Sitech is a partner in Brightsite, the knowledge centre for sustainability in the chemical industry, and deploys its expertise in the development and scale-up of plasma technology. We recently contributed to the commisioning of the 50 kW bench scale, an important step in scaling up this innovative technology to industrial scale.
Crucial step towards industrial application
“Through feasibility studies, process improvements and fundamental research, we are working at the Brightsite Plasmalab towards the industrial scale-up of plasma technology. This starts with fundamental research on a small scale and at a low Technology Readiness Level (TRL). The next step is applied research at bench scale to then work towards the realisation of a pilot plant and possibly another demo plant to eventually make the step to a commercial plant,” says Wilbert Derks, who works from Sitech as project manager at the Brightsite Plasmalab. “We are already trying to run the process just as it should eventually go to commercial scale. A first crucial step towards application,” says Derks.
High power plasma arc
Derks: “Our set-up is unique worldwide, a high power plasma arc for methane plasma pyrolysis. Besides the tests we perform with the arc reactor, we are building a computational model in parallel, which we use to try to predict and explain what comes out of the reactor. We will test different configurations and compare them with the model. By combining the two, we can connect theory (model) and practice.”
Collaboration with partners
Sitech works closely with other Brightsite partners, including TNO and Maastricht University. This makes the integration of various technological and scientific insights seamless.
Want to know more about this important step in making the chemical industry more sustainable? Read the article on the Brightsite website.
