Research at ETCA

Title: ETCA – Virtual tour
Duration: 6:32 minutes
Description:
Video gives a virtual tour of the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam (ETCA).
Video showcases the various facilities the ETCA houses, along with the different crafts that are exercised there. Furthermore, the video gives a brief overview of the history of the ETCA and highlights some of the developments and innovations that originated at the ETCA.

ETCA – Virtual tour

[Video footage]
A sequence of clips is shown, including a hydrogen car, a glass bottle filling up with a clear liquid and a variety of household products. Then a series of Shell employees, wearing lab coats, are shown working in various labs and installations.
[Voice-over plays]
“From hydrogen to batteries, from cleaner fuels to sustainable raw materials for everyday products.
Here, Shell innovates for industry and consumers, in collaboration with enterprises, universities and knowledge-based institutions.”

[Background music plays]
Soft calm background music starts playing. From here on out, background music can be heard throughout the entire video.
[Video footage]
The camera tilts down to reveal the outside of the ETCA building. Then, the camera moves through the sliding glass doors, into the lobby of the building. A close up shows two hands holding a 3D printed Shell logo. Then, an overview of the lobby is given, which transitions to an overview of a hallway in-between laboratories.
[Voice-over plays]
“Welcome to Shell in Amsterdam, or the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam.
Here, good ideas, technology and an abundance of experience converge to create energy solutions for now and for the future.”

[Animated sequence]
An animation shows a timeline with various historic photos of how the ETCA came to be.
[Voice-over plays]
“This is how it started: in 1914, with one Shell laboratory in Amsterdam-Noord and a staff of nine.
Soon there were hundreds of employees, spread across 27 hectares and 45 buildings.”

[Text displays]
1000 employees with over 50 nationalities
13 soccer fields
[Video footage]
A scale model of the ETCA building is shown, followed by footage of the outside of the real building. Then the lobby of the building is shown.
[Voice-over plays]
“Just look at it now: a remarkable building, covering an area the size of 13 football fields, packed with laboratories, workshops, testing halls and offices.”

[Text displays]
596 solar panels
[Video footage]
Solar panels on the roof of the building are shown.
[Voice-over plays]
“The building is powered by energy from the solar panels on its roof and from Dutch wind farms out at sea.”

[Video footage]
A Shell employee is seen opening a hatch outside on the ground. The hatch reveals a pit with a series of pipes in it.
[Voice-over plays]
“Underground heat and cold storage, combined with heat pumps, regulate the temperature inside the building.
All this significantly lowers the building’s CO2 footprint.”

[Background music plays]
Background music changes to a more up-beat tune.
[Text displays]
-Mechanical engineering
-Conventional techniques
-Glassblowers
-3D-printing
[Video footage]
Various Shell employees are shown whilst working on/with various manufacturing apparatuses and techniques. One employee is working with a lathe, one is working in glassblowing and another is inspecting some 3D printed objects.
[Voice-over plays]
“Most of the 1300 testing installations and pilot plants are designed, constructed and maintained in-house. That makes our research centre unique.
Mechanical engineers use old resources and technologies, such as a lathe from 1948 and traditional glass blowing, but also brand-new technologies including state-of-the-art 3D printers for plastics and metals.”

[Video footage]
A 3D printer can be seen at work, moving a bright spot of light across a layer of a grey powder. Then, a metal part can be seen emerging from the powder. A few 3D-printed metal parts are shown, along with plastic face mask accessories.
[Voice-over plays]
“The first 3D printer arrived in 2012.
This enabled our researchers to make prototypes more quickly, using less material than before.
They can now manufacture even the most complicated plastic and metal objects.
The 3D printers not only make components for pilot plants, but during the Covid-19 pandemic they were even used to print medical accessories for face masks.”

[Text displays]
Gas-to-Liquids (GTL)
[Video footage]
A computer screen shows a 3D-model of a part for a machine, followed by a physical version of that part on a rotating platform next to the computer. Then, a scale model of a large refinery is shown.
[Voice-over plays]
“And, of course, they can produce metal parts for real factories.
Such as an important component in the world’s largest gas-to-liquids, or GTL, plant in Qatar.”

[Video footage]
A glass bottle inside a machine is shown. A spout above the bottle drips a clear liquid into the bottle. A Shell employee, wearing a lab-coat, inspects the inside of the machine and the contents of the bottle using a flashlight. Then, a plastic toothbrush and laundry detergent are shown. A glass bottle is placed on a table. The label on the bottle reads “XTL Base oil XHVI-8”
[Voice-over plays]
“GTL means we make liquid products, such as fuels and lubricants, from natural gas.
But also raw materials for products like detergents, cosmetics and lubricants.”

[Text displays]
Catalyst Kitchen
[Video footage]
A Shell employee can be seen exiting a laboratory, holding the door open for the camera to enter. Then, another Shell employee can be seen operating an industrial apparatus that consists of multiple pipes and valves. Both employees are wearing lab-coats. Finally, a Shell employee, wearing a lab-coat and a facemask is shown putting a wite powder substance into a machine. The machine then proceeds to agitate the powder.
[Voice-over plays]
“GTL fuel is cleaner-burning than oil-based diesel or kerosine resulting in lower emissions and no black smoke. Converting gas into liquid products is a complex chemical process.
Since the 1970s, Shell researchers have been optimizing the GTL process here in the Amsterdam lab.
Essential to this endeavour is the so-called “catalyst kitchen.””

