Netherlands' Catalysis Newsletter of January 2009
News & Announcements
KNCV Catalysis annual members meeting at NCCC
Although early bird registration is already closed, one can still sign up for participation at NCCC. Please be aware that the annual members meeting of the catalysis section of KNCV will take place on NCCC Tuesday (17:30hr, Cambridge 30). Details will be distributed to members in due time via a special edition of the news letter (members only) and the website.
More information: www.n3c.nl / www.kncv.nl/katalyse
Additional NIOK course ?Catalysis, An Integrated Approach, 23-27 Feb. 2009
NIOK organises annually at the end of the year the course ?Catalysis, An Integrated Approach?. This is the course to gain a deeper insight in the various aspects of catalysis. Its main theme is the molecular approach of catalysis in view of its applications, from catalyst preparation and characterization to reactor engineering. Due to the overwhelming interest but limited available tickets for industrial participants, an additional course is organised from 23-27 February 2009, in Noordwijkerhout (preceding the NCCC-X). Participants from industry will be placed with first priority in case of limited space, but academic participants are also welcomed. The registration deadline is: 30 January 2009.
More information: www.niok.nl
Porous Materials
NWO and DFG have approved an International Training Research Group (IRTG) on "Diffusion in Porous Materials" with focus on porous catalytic materials for a period of four and a half years. Participating groups in The Netherlands are from Utrecht (Weckhuysen, de Jong), Twente (Benes), Delft (Kapteijn, Straathof), Amsterdam (Krishna) and Eindhoven (Magusin, Kerkhof, Kopinga and van Santen), while the German groups are concentrated in Leipzig (Kaerger, Stallmach, Fritsche, Einicke, Glaeser, Haase, Kremer). Bringing together scientists from different backgrounds in this area aims at the better understanding and utilization of this phenomenon in catalysis. The first workshop "Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Porous Materials" will take place in Leipzig from 4th - 6th February 2009
More information: workshop homepage
Advanced exhaust purification for CO2 fertilization in Greenhouses
Knook Energy Solution in corporation with the group of Catalysis Engineering at the TU Delft has introduced successfully an advanced gas-engine exhaust purification unit, the SQ2, for the CO2 fertilization in greenhouses.
Besides the generated electricity and the heat the exhaust gasses of those gas engines contains CO2 that can be used for the fertilization. The presence of NOx and ethene in the same exhaust completely counteract the benefits of CO2 and start to quickly the ripening of flowers or fruits,
respectively. The currently abatement technology is the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with urea and oxidation catalyst for the ammonia slip and ethene conversion. The new technology is based on NOx adsorption and desorption in a two chambers reaction design with an advanced oxidation catalyst. The obtained NOx and ethene in the SQ2 exhaust purification unit
is one order lower than those obtained commercially available SCR technologies. The technology has been certified by the assurance company.
More information: www.kesi.nl (in Dutch)
Did your catalyst die?
Don't let its demise be in vain, butdiscuss it at the International Symposium on CATALYST DEACTIVATION. The International Symposium on CATALYST DEACTIVATION will be held in The Netherlands, TU Delft (Auditorium), October 27 - 29, 2009. Book these days in your calendar, abstracts are due December 15, 2008.
More information: conference website
IBOS-ANNOUNCEMENTS
As a result of the success of the first, second and third Call for Proposals SME projects, the IBOS (Integration of Biosynthesis & Organic Synthesis) Programme Committee continues to foster innovation-oriented research cooperation between academia and SME (MKB: Midden en Klein Bedrijf) companies. Research subsidies can be applied for short (one or two year) postdoctoral projects. Research in the IBOS programme is oriented along four research lines: Molecular Biology & Biosynthesis; Bio-transformations; Bio-inspired Organic Synthesis; Bioprocess engineering. Deadline for submission of proposals is 12 March 2009.
Summer School in Catalysis 2009, May 24-29, 2009 in Greece
The European Federation of Catalysis Societies (EFCATS) and the Applied Catalysis European Network (ACENET) organise the CLEAR summer school: ?Catalysis Lectures for Environmental Applications and Renewables?. This CLEAR summer school takes place from May 24 ? 29, 2009 in Porto Carras, Chalkidiki, Greece. It aims to effectively train young researchers from academe and industry on the most up-to-date technological and research fields of applied catalysis, focussing on energy and environment-oriented topics.
