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4TU Energy grant for Bijoy Bera for research (with UT) on Magneto-Iono-caloric Heat Pumps

Recently, dr. Bijoy Bera (Interfacial Physis Lab/Transport Phenomena Section) received, together with his collaborator dr. Keerthivasan Rajamani (University of Twente), the 4TU Energy grant, which promotes collaborative efforts among the four technical universities of NL to address the energy issues/future of this country. ChemE News sat down with Bijoy for more info. What is a heat pump? Why does NL need them? What’s wrong with the current heat pumps? A pump is a device where we put (electrical) energy to obtain work. Heat pump is where work (together with heat from a source) is supplied to a device to obtain heat, very useful for efficient heating of households. The heating demand for the built environment in the Netherlands alone is expected to be 333 PJ of energy in 2030. As of 2022, 82% of Dutch households still use natural gas for heating. (Traditional vapor compression system) Heat pumps are being increasingly used in Dutch households (if you ask me, not as much as should be), but the major problem is their efficiency, which tends to hover around 40%-50%. How is your research going to improve the situation? Dr. Rajamani (UT) and I are going to investigate, model and design a new type of heat-pump: Magneto-iono-caloric heat pumps. We plan to use magnetic ionic liquids where low strength magnetic field can be used to bring the melting point of a salt down to below the room temperature. The heat of solidification/crystallization of the salt can then subsequently be used as the heat source of the heat pump, which will lead to higher Carnot efficiency. What is the nature of the collaboration in this project? Keerthi (Dr Rajamani) is an expert in magneto-caloric devices where magnetic fields are applied to change the energy input/output of a system. I will bring my expertise of ionic manipulation of energy interactions in a system. Keerthi and I were chatting about our areas of interest about a year ago, and we realized that by combining these two points of interest, we can come up with something unique! Dr. Bijoy Bera Why is this research important? Will this grant be sufficient in that quest? There is right now a strong direction in the Dutch research landscape to contribute to new forms of energy and how to increase efficiency in processes producing these forms of energy. However, classic thermodynamic processes (such as a heat pump) are often overlooked. This grant is a small but timely incentive for us to start the work, and hopefully our results will inspire colleagues to join us and create a platform for something bigger. Sounds interesting! When can we buy magneto-iono-caloric heat pumps for our houses? Not for a little while, unfortunately! But we are talking about years not decades! And once we can make it, it will open many doors for us, not only for household heating, but for renewed faith in novel energy systems!

Understanding the learning process: machine learning and computational chemistry for hydrogenation

Machine learning is being mentioned all around, but can it be applied to modelling homogeneous catalysis? Researchers from TU Delft together with Janssen Pharmaceuticals published an extensive study accompanied by one of the biggest datasets on rhodium-catalyzed hydrogenation in Chemical Science trying to answer this question. Adarsh Kalikadien Evgeny Pidko For more than half a century, Rhodium-based catalysts have been used to produce chiral molecules via the asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral olefins. The importance of this transformation was acknowledged by a Nobel prize given to Noyori and Knowles for their contributions in this field. Nowadays, asymmetric hydrogenation catalysts are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, numerous chiral ligands are available to tackle a wide range of prochiral substrates and the reaction mechanism has been extensively studied. Consequently, one would expect that finding the best catalyst for the asymmetric hydrogenation of a new substrate is a trivial task. Unfortunately, this is not the case and a tedious and costly experimental screening is still needed. Adarsh Kalikadien and Evgeny Pidko from TU Delft together with experts in high-throughput-experimentation, data science and computational chemistry from Janssen Pharmaceutica in Belgium decided to investigate whether a well-trained machine could do the job. To their surprise, the machine was actually not able to learn as much as they expected. The idea was to set up a simple model reaction with a well-known rhodium catalyst. Based on the experimental data generated by the high-throughput experimentation team of Janssen, a computational dataset was built to which multiple machine learning models were applied. “We digitalized the 192 catalyst structures and represented them with features of various levels of complexity for the machine learning models,” says Kalikadien, a PhD student in Pidko’s group. "The interesting thing was that all the simpler models, including the random model, showed similar performances as the expensive variant, which intrigued us. It turned out to be an early indication that the machine was not really learning anything useful.” "One of our conclusions was, when tested more extensively, that for an out-of-domain modeling approach, it doesn't matter what representation you put in”. Nevertheless, although the team was not able to build an accurate model, their study was worth publishing. The publication process went relatively smoothly. “Although the first journal we contacted rejected our submission as too specialized, the high-impact journal Chemical Science saw the value of this work. Not many researchers are interested in just seeing the R2 value of a model and then having no possibility to use it, they are probably interested in an in-depth analysis like ours. So we were able to submit our data, code and even interactive figures there for everyone to use.” At the moment there is a big incentive for publishing negative data in order to help the community to assess the true added value of machine learning, since models trained on mainly positive results tend to become very biased. "We made everything open source," says Kalikadien. "Not only is all the data accessible, but we also offer the code including packages and instructions, so that anyone who is interested can do the same type of research." In this way, they have published one of the largest datasets of a certain type of hydrogenation reaction. What's next? "Our representation of the catalyst wasn't as meaningful for the machine learning models as we had hoped, so we are now looking for a representation that may be less simplified but still as simple as possible," says Kalikadien. "Creating a digital representation of your catalyst should not cost way more money than running the actual experiment, so we are trying to incorporate more information from the reaction mechanism into the model without making it too extensive. A more dynamic and hopefully more informative version of the representation." Read the publication Adarsh Kalikadien, Cecile Valsecchi, Robbert van Putten, Tor Maes, Mikko Muuronen, Natalia Dyubankova, Laurent Lefort and Evgeny A. Pidko

