Anchoring Power: Ensuring Control and Stability in Offshore Energy Hubs

We rely on electricity daily, from checking our phones in the morning to grabbing breakfast from the fridge. We drive to work in electric cars and spend much of our day on computers. And just like our internet connection, we need our power supply to be stable. That’s where Assistant Professor Aleksandra Lekić plays a key role. She focuses on the control and stability of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power systems, including offshore energy hubs like wind farms and floating solar panels. Her work is vital in preventing major disruptions, such as blackouts, that could impact the entire power grid.

Energy hub als krachtig concept in de energietransitie

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Constructies

Reading time: 5 min

Super asphalt lasts longer

Asphalt concrete is a great material for road surfacing purposes but it’s not always the most sustainable of options. Sandra Erkens, professor of Pavement Engineering Practice, is looking for ways of predicting and extending the lifespan of both existing and new pavement materials. Epoxy asphalt may well hold the key to more durable road surfaces. The end of October should see the start of the construction of a trial section on a Noord-Holland road to put the new super asphalt through its paces.

news/stories ImPhys

reading time: 10 min

Looking over Vermeer’s shoulders

In 2018, Johannes Vermeer’s world-famous Girl with a Pearl Earring underwent a total ‘body scan’: using state-of-the-art techniques, the painting was studied in painstaking detail from top to bottom. It provided a wealth of new insights about the painting and the painter. Four TU Delft faculties worked on the project.

reading time: 8 min

New sensor chips: low-cost, smart and efficient

Imagine using a chip to analyse heart cells, or being notified by a smart plaster if your heart rate gets too high. These are two examples of research that Frans Widdershoven is working on. This fresh new pro-fessor is developing new smart sensors.

reading time: 8 min

Travelling to a black hole

Black holes are one of the most remarkable phenomena in the universe. But what do they look like? And how can you depict something like this? Researcher Annemieke Verbraeck is developing a new simulation based on the Hollywood film Interstellar.

reading time: min

There’s still room on the water!

Freight transport by water is cheaper and uses less energy than by road. What’s more, there’s more room on the water than on our congested roads. We could fully exploit these benefits by first solving a few notorious bottlenecks, such as container ships that aren’t loaded to capacity, suboptimal vessel navigation and congested locks.

reading time: 5 min

What can mussel shells teach us about the circular economy?

In a circular economy, design is about more than just creating a sustainable product. In this system based on eliminating waste and minimising the use of resources, the design process is aimed at preserving the value of products and materials and keeping them in the economic system for as long as possible. So how do you do that? PhD candidate Marita Sauerwein came up with a novel material based on ground mussel shells and showed through 3D printing technology that the end life of a product is really just the beginning.

reading time: min

The shipping sector must change its course
Zondebokcultuur staat veiligheid chemiesector in de weg

reading time: 3 min

Everyone knows small mistakes can have large consequences. Yet when things go wrong in the chemical industry the results can be disastrous, as the recent incident in Beirut shows. Genserik Reniers, Professor of Safety of Hazardous Materials at TU Delft, wants to put safety on the map better than today, in order for human suffering and economic losses to be minimised as much as possible: ‘There's a lot we can achieve relatively easy.’

Blame culture an obstacle to safety in the chemical sector

Everyone knows small mistakes can have large consequences. Yet when things go wrong in the chemical industry the results can be disastrous, as the recent incident in Beirut shows. Genserik Reniers, Professor of Safety of Hazardous Materials at TU Delft, wants to put safety on the map better than today, in order for human suffering and economic losses to be minimised as much as possible: ‘There's a lot we can achieve relatively easy.’

reading time: 8 min

Nynke Dekker's insatiable curiosity

Her research takes place at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. Professor of Molecular Biophysics Nynke Dekker is internationally renowned for her pioneering research into the interactions between individual proteins and DNA and RNA molecules, as well as the advanced techniques she developed to make these interactions visible. Colleagues call her ambitious, thorough, content-driven and insatiably curious.

Reading time: 4 min

What if we all share our rides?

With just a few clicks associate professor Oded Cats empties the streets of Amsterdam of all cars. In a simulation model, that is. ‘Now what if we ban Uber? Or allow only trams or bike sharing services?’ From his office in the CEG faculty building Cats is experimenting with a complex computer model.

reading time: 4 min

A supermodel for all the glaciers on Earth

The Dutch coastline is continually changing. Coastal engineer Sierd de Vries is using ventilators, wind tunnels, drones, jet skis and laser scanners to gain an insight into the development of coastal areas and dune formation. He can often be found counting grains of sand.

