News in brief

The title of the show, Weg van Nederland, can be translated into English as either ‘Leave the Netherlands’ or ‘Wild about the Netherlands’, depending on one’s interpretation. The winner will receive 4,000 euros for building a new life in his or her home country, but to win, the winning asylum seeker must first correctly answer questions about Dutch culture and language. The contestants include a Slavic languages student from Chechnya and an aviation technology student from Cameroon, both of whom will soon be deported. A VPRO spokesman said that the show is merely a “way that these people can use their knowledge to earn money before they leave the country.” 

Entrepreneur Mike de Haan thinks he has found the equivalent of Columbus’ egg. The Italian-made Supertech Eco Fuel Saver claims to cut fuel consumption by 5 to 10 percent. But because of the costs involved, the device is not yet certified. De Haan merely has the Korean patent dating from 1998 on which the device is based, and a test report by TNO stating a 14 percent fuel cut in two identical trucks driving under the same conditions.

The explanation of how this device works is a bit wobbly, however. The steel cylinder that should be placed in the fuel tank contains “multiple magnets and a diode causing electromagnetic radiation”. The Fuel Saver charges hydrocarbon atoms, making them repel each other, which results in a finer fogging of the fuel that improves the combustion and the engine’s efficiency.
Professor Dirk Roekaerts, from the Process & Energy department (Applied Sciences), is “intrigued”. A quick scan of recent literature shows a host of articles on fuel charging. The science magazine Combustion and Flame for example published an article on ‘charged droplet combustion’, and the Journal of Computational Physics even has a spectacular photo showing the results of electro charging a fuel spray. Before charging, a jet of kerosene shoots straight ahead. Charged kerosene however diverges as soon as it leaves the nozzle, forming a wide spray of tiny droplets. The idea of fuel charging, then, is certainly not as daft as it might initially seem.

What worries the professor, though, is the claimed efficiency improvement of 5 to 10 percent. “That would mean that in modern engines up to 10 percent of the hydrocarbons would not be burnt. That can’t be.” Modern engines already use a host of high-pressure common rail technologies to minimise fuel droplets to micrometer size. The vaporisation may perhaps be somewhat improved by electro charging, but not by as much as 10 percent, Prof. Roekaerts believes.
And then there is another worry: if you really charge your fuel, an electric current will run through the fuel system. Maintaining that current will cost electric energy, presumably provided by the battery, and, ultimately by the car’s generator and the combustion engine. Do they subtract this electrical energy from the efficiency gain?

Moreover, all experiments in scientific literature perform electro charging just in front of the nozzle, and not meters away in the fuel tank. And if the device is a static charger, it’s hard to think of any use for the magnets that are mentioned.
Intriguing as the device may be, Prof. Roekaerts would not pay a garage around 200 euros to install one in his car. In his opinion, the technology is too incomprehensible and the claimed efficiency gain too high.

Smartboards

A year after installing smartboards in lecture halls at the faculties of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Sciences and 3mE (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering), the smartboards are still not functioning properly. Teachers have been forced to use other boards, although students have not had to attend lectures in tents or at other faculties.

Leermeester Prize

Professor Harrie van den Akker (Applied Sciences) received the 2011 Leermeester Prize from the Delft University Fund. The Leermeester Prize is awarded annually to an educator who has made an outstanding contribution to education and research, and who has been a source of inspiration to those around him/her. Prof. Van den Akker has been Professor of Multi-Scale Physics since 1988, firstly with the (former) Faculty of Applied Physics and later the Faculty of Applied Sciences. His posts include that of Director of Kramers Applied Physics Laboratory and Director of the National Research School for Process Technology (OSPT). The prize consists of a silver medal, a certificate and a cash prize to spend a sabbatical leave abroad intended for making new contacts and giving guest lectures as required. The UfD Leermeester Prize 2011 will be presented on Monday 5 September during a meeting prior to the Opening of the 2011-2012 Academic Year.

Multiculturalism

According to research conducted by the Dutch monthly magazine, J/M voor Ouders, non-immigrant, ethnic Dutch people say that they do want their children to grow up in a multicultural society, but that they would actually prefer their own children to live in a white neighbourhood and go to a non-mixed school. The survey interviewed some 588 Dutch parents. The survey also found that approximately 80 percent of these parents acknowledged the advantages of growing up in a multicultural society, although a further 57 percent of the parents expressed concern about the social position their white children would have in such a mixed-race society.

Dyslexia

Students who suffer from dyslexia can make use of Kurzweil software, with which their study books can be read aloud. This may help to prevent delays in their study progression, because students are able to read the text simultaneously on their computers. TU Delft Library scans their study books and offers students an USB-stick on the premises for using the software. Students can subscribe at Education & Student Affairs or ask their university student counselors about the software program.

Child prodigy

Dutch wonder boy and TV personality, Erik van den Boom, will join the TU lectures at the faculty of Applied Sciences next week. Just as his friends go to school, Erik will attend his university lectures and then bike back home at the end of the day. Erik (now 13 years old) did his secondary school in only three years and wrote his thesis on Bell’s theorem in quantum mechanics, which was awarded as this year’s best paper. Erik has appeared in almost every Dutch newspaper, radio and television outlet. The light-spirited student has embarked on a physics study, but he hopes for a future in music production. Last summer he prepared the launch of his first house EP, called ‘Take It’.