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In The Spotlight: Saskia's project on aerosols from a dual fuel engine

Brought back from 2020, in the “In the Spotlight…” blogs fellow second-year EES students are asked to write about their research project. In particular, we’re curious about what they’re working on, how they’re progressing, and which EES courses from the curriculum were most useful for them. Hopefully this will give everyone an idea of what kinds of research can be performed within the masters and how to get to this research topic. In this second edition Saskia Moana Paulson Schlösser, our outstanding Commisioner of Educational Affairs, wrote about her first EES research project at CIO!

What is your background?

I studied Physics here at the RUG taking the “Energy and the Environment” track. During EES I gravitated toward the atmosphere courses like Global Change and Radiocarbon Dating and Analysis, but I enjoyed broadening my knowledge by taking courses such as Nuclear Energy, Citizen Science, and Marketing and Consumer Well-being.

What is the topic of your current project? What sort of work do you do for this project?

I am working in the aerosols group under the supervision of Prof. Uli Dusek (who you may know from DASM). It is also a collaboration with the combustion group, so my daily supervisor is Stijn van Rijn. I am working on analysing the aerosols emitted from a ship engine that has been retrofitted to accept methanol as well as diesel. I went to the HAN in Arnhem on a week-long measurement campaign to collect samples from a ship engine retrofitted by their engineers. We brought multiple measurement devices with us on the campaign, but also brought samples back so I could analyse them once back in Groningen. I also did a small amount of modelling losses in the sample lines we used, and a LOT of data analysis.

Is it your first experience with this type of research?

In my bachelors I completed research in the Radiocarbon group, which is also part of the CIO but this research is very different. I am applying my skills from physics more in this project than I did during my radiocarbon project and I am certainly using the skills taught to me from the EES programme including DASM, Global Change and even SIS. 

How is the project going so far?

I have finally submitted my first draft. The main thing I noticed was I was very much thrown into the deep end by going on the measurement campaign in the third week of my project. I was then given a lot of independence which I really appreciated given that I am also trying to juggle other things in my life (board year + PC, social life, taking care of myself). This meant I could work when and where I wanted as long as I got it done and could present in the monthly research group meetings effectively. 

I finished my experimental work very early, which meant I had a lot of time for data analysis and writing, although maybe it would have been beneficial to spread the experimental work out a little bit so I could have understood more theory at the start. But that’s hindsight for you!

I think it's going good? You don’t really get a lot of feedback as you go if it's going fine. I have loads of results, some of which are interesting and important. Most notably we see a very significant increase in black soot emissions from the engine when you increase the methanol fraction. Now that I've finally presented it at the colloquium, I just need to finish the final thesis. 

How did you get to the topic that you’re investigating?

I approached Uli about doing a project with her and she gave a list of options. This one was not on that initial list, she told me also to reach out to Stijn directly where he explained a few more to me/ I met with Stijn over the summer and just decided that this was my favourite. It stood out to me as being the most practical, but also a little more engineering-y than I am used to which sounded exciting!

How have the EES courses helped you prepare for this research? Did you personally feel like there were any gaps?

The course from my bachelors in “Air Pollution” given by Uli has been the most important so far, that and “Physics of Fluids”. From EES, DASM prepared me well for all the coding in R, and Experimental Methods of Trace Gas Research prepared me for working in the aerosol lab. I did not have any prior experience with engines, and had never even heard of a dual-fuel engine before, but that was part of my research stage and I don't think it necessarily needs to be covered in courses.

Has this research helped shape you towards a particular career path?

I still have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life except to earn enough money to survive and hopefully have fun. Maybe I am slightly more qualified to work with engines now, but I plan on doing something else entirely for my second research project (which I will now start looking for) to ✨✨✨broaden my horizons✨✨✨

A photo of the setup Saskia used in Arnhem.


In The Spotlight: Aidan's project on modelling extreme snowfall events
15Jan

In The Spotlight: Aidan's project on modelling extreme snowfall events

Brought back from 2020, in the “In the Spotlight…” blogs fellow second-year EES students are asked to write about their research...

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