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NWO financiering voor flexibele stroomvraag van elektrisch gedreven industrie

NWO financiert twee projecten waarin onderzoek gaat plaatsvinden hoe de stroomvraag van de industrie flexibel gemaakt kan worden. Daarmee sluit het beter aan op het toekomstige energieaanbod. Een van de consortiumprojecten: ‘DEFLAME’ wordt geleid door Machteld van den Broek van de TU Delft. Zon en wind leveren een variabele hoeveelheid stroom, toch vraagt de huidige industrie een vrij constant vermogen. Om de industrie voor te bereiden op een stroomaanbod met veel zon en wind zijn aanpassingen nodig. Het gaat om zowel technische, economische als sociale aanpassingen die gezamenlijk door kennisinstellingen en bedrijfsleven worden onderzocht in deze twee projecten. Ook is er aandacht voor de drempels die aanpassingen in de weg staan. Over DEFLAME DEFLAME staat voor Direct Electrification of industrial heat demand supported by FLexibility At Multiple levels and their Exchanges (DEFLAME). Het project streeft ernaar de Nederlandse procesindustrie, en dan met name de chemische en voedselindustrie, veerkrachtiger en klimaatneutraal te maken door industriële warmte te elektrificeren met flexibiliteitopties. Van den Broek: ‘Hierbij kan je bijvoorbeeld denken aan het op- of afschakelen van installaties, opslag van warmte in de ondergrond en/of opslag van elektriciteit in batterijen, zodat de industrie beter kan inspelen op schommelingen in het energienetwerk.’ Dit vereist samenwerking op verschillende niveaus: technologie, fabrieken, clusters en nationale en internationale energiesystemen. DEFLAME richt zich op het wegnemen van obstakels voor de elektrificatie van lage temperatuur warmte (tot 400°C) met efficiënte technologie. ‘Dit wordt bij heel veel processen ingezet. Warmte is nodig om ervoor te zorgen dat de juiste chemische reacties plaatsvinden, maar ook bij het drogen, distilleren en verdampen is warmte nodig. In het kristallisatieproces om suiker te maken van bieten bijvoorbeeld, of bij de winning van zout’, legt Van den Broek uit. Bij kristallisatieprocessen kan bijvoorbeeld mechanische damprecompressie gebruikt worden. In dit proces worden de dampen door een elektrisch bediende compressor samengeperst en opnieuw gebruikt om de verdamper te verwarmen. ‘Dat bespaart energie, omdat je restwarmte gebruikt en de elektriciteit kan schoon worden opgewekt. Met zon en wind heb je, anders dan met gas, een variabel stroomaanbod. Als je de industrie wilt elektrificeren moeten bedrijven en de technologie daar flexibel op kunnen inspelen, door bijvoorbeeld als cluster warmte op te slaan of flexibiliteit in te bouwen in het elektriciteitssysteem.’ DEFLAME gaat vanuit verschillende niveaus en interdisciplinair strategieën en regelingen ontwikkelen om deze oplossingen mogelijk te maken. Van den Broek: “Ik kijk ernaar uit om samen met de partners een belangrijke stap te zetten om elektrificatie van de industrie in Nederland te bevorderen. Dit is een essentieel onderdeel van de energietransitie” Consortium partners Partners in het consortium zijn: AtlasCopco, Cosun, ISPT, Nobian, Oranje Wind Power II C.V./RWE, Smart Port, Stedin, Tennet, TNO, TU Delft en TU Eindhoven. Lees het NWO nieuwsbericht . Prof.dr.ir. M.A. (Machteld) van den Broek

