Giliam G.W. van der Wielen

Giliam van der Wielen is a doctoral candidate in the Power and Flow group at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), supervised by full professor Niels Deen, assistant professor Conrad Hessels, and associate professor Nico Dam.

His research focuses on developing experimental methods to simultaneously measure particle and gas temperatures during the combustion of micron-sized iron particles in hot air. A key part of this effort is the development of a laser-based filtered Rayleigh scattering setup, which shows great promise in measuring the gas temperature close to the iron particles.

This work contributes to advancing iron powder as a carbon-free cyclical energy carrier. When combusted, iron releases heat by forming iron oxides, which can be regenerated using hydrogen, enabling a sustainable energy cycle. His research addresses the challenges involved in the combustion processes of metal fuels.

Giliam earned his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in 2025. He completed an internship at FPT Motorenforschung AG, Switzerland, where he contributed to numerical models and an experimental setup for improving cyclone-based water separator designs in fuel cells. His master’s thesis, “Characterisation and visualisation of auto-igniting hydrogen injections into nitrogen and argon ambients,” employed optical diagnostics, including high-speed Schlieren imaging and OH* chemiluminescence, to study hydrogen direct injection and combustion in a constant-volume chamber. He continues specialising in more advanced optical diagnostics as a doctoral candidate at TU/e.