Prof. Dr. Ir.
Gabriel Lodewijks

Welcome to
BulkEurope 2008
 

The first international conference in Europe dedicated to Storing, Handling and Transporting of Bulk Solids Material, BulkEurope2006, was held in Barcelona on the 5th and 6th of October, 2006 and turned out to be a great success. The conference aimed at bridging the gap between academia and industry by providing a forum where new ideas, concepts, methods and technologies were shared and exchanged between the academic institutes, the engineering and consultancy companies and the end users of bulk material handling, transporting and storing systems.

This year, on September the 11th and 12th 2008, the second edition of BulkEurope will be organized in Prague, the Czech Republic. Where BulkEurope2006 was dedicated to Innovation, BulkEurope2008 will be dedicated to the environmental impact of systems used for Storing, Handling and Transporting Bulk Solids Material. The focus of the conference will be on technologies, methods and measures used to reduce the generation of dust, spillage and noise.

The enviromental impact

The social interest in the environmental impact of industrial facilities in general has shown a strong increase over the last years. The Rotterdam Port Authorities for example, have launched a Plan for the year 2020, in which it is strived for a cleaner harbor. That means: less noise, cleaner water, better air quality, but also equality in environmental measures and preservation for the ports in Europe. This is not only regarding the better life environment but also to strengthen the competitive position of regions and countries.

I would therefore like to invite project managers, design engineers, developers, contractors, consultants, plant managers, and operators, researchers and students to submit a paper on Storing, Handling and Transporting Bulk Solids Material in general, and on the reduction of the environmental impact of the involved systems in particular. I hope to welcome you all in Prague!

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Ir. Gabriel Lodewijks
Conference chair