Students Amos Yusuf, Mick Dam & Bas Brouwer winners of Mekel Prize 2024

Master students Amos Yusuf, from the ME faculty (Mick Dam, from the EEMCS faculty and graduate Bas Brouwer have won the Mekel Prize 2024 for the best extra scientific activity at TU Delft: the development of an initiative that brings master students into the classroom teaching sciences to the younger generations. The prize was ceremonially awarded by prof Tim van den Hagen on 13 November after the Van Hasselt Lecture at the Prinsenhof, Delft. They received a statue of Professor Jan Mekel and 1.500,- to spend on their project. Insights into climate change are being openly doubted. Funding for important educational efforts and research are being withdrawn. Short clips – so called “reels” – on Youtube and TikTok threaten to simplify complex political and social problems. AI fakes befuddle what is true and what is not. The voices of science that contribute to those discussion with modesty, careful argument and scepticism, are drowned in noise. This poses a threat for universities like TU Delft, who strive to increase student numbers, who benefit from diverse student populations and aim to pass on their knowledge and scientific virtues to the next generation. It is, therefore, alarming that student enrolments to Bachelor and Master Programs at TU Delft have declined in the past year. Students in front of the class The project is aimed to make the sciences more appealing to the next generation. They have identified the problem that students tend miss out on the opportunity of entering a higher education trajectory in the Beta sciences – because they have a wrong picture of such education. In their mind, they depict it as boring and dry. In his pilot lecture at the Stanislas VMBO in Delft, Amos Yusuf has successfully challenged this image. He shared his enthusiasm for the field of robotics and presented himself as a positive role model to the pupils. And in return the excitement of the high school students is palpable in the videos and pictures from the day. The spark of science fills their eyes. Bas Brouwer Mick Dam are the founders of NUVO – the platform that facilitates the engagement of Master Students in high school education in Delft Their efforts offer TU Delft Master Students a valuable learning moment: By sharing insights from their fields with pupils at high school in an educational setting, our students can find identify their own misunderstandings of their subject, learn to speak in front of non-scientific audiences and peak into education as a work field they themselves might not have considered. An extraordinary commitment According to the Mekel jury, the project scored well on all the criteria (risk mitigation, inclusiveness, transparency and societal relevance). However, it was the extraordinary commitment of Amos who was fully immersed during his Master Project and the efforts of Brouwer and Dam that brought together teaching and research which is integral to academic culture that made the project stand out. About the Mekel Prize The Mekel Prize will be awarded to the most socially responsible research project or extra-scientific activity (e.g. founding of an NGO or organization, an initiative or realization of an event or other impactful project) by an employee or group of employees of TU Delft – projects that showcase in an outstanding fashion that they have been committed from the beginning to relevant moral and societal values and have been aware of and tried to mitigate as much as possible in innovative ways the risks involved in their research. The award recognizes such efforts and wants to encourage the responsible development of science and technology at TU Delft in the future. For furthermore information About the project: https://www.de-nuvo.nl/video-robotica-pilot/ About the Mekel Prize: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/tpm/our-faculty/departments/values-technology-and-innovation/sections/ethics-philosophy-of-technology/mekel-prize

New catheter technology promises safer and more efficient treatment of blood vessels

Each year, more than 200 million catheters are used worldwide to treat vascular diseases, including heart disease and artery stenosis. When navigating into blood vessels, friction between the catheter and the vessel wall can cause major complications. With a new innovative catheter technology, Mostafa Atalla and colleagues can change the friction from having grip to completely slippery with the flick of a switch. Their design improves the safety and efficiency of endovascular procedures. The findings have been published in IEEE. Catheter with variable friction The prototype of the new catheter features advanced friction control modules to precisely control the friction between the catheter and the vessel wall. The friction is modulated via ultrasonic vibrations, which overpressure the thin fluid layer. This innovative variable friction technology makes it possible to switch between low friction for smooth navigation through the vessel and high friction for optimal stability during the procedure. In a proof-of-concept, Atalla and his team show that the prototype significantly reduces friction, averaging 60% on rigid surfaces and 11% on soft surfaces. Experiments on animal aortic tissue confirm the promising results of this technology and its potential for medical applications. Fully assembled catheters The researchers tested the prototype during friction experiments on different tissue types. They are also investigating how the technology can be applied to other procedures, such as bowel interventions. More information Publicatie DOI : 10.1109/TMRB.2024.3464672 Toward Variable-Friction Catheters Using Ultrasonic Lubrication | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore Mostafa Atalla: m.a.a.atalla@tudelft.nl Aimee Sakes: a.sakes@tudelft.nl Michaël Wiertlewski: m.wiertlewski@tudelft.nl Would you like to know more and/or attend a demonstration of the prototype please contact me: Fien Bosman, press officer Health TU Delft: f.j.bosman@tudelft.nl/ 0624953733

