Martijn Ruijzendaal (M.D.)
For every produced plastic water bottle, more than 50 liters of CO₂ are emitted into the atmosphere.
Martijn and his colleagues are studying a technology called “plasma” that is able to produce the building blocks for plastics without emitting CO₂. The technology drives chemical reactions using the power of high electric fields instead of furnaces.
However, the behaviour of a plasma reactor is complex, and requires a lot of study and fine-tuning to optimise it. Martijn's research focuses on understanding how ethylene and acetylene, which are key ingredients for plastic production, are formed in a methane plasma reactor. To do this, he uses laser diagnostics to study the composition and temperature of the gas as it flows through the reactor.
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Martijn Ruijzendaal (M.D.)
Researcher
Circular Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Science and Engineering