More information: summer school website
Awards & Grants
Seshan most cited author in Journal of Catalysis
Dr. K. Seshan (Catalytic Processes and Materials ? Utwente) has been awarded the most cited author in Journal of Catalysis in the period 2003 -2007. His article ?Elementary steps of NOx adsorption and surface reaction on a commercial storage-reduction catalyst? was published in 2003 in Journal of Catalysis, Volume 214. Co-authors were Sedlmaier, Jentys and Lercher.
Young Talent awards 2008
Matti Schooneveld (UU) has received one of the 2008 young talent awards for his graduation project.
More information: hollmij website
NPT poster award
Berta Matas-Güell (Catalytic Processes and Materials ? Utwente) was awarded the 3rd poster prize at the 8th Netherlands Process Technology Symposium with her poster entitled ? Development of stable catalysts for the steam reforming of biomass based ? oxygenates?
More information: poster
R&D highlights
UU and TU Delft researchers once again in Nature
Nanoscale chemical imaging of a working catalyst by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy; de Smit,E., I. Swart, J.F. Creemer, G.H. Hoveling, M.K. Gilles, T. Tyliszczak, P.J. Kooyman, H.W. Zandbergen, C. Morin, B.M. Weckhuysen and F.M.F. de Groot, Nature 456 (2008) 222-226.
More information: UU press release
Business news
Dow and Sud chemie team up in catalyst development
The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Süd-Chemie today announced an agreement to research alternative routes to produce chemicals to help reduce dependence on traditional sources of oil and gas. The collaborative research aims to convert synthesis gas (syngas), that can be derived from abundant resources such as coal or biomass, to ?building block? chemicals in a more efficient and economical process.
More information: Dow press release
JM half year results
Good half-year results Johnson Matthey in November 2008, reduced global car sales will affect overall results. Commenting on the results, Neil Carson, Chief Executive of Johnson Matthey said: "Johnson Matthey performed well in the first half of 2008/09. With global car sales expected to fall in the second half we have taken action to reduce costs and protect our margins in Emission Control Technologies. The outlook for our other catalyst businesses remains good underpinned by environmental legislation and concerns over energy security.The long term drivers for our business remain firmly in place. With our strong balance sheet and investment in new technology the group is in a good position to weather the current economic downturn."
More information: JM website
People on the move
Dr. Jorge Gascon appointed assistant professor at TUDelft
The Catalysis Engineering section at TUDelft will be strengthened per 2009 by dr. Jorge Gascon. Jorge Gascon will focus on synthesis and application microstructured catalysts and membranes based on Metal Organic Frameworks and zeolites. Recent papers in this field are:
- J. Gascon, U. Aktay, M. D. Hernandez-Alonso, G. P.M. van Klink and F.
Kapteijn, Amino-based Metal Organic Frameworks as stable, highly active basic catalysts. Journal of Catalysis, 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.jcat.2008.11.010
- J. Gascon, M. D. Hernández-Alonso, A.R. Almeida, G. P.M. van Klink, F.
Kapteijn and G.Mul, Isoreticular MOFs as efficient photocatalysts with tunable bandgap: an
Operando FTIR study of the photo-induced oxidation of Propylene. ChemSusChem, 2008, 1,
981-983.
Looking for a job?
TU Delft has some vacancies: TU Delft website
Recent 'Dutch' Patent Applications in Catalysis
On a regular base, we provide you with the latest Dutch patent applications in the field of catalysis. The overviews are published on our website: www.niok-society.nl.
Thesis defences
Patrick Graf (Catalytic Processes and Materials ? Utwente) has become the first ASPECT PhD student to graduate since 11 ASPECT projects were granted in the first call for proposals in 2004. Patrick graduated on 23 January 2009. His thesis is entitled: ?Combining oxidative coupling and reforming of methane; Vision or Utopia??
More information: ASPECT
Conferences etc.
Several new conferences were announced recently. In the near future, you can visit a workshop on Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Frameworks or NCCC. An overview of catalysis-related conferences and symposia and more information can be found in the agenda of KNCV Catalaysis.
Next Edition
The next edition of this Netherlands Catalysis Newsletter will be distributed in April 2009. Content can be supplied to and by our correspondents.
This newsletter is distributed 4-5 times per year to members of KNCV catalysis and those who have (been) signed up via the NIOK Society. If you want to (un)subscribe, please visit our website for instructions.
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