Bergwerff, L.

Profile

I like biology, numbers and learning something new. Prior to my PhD I studied Life Science & Technology (Biotechnology) at the universities of Delft and Leiden. Working for this BioGeoCivil project has given me the opportunity to learn about Geo sciences, while the project is still related to my main interests

Expertise

My expertise is numerical modeling. Numerical modeling is not just code and numbers, to be able to make good models you need to understand your system. Therefore a good modeler does not only need numerics and mathematics, but also intuition and a sufficient understanding of all the disciplines related to your system.

Research

My research topic is Biogrout. Biogrout is a soil improvement process which utilizes microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). For this process substrates are added to a sandy soil where indigenous micro-organisms convert the substrate to products among which, carbonate. Together with calcium ions the carbonate then precipitates to salt crystals. Because of the presence of salt crystals the sand grains can move less easily, making the ground more sturdy. This process can be applied for example for borehole stabilization, liquefaction prevention, levee fortification and mitigation of beach erosion.

The research on Biogrout, called Biofix, is a multi-disciplinary project combining, Geo sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Numerics. It is a collaboration between multiple PhD students. In this larger project I try to understand what happens on pore scale during the process. Many different phases with varying behavior and interactions occur at the pore scale.

Luke Bergwerff

PhD Student

  • L.Bergwerff@tudelft.nl
  • Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

    Building 23

    Stevinweg 1 / PO-box 5048

    2628 CN Delft / 2600 GA Delft