Jan is a chemist, but primarily a researcher. He initiated the TORWASH® technology in 2004 to convert wet grass into a fuel with the same quality as clean, dry wood pellets. Over the years, many other raw materials have been investigated: vegetable waste, autumn leaves, sewage sludge, digestate, sugar beet tops, mushroom soil, slaughter waste, manure, straw, aquatic plants, plastic... You name it, he's tried it. Almost always, it involves waste and residual streams that you have to pay to get rid of.

With the lab results in hand, Jan determines what the process should look like. In TORWASH BV, he is now working to scale up and further optimize the technology for sludge. This means understanding what exactly happens in the (scaled-up) reactor, how to solve problems, and how to further improve the process. He is also working on scaling up a process for agricultural waste, such as straw, empty fruit bunches, sugar cane leaves, and so on. Additionally, he is working with his former colleagues to develop new, innovative TORWASH applications for chemical recycling of plastics.

Jan leads the R&D activities within TORWASH BV, co-writes research proposals, and supervises interns and students.

"We'll see which one is ripe for scaling up first, but once we have the demo for sludge up and running, I want the next demo installation on the drawing board."

Pavlina is a chemical engineer, but above all, a project leader. She has led about ten TORWASH projects at TNO from proposal phase to execution and completion. Projects include the construction of the mobile reactor for sludge processing using the TORWASH® process, and the EnCORE project, during which this installation was tested at the wastewater treatment plant in Almere, The Netherlands.

At TORWASH BV, she is the project manager and coordinator of the RHEA project. This involves designing, building, and testing the demonstration plant for sewage sludge treatment. The installation is being built at the Land van Cuijk wastewater treatment plant, part of the Aa and Maas Water Board. She arranges contacts and contracts with all partners and financial sponsors of the project. She also ensures that external expertise and personnel are hired for tasks that we cannot do ourselves. She makes sure the innovation is not only physically implemented at a wastewater treatment plant but also supported by all the people involved.

"My goal is to get all parties to work together as well as possible in the scaling-up process, so that after a series of successful duration tests, we can set steps towards a commercial installation."

Levien is a chemical engineer by training, but primarily a business developer. He manages the finances of the company and the acquisition of new capital. He is commercially responsible and stays in contact with all relevant parties in the supply chain, such as water boards, engineering firms, construction companies, installers, and end-users of the biofuels produced. He discusses with our customers how specific situations require specific solutions. Together with the other team members and partners, he looks for targeted adjustments to the technology. He calculates the economic feasibility together with the customer/end-user.

With his calculations in hand, Levien tells a customer where and how benefits can be achieved by implementing a TORWASH® system. How does it fit into water treatment? What problems does it solve? Is it financially feasible? And sometimes he also has to admit that the plan doesn't make sense.

Levien also maintains contacts with investors. For the large pilot plant for sludge in the Land van Cuijk, the financing is in place, but next year the system will need to be redesigned to create a commercial product to enter the market in 2026. We are already seeking investors. 

"This TORWASH® technology is so beautiful and unknown that I don't want to miss any opportunity to tell everyone about it. I hope my enthusiasm will infect the customer and potential investors."