News

ITACA… a route for the knowledge of microwaves

As you set out for Itaca Hope the voyage is a long one, Full of adventure, full of discovery. (translated by “Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard”) Why is it important to perform secondments during your PhD? Well, a PhD cannot be considered just a normal job. It is an experience of life that forced you to think on a different ...

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Modular Plants

Batch plants have been the main horsepower of the fine chemical industry, where flexibility is highly appreciated. Continuous manufacturing offers better performance but it is not as flexible when compared to batch manufacturing. Modular plants represent a solution between batch and continuous processes. Modular plants are capable of working continuously and flexible enough to meet the market demand. For instance, ...

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Arduino Device for Temperature Recording: A Cheap and Smart Solution for Our Lab Research! (Part 2)

After building up our device (please see 1st part), we can start writing the code (called “sketch”) for the platform. Firstly, we should download and install the software for Arduino (you can easily find it on-line at https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software?). After installing the software, we can take some confidence with Arduino, for example turning on and of the LED of the Arduino ...

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New EU H2020 MSCA-ETN coming soon: meet CHARMING

SIM² KU Leuven has secured funding for a new EU H2020 MSCA-ETN project focusing on Chemical Engineering Immersive Learning. This unique project will be implemented under the acronym CHARMING. The targeted start date is 1-11-2018.

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Arduino Device for Temperature Recording: A Cheap and Smart Solution for Our Lab Research! (Part 1)

In our daily research, we often have to fight with some practical limits. Of course, I’m not referring to the impossible overpassing of the thermodynamic principles. I’m thinking about elementary hands-on problems. For example, I’ve been working on zeolites since last years. The synthesis of zeolite involves a series of steps were the regulation of the temperature is of great ...

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Sound Creating Light: Sonoluminescence

Collapsing of the rapid and nearly adiabatic small bubble driven by a standing ultrasound heats inside the bubble up and produces enormous energy. This energy is able to initiate the chemical reactions (sonochemistry) and to emit light (sonoluminescence). Spectroscopic measurements reveal that collapsing of a bubble leads to high temperatures (>5000 K) and high pressures (>1000 bar) [1]. Sonoluminescence was ...

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Fabio Cameli designs cover artwork for CrystEngComm

Fabio Cameli recently published his work in the Journal CrystEngComm. In this work he showed that complete solid-state deracemization can be achieved via microwave-assisted temperature cycling. The combined application of rapid cooling and microwave heating could drastically reduce both process time and the impact of side reactions that lower productivity. On top of this publication he also designed the artwork for ...

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Patent: “It Is Not The Right To Do, It Is The Right To Forbid”

In a previous blog, Ana Luisa Maria wrote about the synergy between industry and academia. She mentioned that the dissemination of results in industry is usually done through patents. Indeed, she is right to say that patents prevail over scientific publications, like papers, in the industry. However, the goal of a patent is not the dissemination of results. A patent ...

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Several PhD and post-doc positions in Process Intensification available at KU Leuven

At the Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems (ProcESS) section of the Dept. of Chemical Engineering at KU Leuven, there are several open positions for PhD students and Postdoctoral researchers. 3 PhD positions: ULTRASOUND-ASSISTED REACTIVE EXTRUSION, CRYSTALLISATION AND SOLVENT EXTRACTION https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/54638170 PhD position: 3D PRINTED POROUS REACTORS FOR MULTIPHASE REACTIONS https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/54571868 Post-doc position: SIMULATION OF PARTICLE FORMATION IN MICROFLUIDIC REACTORS https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/54632579 ...

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“Golden age” of Nanomedicine

Nanomedicine represents the field of research that deals with the integration of nanotechnology in medical application. Main topics in nanomedicine are the use of nanomaterials for advanced drug delivery systems, new therapies and imaging. Among the nanoparticles of interest for nanomedical applications, gold nanoparticles are definitely one of the most investigated. The reason behind such great interest is linked to ...

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