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.
Martijn Ruijzendaal (M.D.)
Researcher
Circular Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Science and Engineering