Afbeelding
Marieke Zeinstra studied Chemical Engineering at Higher Vocational Level (HBO) and then went on to work in business. She has been employed at the NHL Stenden since 2009. Through former NHL lector Wierd Koops she became involved in research into oil and chemical spill response at sea. She worked on a wide range of projects of the professorship, and this year she will be receiving her doctoral degree through her research into the dispersion of oil in seawater.
“The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico led directly to me carrying out the dispersion research. At the time a large amount of dispersion agents was being thrown onto the spill, and I was curious as to its effect. There was no unequivocal answer then. And so my doctoral research came about: the dispersion of oil in seawater. And to help us in this, we were fortunate enough to be one of the few institutes outside the US to receive a research subsidy from BP in response to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico!”
"When oil floats on water, the waves break up the oil slick, forcing the oil downwards. The oil drops end up in the water column, but after a while they eventually float back up a little further along. This results in the oil slick thinning out very slowly. In my doctoral research I investigated how an oil slick disappears through the action of the seawater, and the effect of dispersion agents on this. In the Water Application Centre, I carried out small-scale simulations of the situation under various conditions. The results and knowledge gained from this can now be used should another oil disaster occur.”