Een flexibele backstop als deel van de oplossing voor netcongestie

Uit naam van het TU Delft PowerWeb Institute overhandigen onderzoekers Kenneth Brunninx en Simon Tindemans op 12 november 2024 een Position Paper aan de Tweede Kamer, met een mogelijke oplossing voor de grote netwerkcapaciteit-problemen die in Nederland steeds vaker opspelen. Waarschijnlijk haalt Nederland de klimaatdoelen 2030 niet, en dat komt onder andere doordat de grote industrie niet snel genoeg kan overstappen op elektriciteit, mede doordat er steeds vaker problemen ontstaan rondom netwerkcapaciteit en netcongestie. Naar alle waarschijnlijk zullen die problemen dit decennium eerst zelfs toenemen, voordat ze kunnen afnemen, stellen de onderzoekers. De oplossing die de onderzoekers van het TU Delft PowerWeb Institute aanbieden, is de ‘flexibele backstop’. Met een flexibele backstop kan de huidige capaciteit van het elektriciteitsnet efficiënter gebruikt worden zonder aan veiligheid of betrouwbaarheid in te boeten. Een flexibele backstop is een veiligheidsmechanisme dat semiautomatisch en op korte termijn de hoeveelheid elektriciteit vermindert die een elektrische verbruiker van het elektriciteitsnet kan onttrekken (een elektrische laadpaal of een warmtepomp) of leveren (een PV-installatie). Het is een klein apparaatje dat is aangesloten of ingebouwd in een elektrische verbruiker, zoals een laadpaal of warmtepomp, en dat ‘communiceert’ met de distributienetwerkbeheerder. In geval van acute congestie op het netwerk geeft de netwerkbeheerder een signaal aan het apparaat om de hoeveelheid stroom te beperken. Duitsland heeft recent een vergelijkbaar systeem ingevoerd voor elektrische laadpalen. De backstop wordt enkel geactiveerd in periodes van acute congestieproblemen, nadat alle andere maatregelen uitgeput zijn. “Het opwaarderen van het elektriciteitsnetwerk blijft essentieel, maar zal in de praktijk nog jaren duren. Er is dus behoefte aan kortetermijnoplossingen die geïntegreerd kunnen worden in de langetermijnplanning. Wij, de leden van het TU Delft PowerWeb Institute, roepen de overheid, netwerkbeheerders en regulator op om de flexibele backstop als extra veiligheidsmaatregel voor het netwerk te onderzoeken”, aldus de onderzoekers. Het gehele paper is hier te lezen. Kenneth Bruninx is universiteit hoofddocent bij de faculteit Techniek, Bestuur en Management, waar hij met kwantitatieve modellen energiebeleid, regulering en marktontwerp evalueert. Simon Tindemans is universitair hoofddocent in de Intelligent Electrical Power Grids groep van faculteit Elektrotechniek, Wiskunde en Informatica. Hij doet onder andere onderzoek naar onzekerheid en risicomanagement voor elektriciteitsnetwerken. Het TU Delft PowerWeb Institute ontwerpt het elektriciteitsnetwerk van de toekomst.

25 year celebration of formal collaboration between Delft University of Technology and the University of Campinas

On 25 October 2024 we celebrated 25 years of formal collaboration between Delft University of Technology and the University of Campinas. What began as a project to exchange some students in chemical engineering has now grown to a multifaceted and broad academic collaboration which accumulated into 24 joint research projects (>20 M Euro); 16 advanced courses and 15 Doctors with a Dual Degree PhD. Patricia Osseweijer, TU Delft Ambassador Brazil explained, “We are proud to show and reflect on this special day the added value we created resulting from our joint activities. The lessons we learned demonstrate that especially continuity of funds and availability for exchanges has contributed to joint motivation and building trust which created strong relations. This is the foundation for academic creativity and high-level achievements.” The program presented showcases of Dual Degree projects; research activities and education. It discussed the future objectives and new fields of attention and agree on the next steps to maintain and strengthen the foundation of strong relations. Telma Franco, Professor UNICAMP shared that “joint education and research has substantially benefitted the students, we see that back in the jobs they landed in,” while UNICAMP’s Professor Gustavo Paim Valenca confirmed that “we are keen to extend our collaboration to more engineering disciplines to contribute jointly to global challenges” Luuk van der Wielen highlighted that “UNICAMP and TU Delft provide valuable complementary expertise as well as infrastructures to accelerate research and innovation. Especially our joint efforts in public private partnerships brings great assets” To ensure our future activities both University Boards have launched a unique joint program for international academic leadership. This unique 7-month program will accommodate 12 young professors, 6 from each university. The programme began on 4 November 2024 in Delft, The Netherlands.