Every year, the course includes several guest lectures by speakers from the chemical industry. This year, they were Dr Erik-Jan Ras from Avantium, Dr Paige Shirvanian from Bekaert, Dr Chelsea Tucker and Dr Marianna Gambino from Dow, and last but not least Dr Raimond Bonné from EuroSupport. The latter has provided a guest masterclass on industrial catalyst preparation every year for the past ten years. When after his lecture Gadi and Raimond asked ‘Who would like to visit the factory?’,  naturally everybody raised their hand.

Production and R&D of inorganic materials

With a little logistics and planning, plus much-appreciated support from the RPA Sustainable Chemistry, the trip was organised on 25 April. Twelve of us met at the Van der Valk Hotel in Utrecht, where we had a nice lunch. Since public transportation was not really an option, we then drove by car to the EuroSupport production site in Uden. We were kindly welcomed in Uden with special EuroSupport Tompouces, a short introduction and a safety briefing. We then received safety shoes, glasses and a lab coat, and were ready for a tour through the facility!

EuroSupport specializes in both production and R&D of inorganic materials, many of which are used as heterogeneous catalysts. This privately-owned company employs about 400 people. It has its headquarters in Amersfoort, and two production locations, one in Uden in the Netherlands, and another in Litvínov in the Czech Republic. Raimond explained to us that only ten years ago, the Uden site was a completely abandoned factory site. It was amazing to see how the empty buildings and lots have been transformed into a state-of-the-art inorganic materials production site in such a short time. Just two years ago, EuroSupport extended their production with a separate facility, producing up to 3,000 tonnes of solid catalyst per year!

Since the site was previously used for the semiconductor industry, small production rooms were used as these are easier to keep dust-free. This architectural lay-out is a benefit to EuroSupport. The company produces inorganic materials according to customers’ recipes, and different equipment is used in each synthesis. After a completed production run, the rooms are thoroughly cleaned, and a new line of equipment can be installed for the next process. The on-site R&D labs are equipped for scaling up processes, as this is the most important R&D service that EuroSupport offers.

Discussing interesting topics

After completing the tour, we were welcomed with an ‘uitgebreid bittergarnituur’, and some drinks. We had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss various topics with the R&D and production staff. A notable subject was the requirement for the plant to become more sustainable and self-sufficient.

For example, waste-water management is becoming increasingly important as water supply becomes more difficult due to environmental changes and restrictive policies in the area. This necessitates the urge to purify wastewater, which EuroSupport started on its own initiative. Another issue was the lack of network capacity to expand the electricity consumption, which is currently a common problem in the Netherlands.

At the end of the visit we received a gift from EuroSupport, thanked them, and went off to Veenendaal where we ended the day with a delicious Chinese dinner. For us as master students, this was a really interesting and fun but also very useful visit. It showed us the reality of working in the catalysts and materials production industry, and gave us the chance to interact with the employees. If you ever get the chance to visit industrial locations, don’t hesitate to do so – you will learn a lot and hopefully have a great time.

Vincent de Vries.