Reading time: 4 min

The urban puzzle of where to put a million solar panels

A million solar panels on the rooftops of Amsterdam? How do you get that done? Researcher Maarten Verkou figured it out.
Gewoontes doorbreken voor een groene wereld

Collection Climate Action

reading time: 4 min

Breaking habits for a green world

We separate our waste, take shorter showers and there has been an increase in roof-mounted solar panels. Climate psychologist at TU Delft Gerdien de Vries, sees that in the Netherlands we are trying to put our greenest foot forward.

reading time: 4 min

Counting grains of sand to understand coastal dunes

The Dutch coastline is continually changing. Coastal engineer Sierd de Vries is using ventilators, wind tunnels, drones, jet skis and laser scanners to gain an insight into the development of coastal areas and dune formation. He can often be found counting grains of sand.

reading time: 7 min

Contactless interaction between man and robot

In traffic, in the supermarket or in the factory: in the near future, robots will no longer be standalone machines, but systems that operate and make decisions within the same environment as people. This is placing different demands on the design and development of such robots.

reading time: 5 min

What is the coolest tree?

On a hot, windless day, a leafy neighbourhood may feel 10 to 15°C cooler than an urban area that is more exposed to the sun. Trees thus play a key role in preventing heat stress and the design of climate-proof and healthier cities. “Although we already understand a great deal about the performance of tree species in the built environment, there is very little empirical knowledge about their cooling capacity.”, says researcher Lotte Dijkstra. In order to determine how physical properties such as the trunk and crown shape and the leaf characteristics influence the local air temperature the research team designed and built special ‘climate arboreta’ with sensors installed in each of the 75 tree species.

reading time: 6, 5 min

Data drives the circular economy

More than nine million kilometres. That is the distance covered every year transporting Amsterdam's waste from source to its final destination, which is usually a waste processor. This is one of the insights gained from the monitor platform that has been developed in Delft, with which governments will soon be able to analyse and optimise their waste streams.

reading time: 8 min

The first Flying-V test flight

Since 2017, a team of researchers from TU Delft has been working on a new, more sustainable type of passenger aircraft, the Flying-V. After the research phase, July saw an exciting and significant next step in the programme: the scale model’s first test flight. Would the aircraft remain stable when airborne, even at low speeds?

reading time: 8 min

Increased road safety with high-resolution automotive radar

If it is up to Cicero Vaucher, cars will be transformed into robots with the capability of sensing the environment, thinking, and acting autonomously.

reading time: 7 min

So much more than 3D visualisation

Elmar Eisemann and Ruben Wiersma tell about how mathematics and computer graphics will enhance our perception of art.

reading time: 5 min

Sand on the horizon

viewing time: 11 min

How to Print a Dinosaur

Anchoring Power: Ensuring Control and Stability in Offshore Energy Hubs

Energy hub als krachtig concept in de energietransitie

reading time: 8 min

Puzzling over behavioural models for sustainable greenhouse horticulture

reading time: 5 min

Battling the data hunger of Big Tech

reading time: 5 min

Cybersecurity | Story of Team Science | Technische Universiteit Delft

reading time: 4 min

Heating your home with lake water: the 'magic' of aquathermal energy

reading time: min

Protecting vital infrastructure from cyber-attacks with physics-inspired AI

leestijd: 5 min

How do we keep our cities clean and accessible? | TU Delft
Mahnam Saeednia sits on a bench at the train station. Next to her is a package that points a megaphone at her.

reading time: 10 min

Giving freight a voice

reading time: 4 min

Our concrete inheritance: not always desired but definitely important

reading time: 2 min

How to design the train stations of tomorrow

reading time: min

Rethinking transport in cities

reading time: 8 min

Hassle as a limiting factor for using energy when the sun shines

reading time: 10 min

Damping waves with 50,000 rubber grass blades

Solar panels, solar systems, photovoltaics, energy transition

From waves to shadows: Optimizing solar systems by modelling their energy output

Social skills for digital humans

reading time: 3, 5 min

From industrial heat to a social glow(-up)

Story

Open data is taking off in aviation – thanks to BlueSky

reading time: 5 min

Supercharged sustainability: designing circular solar panels

reading time: 6 min

Critical raw materials, from our own European backyard
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