My fascination for fluid flow began around three decades ago. I always loved water sports as a child and competed in both sailing and swimming. In order to become a better sportsman, you have to practice, understand, and optimize your interaction with the water, something that has fascinated me ever since.
I studied applied physics at the Technical University in Eindhoven the Netherlands and graduated with a focus on turbulence and vortex dynamics. Following graduation, I went to work for CelSian, a company focused on supporting the glass industry by improving their manufacturing processes. A diverse catalog of fluid flows are present in a glass furnace; from honey like flows of the glass to turbulent combustion. Using our in-house developed software, GTM-X, we support the industry by optimizing their process, from product quality to furnace emissions and furnace lifetime. These are all very important aspects in order to obtain a more sustainable process and environment and represent values that are important to me (and the entire team at CelSian).
I enjoy working at CelSian due to the diversity of my work, the international character of the company, and the way in which I can directly contribute to the company’s growth and our product. In addition, working with Pointwise will help us and our customers improve our meshing capability and user-friendliness for setting up cases.
- Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
- Current position: CFD engineer – consultant
- Current computer: Top of the line HP ZBook
- One word that best describes how you work: Effectual
What software or tools do you use every day?
Our in-house developed GTM-X (CFD package) and EBM (energy balance modelling), FEMGV, Pointwise, ParaView, and the Microsoft Office suite of software.
What does your workspace look like?
We recently moved into our new office. I have a space with many windows and natural light which makes it a very pleasant environment. There are some emptied coffee cups distributed all over my desk, and a pile of project work.
What do you see are the biggest challenges facing CFD in the next 5 years?
I believe the next challenge is further development of CFD models that take into consideration nano-scale processes. For example, enabling macroscopic fluidic modelling to the more fundamental physical and chemical levels behind it. Even today, the increased knowledge and understanding of these processes has led to developments in these areas and is being implemented in general CFD packages. An example from our industry is in addition to the energy and mass flows, the redox state, phase transitions, reaction energy, and bubble growth are now being considered.
What are you currently working on?
Where to start!? Updating our training material for our CFD courses, GTM-X developments and testing, research for CO2 neutral melting, further implementing Pointwise in our workflow, and NOx and throughput optimization projects of glass furnaces.
What would you say is your meshing specialty?
Parameterized multi-block structured meshing.
Any tips for our users?
Start with sketching before meshing. Make a mesh plan.
What project are you most proud of and why?
A multi-client project where we investigated the feasibility and impact of hydrogen-rich combustion for the glass industry. In our project we found that from a heat transfer perspective, hydrogen is a feasible solution and a promising route to glass melting.
What CFD solver and postprocessor do you use most often?
What do you do outside the world of CFD?
Windsurfing, windsurfing, and windsurfing. It’s been my passion for many years now. The challenge of learning new tricks and the constant thrill of speed is very addictive. I also very much enjoy taking walks with my wife and dog through the park.
What is some of the best CFD advice you’ve ever received?
My modelling professor always used to tell us to question why you see what you see.
If you had to pick a place to have dinner, where would you go?
Gusto 040 in my local town, Eindhoven. Always great food and very cozy.
RSS - Posts