Delft Skyline Debates in 2009 was a follow-up of the European Roadmap for Process Intensification. Its aim was to extend that Roadmap with a long-term scientific vision, which would sketch the skyline of the sustainable process industries beyond 2050 and draw a route for the European R&D programs in Process Intensification that will be needed to realise that vision. 

Delft Skyline debates of 2009 looked at how to use the solar, wind or geothermal energy in chemical processing and how to integrate chemical plants with renewable power generation units? How to win the nano snooker game and gain full control upon reaction pathways at molecular level, so that the
generation of by-products is brought to the theoretical minimum? How to catch up with the nature and generate ultra-high-interface systems? Only some examples of the issues, in solving of which Process Intensification will play a significant role.

“What makes this so special is the fact that here at TU Delft we have access to knowledge relating toprocess technology on every imaginable scale, all under one roof: from nanotechnology to large-scale industrial processes”, says Professor Andrzej Stankiewicz, (right) the director of the new TU Delft Process Technology Institute. “Process technology is one of the disciplines in which TU Delft could achieve a position among the world leaders – in the Top Ten, say.”

China and India 
“We now face stiff competition from countries such as China and India, which are investing heavily in the industrial sector, as well as in education and research, while in the Netherlands we are witnessing a dramatic decrease in industrial investments. Student interest in this particular discipline is also waning.

"We have to turn the tide, and this new institute can play an important role in this. More intensive alliances will be needed in order to ensure that TU Delft’s process technology will gain a greater international reputation. Currently, there are fourteen chairs in two faculties and five departments working on the subject across the University...hardly surprising for such a broad discipline, but it can be confusing to the outside world.

Clear profiling
"With its clear profiling, the new TU Delft Process Technology Institute will change all of that. There have been extensive discussions among the participating chairs on how this profiling can be achieved, as well as wide-ranging consultations with major industrial partners. The institute plans to work closely together with other universities and research organisations in the Netherlands and abroad.

“We decided right from the start to focus on those areas in which we truly excel”, explains Stankiewicz, “whilst ensuring that they also have industrial relevance.”

Three fields
TU Delft has chosen to organise the institute in three practical fields: process intensification, biochemical process technology and process technology for advanced materials.

Process intensification is all about production process efficiency: how can we produce using smaller amounts of raw materials, and decreasing energy consumption and waste?   Biochemical process technology focuses on the production of biological raw materials, preferably from the biological waste products of food production.  Process technology for advanced materials works on the development of new materials and the processes for producing and refining them.

Microwave toilets
Research within these areas often involves sustainability issues: it concerns energy-efficient production processes, waste processing, water purification, alternatives to scarce raw materials, etc. These are things that impact industry as well as society as a whole.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded TU Delft a €500,000 grant to ‘Reinvent the toilet’ and develop new technology for processing human waste without links to water, energy, or sewer lines, and at costs affordable to the poor in developing countries.

In the field of Process Intensification assistant Professor Georgios Stefanidis is one of the Delft scientists who came up with the initial idea. Using microwaves and ‘plasma gasification’, the toilet will turn human faeces into a synthetic gas.in turn
be used to produce electricity.

Macrolab for pilots
The plan is for the various departments to move closer together in future. They will also start using shared research facilities such as the macrolab, in which large test installations can be built. This is important, because the shift from research on a laboratory scale to a pilot scale makes it possible to test the feasibility of industrial applications.