaction of the various particles. They start with the simplest situation, in which two particles collide with each other. Step by step, they study increasing scales of complexity, finally arriving at the interaction of billions of particles. Models can be developed for each scale - from several particles up to billions of particles. These individual models are combined in the multi-scale modelling strategy, to reveal the details of flow phenomena and to facilitate the design of more efficient reactors. Prof. Kuipers wants to use the grant to conduct further research into these multiphase reactors. "We want to improve existing models, so that in future we will be able to make more accurate predictions concerning the ideal dimensions of such reactors, for example. This will enable us to produce raw materials more efficiently, and more sustainably."

Eight new PhD students

Kuipers stresses that he views this grant as a true group achievement. "Everyone has contributed to this. Martin was the one who brought it all together and wrote the proposal. The fact that we are to receive the grant is a reward for a process going back years," the professor explains proudly. The money will be used to recruit eight PhD students and the remainder to purchase new materials. The aim is to start this major project in early 2010. In addition to Kuipers and Van der Hoef, other researchers involved include Dr Niels Deen and Dr Martin van Sint Annaland.

Recognition

Kuipers recently celebrated his research group's tenth anniversary. Over the years it has built a solid reputation in reactor research. The NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) has also previously recognized the research group's high quality by allocating it a TOP Grant; this European recognition only serves to underline this once more.