Excursion TNO & General Assembly NWGD

On 25 March 27 participants joined the NWGD excursion to TNO in Petten, where we were welcomed by our hosts, Michel van der Pal and Simon Spoelstra. They introduced us to the TNO organization and the research site, which is home to 1,500 employees and includes not only TNO’s research facilities but also a nuclear facility for medical isotope production and a European research center. Michel and Simon work within TNO’s Sustainable Technologies for Industrial Processes unit.

The excursion featured three presentations from the Solidarity project:

• Mahdi Nikbakht Fini (TNO) discussed the use of pervaporation for water removal from triethylene glycol, a process essential for dehydrating natural gas streams.
• Norbert Kuipers (WUR) presented research on bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) to recycle sodium sulfate from a diluted waste stream at CARBOGEN AMCIS.
• Anton Wemmers shared insights on airless drying for paper and molded fiber egg boxes, highlighting a small-scale drying setup and modeling efforts to optimize the drying process. He also mentioned an emerging consortium for further research.

After a short break, we held the NWGD General Assembly, where Maarten Schutyser reviewed past and current activities, noting that Kendra Rademaker has stepped down from the NWGD board. We are now looking for a new volunteer and invite members to share ideas for future events. A questionnaire will be sent out soon. Martijn Fox presented the financial overview for 2024 and the budget plans for 2025, and Michel van der Pal and Jan-Eise Vuist volunteered for the financial audit.

The afternoon continued with a tour of TNO’s research facilities, including the membrane research lab, as well as the Mollier and Carnot research facilities. It was impressive to see the scale and infrastructure of the research projects in action.

We wrapped up the day with a dinner at Zee & Zo, where 19 participants enjoyed a great meal together.

Thanks to everyone who joined – we look forward to the next NWGD event!