Campus

TU Delft students recognized by Shell

TU Delft Master’s student Hossein Khalilnezhad was chosen as the winner of the prestigious Shell Master Prize 2013 for his thesis relating to the Dutch electrical grid system.

Gerrit Boersma, also of TU Delft, was voted by the public as the winner of the Audience Prize for his Bachelor’s thesis about a more efficient method for recycling copper.


Shell Nederland organizes this annual contest in cooperation with TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, Wageningen University & Research centre, and the University of Twente. The aim of the contest is to recognize the best bachelor’s and master’s thesis in the field of innovation and technology, particularly those that demonstrate new ideas about sustainable technological solutions in relation to energy, water and food.


The final took place on March 11 at the Shell Technology Centre in Amsterdam, where the candidates presented an elevator pitch about their theses. The jury consisted of Gerald Schotman (Chief Technology Officer, Royal Dutch Shell) and the four rectors magnifici Ed Brinksma (Twente), Hans van Duijn (TUE), Martin Kropff (Wageningen UR) and Karel Luyben (TU).


Six finalists participated, including three master’s and three bachelor’s candidates. Aside from the TU Delft winners, the candidates included Martin Bos (MSc – Twente), Laszlo Levij (MSc – TUE), Rolf Postma (BSc – Twente), and Robin Vet (BSc –Twente) who took home the top prize in the bachelor category.


Khalilnezhad, who moved here from Iran in 2011 to start his master’s, focused his research on the effects of high voltage underground cables on the existing Dutch electricity grid. He explained that existing grids need to be continuously upgraded, which is traditionally accomplished by building new overhead lines. “Overhead lines have negative impacts on the environment and society like public opposition, visual impact, property price decrement and possible health risks when people and animals are exposed to their electromagnetic fields,” stated Khalilnezhad.


The best solution, according to Khalilnezhad, is to extend the grids by underground cables. His research tackled the issue of instability and determined the maximum length of underground cables for the Dutch electricity transmission grid without any risk for blackouts. He developed techniques that aim to help system operators to integrate longer underground cables in the future grids and develop sustainable and environmentally friendly power transmission systems. “I am very happy that I won this prestigious prize,” stated Khalilnezhad. “Personally, this gives me further inspiration to continue the research in this field during my PhD. studies.”


Boersma, originally from Friesland, is currently pursuing his master’s in chemical engineering. During his undergraduate research, he investigated the technical feasibility of a more efficient copper recycling method from electronic waste. ”In current processes, sulfuric acid is the commonly used solvent to leach copper from electronic waste,” he explained. “This is highly inefficient due to the fact that it dissolves more iron than copper. The solution, therefore, has to be purified before copper can be produced by electrowinning.” Boersma concluded that the use of ammonia allows for direct electrowinning without any purification. This lowers the overall recycling costs, making a fully closed copper cycle a future reality.

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