The Delft start-up companies 3Delft and BMO Offshore tested a model of an anemometer tower for its seaworthiness at Deltares’ Atlantic basin last week.
BMO Offshore is a start-up company, which offers wind and wave measurements on location to prospecting wind park developers. BMO developed the so-called FlexMetMast to perform the measurements at sea. Instead of hammering a steel monopile 30 metres into the ground, BMO developed a set of sea legs for the mast. After adding ballast, the sea legs will sink 4 to 5 metres into the soil. After the measurements, the whole structure can be lifted, removed and reused elsewhere.
Last week, a 1:50 model of the FlexMetMast was tested in the Atlantic basin at Deltares. “We will test the structure with waves equivalent to 19 metres,” says Tim Raaijmakers (MSc), from Deltares. Such waves on the Atlantic correspond to a once in a hundred years’ storm. The running up of the waves onto the structure is measured, just as are the impact and the erosion at the structures’ feet. “The combination of waves and current can wash away the sand around the pillars,” Raaijmakers explains. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with 3Delft, BMO Offshore, Deltares, Hans van Toor, Jan Verschoor.
By admin
– september 1, 2011
Swagat Chopra demonstrates - Photo: Tomas van Dijk
Range anxiety holds people back from buying electric vehicles. But what if the road itself would keep the batteries charged?
In the laboratory, MSc student Swagat Chopra places his model car above a square coil of electric wire. The car carries a similar but smaller coil below its chassis. Chopra flicks some switches and the voltage over the car’s batteries starts rising. This is magic: power transfer through the air. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with CPT, electric cars, power transmission, Swagat Chopra.
By admin
– september 1, 2011
To be buried, burnt or dissolved. What’s the greenest way to go?
Last week an old discussion was reignited following the publication of a TNO report claiming that modern ways of decomposing bodies, such as freezing or chemical dissolving, were more environmentally-friendly than burial or cremation. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with burial, cremation, cryomation, funeral, resomation.
By admin
– augustus 24, 2011
Leon inspects his microscope - Photo: Tomas van Dijk
Physics student Leon van Kouwen built a 10-centimetre working prototype of an electron microscope as his graduation project.
Typically the beam of an electron microscope is formed within a long tube – up to several meters long. Inside, sets of condensers focus the powerful beam through carefully crafted magnetic fields onto a specimen under study. “Magnetic or electric fields can focus electrons just like lenses do with light,” says charged particle optics expert Professor Pieter Kruit (Applied Sciences). Electron beam manufacturer CRT, based in Heerlen, contacted Kruit with a request to develop a low-tech electron beam. CRT’s executive director, Paul Aerssens, MSc explains they were looking for another market for their expertise in electron beam manufacture, since most displays have become flat screens. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with cathode ray tube, electron microscope, Pieter Kruit.
By admin
– augustus 24, 2011
In Epe, the Veluwe Water Board is pioneering a new generation of sewage water purification. The Nereda granular sludge technology saves around a quarter of the energy, while taking up just a quarter of the space. “In ten year’s time, this will be the standard.”
Project manager André Welmer, from the Veluwe Water Board, has his work cut out for him: Having just given a guided tour to two people from the Municipality of Epe, in comes a journalist wanting the same. Here, on the edge of an Epe industrial estate, there is a sense that the job is almost done.
Download as .pdf
Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delft Outlook.
Tagged with DHV, Epe, Nereda, sewage water purification.
By admin
– augustus 1, 2011
How to safely increase the capacity of the Holy Mosque? (Photo: Omar-Chatriwala/Wikicommons)
Saudi Arabian authorities have been improving walking routes in Mecca to accommodate more pilgrims and reduce risks of stampedes. Professor Serge Hoogendoorn (CEG) has been asked to advise on possible redesigns of the Sacred Mosque.
Each year literally millions of Muslim pilgrims visit the holy city of Mecca to take part in the Hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime must for every able Muslim. Currently, about 2.5 million Muslims gather for the eight-day event. In 2030, the number is expected to rise to 3.9 million, which raises serious security issues. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with crowd management, Hoogendoorn, Ka'aba, Mecca, pilgrims.
By admin
– juni 30, 2011
Dr. P.V. Aravind some days before the opening - Foto: Tomas van Dijk
Together with the existing theory group at process & energy, the newly opened fuel cell lab now forms an integrated research centre on a European level.
Red and blue portocabins behind the process & energy hall form the modest housing for the group’s new equipment. Assistant professor, Dr P.V. Aravind, from Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, explains the set-up. The largest installation contains a stack of fuel cells running on a mixture of gases that can be chosen from a mixing panel on the other side. A smaller set-up tests single fuel cells and in yet another assembly single anodes can be monitored while precisely analysing the electrochemical processes. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with Aravind, fuel cells, SOFC.
By admin
– juni 23, 2011
NRC Handelsblad, 18 June 2011
The Dutch minister of Econonmic Affairs and Innovation, Maxime Verhagen, has presented the outline of his new research funding for top economic sectors. Most professors reacted positively.
The 18 June edition of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad explained that according to Verhagen’s proposal, investments in research will be made tax-deductible for businesses, with a yearly national maximum of 500 million euros. Secondly, an equal sum will be reserved as an innovation credit fund. Credits are to be repaid with returns on investment. No cure, no pay.
“Selecting top sectors assumes a rationality in choices that doesn’t exist,” says Professor Alfred Kleinknecht (TPM). “How can ‘The Hague’ know which sectors will be the fastest horses? They don’t. Instead, they chose to support the established industry. Outsiders and basement innovators get passed by.”
Verhagens ten ’top sectors’ cover most of the Netherlands’ major industries, including energy, water, chemistry and infrastructure. Not surprising then those professors from these sectors reacted quite positively to Verhagen’s proposal. “It’s a good thing that water-related research continues to be supported,” says drinking water expert, Professor Hans van Dijk (CEG). “Water has righteously been a vanguard for years because of the Dutch reputation and knowledge in this area.” Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with innovation, science policy, valorisation.
By admin
– juni 23, 2011
Illustration: Auke Herrema
Why do some people complain about aircraft noise while their neighbours do not? Dr Maarten Kroesen discovered that mistrust and loss of control intensify the impact of noise.
While the number of people subjected to aircraft noise around Schiphol airport has decreased over the past decades, the number of complaints has increased. Dr Maarten Kroesen, from the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, was intrigued and wanted to solve this Schiphol enigma. His PhD thesis shows why some people regard noise as a hindrance while others don’t. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with aircraft noise, control, mistrust, Schiphol.
By admin
– juni 16, 2011
Kim Thy Nguyen with a prototype of the dietician App. (Photo: Tomas van Dijk)
A healthy diet is especially important for couples wishing to become parents. Kim Thy Nguyen (MSc) designed a webtool to help prospective parents improve their eating patterns.
Medical doctor and epidemiologist, Professor Dr Regine Steegers-Theunissen, of Erasmus Medical Centre, has been actively promoting healthy food patterns and lifestyles for parents-to-be. Healthy diets and lifestyles and successful pregnancies are not related like cause and effect, but the associations are strong. In 2007, Steegers-Theunissen started a preconception clinic, called ‘Achieving a healthy pregnancy’, to help make couples aware of their diet and lifestyle as preparation for their future pregnancies. But she wished to further support and guide couples – yes, also the men – about food and drink issues before and during pregnancy. Continued…
Posted in Articles, Delta.
Tagged with App, diet, health, pregnancy, webtool.
By admin
– juni 16, 2011
