Researcher

Jonas Hereijgers

Research Expertise:My research focusses on enhancement strategies in (electro)chemical reactor engineering to improve efficiency and productivity, particularly by improving mass transport through fluid control and hydrodynamics optimization. This process intensification is achieved both by computational calculations as experimental characterisation. By numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations the relationship between reactor design and hydrodynamic behaviour is unravelled and new insights obtained through dimensionless number correlation analysis. By experimental characterisation, new and innovative reactor designs are optimized towards high selectivity and productivity. Through a range of (additive) manufacturing techniques (e.g. 3D printing, micromilling) these reactor designs are constructed in-house and tailored to the operating behaviour of the application at hand (e.g. 3D printed electrodes for electrochemistry), allowing to identify bottlenecks and grants the possibility to properly adapt the electrode or spacer geometry. Mass transport and fluid handling, when not taken care of, diminish the properties of any excellent catalyst. Only when the intrinsic reaction and mass transfer kinetics are matched, an economically viable process can be established. Moreover, this combined approach of numerical calculations and experimental testing, allows to validate insights gained from CFD results, linking theoretical concepts with experimental data.

Keywords:ELECTRODE, ELECTRODE MATERIALS, ELECTROCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY, REACTORS, 3D PRINTING, ENGINEERING, ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTOR, Chemistry (incl. biochemistry)

Disciplines:Electrochemical methods, Electrochemistry, Organic green chemistry, Heterogeneous catalysis, Reacting systems, Particle design and technology, Modelling, simulation and optimisation, (Bio)chemical reactors, Chemical process design, Intensification, Powder and particle technology, Process control, Membrane technologies, Separation technologies, Carbon capture engineering, (Multiphase) flow, Heat and mass transfer, Microfluidics/flow chemistry, Metals recycling and valorisation

Research techniques:Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations (COMSOL) 3D printing of prototypes Milling of (micro)reactors Experimental electrochemical characterization: cyclic and linear voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry

Users of research expertise:This expertise can be of use for the chemical industry, both in the field of reactor engineering as end-users.