[Video footage]
The Shell employee from the previous scene can be seen putting a lumpy powder into a machine. A solid white substance is shown extruding from an opening at the end of a metal pipe. The employee picks up the white substance and puts it in an oven. Then, the employee can be seen adding a blue liquid to a bottle containing some of the white substance.
[Voice-over plays]
“Almost every technology that Shell develops in Amsterdam, includes a chemical reaction. Catalysts speed up chemical reactions.
Initially, catalysis research focused on converting fossil raw materials into products like fuels and lubricants, but now catalysis is becoming an integral part of the energy transition.
For example, catalysts enable the production of more hydrogen, using the same amount of energy.”

[Video footage]
A Shell employee can be seen exiting a hydrogen powered car. Then, an electric car charger and a series of electric cars outside the ETCA building are shown.
[Voice-over plays]
“Hydrogen and electricity are going to play an increasingly important role in society, but we cannot manage entirely without fossil fuels, yet.
That’s why Shell is researching how to use fossil resources as responsibly as possible, until we are able to substitute them with renewables.”

[Text displays]
Rocks & Fluids lab
[Video footage]
The camera moves through a laboratory, where a Shell employee is sitting behind a computer screen. The employee can be seen getting up from their desk and then placing a sample inside a large industrial apparatus. Another Shell employee operates another industrial apparatus in the lab. Then, two rock samples are shown standing on a table. A Shell employee secures a rock sample inside of an industrial apparatus. All employees are wearing lab-coats.
[Voice-over plays]
“That’s why Shell is researching how to use fossil resources as responsibly as possible, until we are able to substitute them with renewables.”

[Text displays]
Hydrogen

-Industry
-Homes
-Mobility

Electrolyzer
[Video footage]
Two Shell employees can be seen opening a metal shipping container on an outside lot. Inside the container, there is an apparatus consisting of many small pipes and large metal chambers. Then the solar panels on the roof of the ETCA building are shown.
[Voice-over plays]
“Hydrogen can play a major part in the energy transition in a variety of ways.
It can be used in industry, in homes, in offices and for mobility.
Shell produces green hydrogen in so-called electrolyzers.
This device splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using green electricity, generated by rooftop solar panels.”

[Video footage]
A hydrogen car outside the ETCA building is shown, next to a hydrogen pump. A sign saying “charging hydrogen vehicles” is shown. A Shell employee disconnects the car from the pump station and gets into the car.
[Voice-over plays]
“Some of the green hydrogen is transferred to our hydrogen pump.
This pump is the final link in an entire hydrogen chain, from energy generated by our solar panels to water vapour emitted by hydrogen cars.
Shell employees have a pool of hydrogen cars at their disposal for business travel.”

[Text displays]
A first: sustainable synthetic kerosine.
[Video footage]
A series of pipes is shown. The pipes lead to a tall building. Then, a Shell employee, wearing a lab coat, is shown opening a white drum, containing a white powdery substance. Two glass bottles inside of a machine slowly fill with a clear liquid. Then, a KLM passenger plane is shown refuelling. The back of the fuel truck says “Synthetic kerosine. The future?”
[Voice-over plays]
“Another part of our hydrogen goes to a large pilot plant for research into how the GTL process can contribute to the energy transition.
In early 2021, Shell researchers used the GTL process as a fundament in producing the first 500 litres of aviation kerosine based on CO2, water and renewable energy. A KLM passenger plane flew on a mixture with this fuel. A first for the world.”

[Text displays]
Digital technologies
[Video footage]
A Shell employee can be seen looking at some computer screens. The screens show various graphs and diagrams. Then, the camera moves through a door that says “Digital Facility”. A Shell employee can be seen working on a drone. Then, a Shell employee is shown wearing a virtual reality headset.
[Voice-over plays]
“Shell uses more and more digital technologies. For instance, there is a digital representation of the electrolyser, which simulates the actual installation. Researchers are able to watch this live and implement improvements faster. Digital technologies can play a major part in the energy transition in other ways too. ”

[Video footage]
Two Shell employees, wearing lab coats, are seen standing between pipes in an industrial facility. Two other Shell employees can be seen looking at computer screens showing various diagrams.
[Voice-over plays]
“For example, drones or robots can safely inspect a factory. And using artificial intelligence makes it possible to discover and prevent possible malfunctions at a factory. Both methods avoid the need to shut down plants. It is safer, it saves money and the more stable a plant operates, the less energy it uses.”

[Video footage]
The lobby of the ETCA building is shown, followed by a series of portrait shots of Shell employees. Finally, a 3D printed shell logo is placed on a table.
[Voice-over plays]
“We hope this virtual tour has given you a glimpse into Shell’s research activities.
Our innovations are not always immediately visible to the public.
But they all help to fulfil our energy needs today and tomorrow.”

[Animated sequence]
The Shell logo appears against a white background.
[Background music plays]
Shell jingle (mnemonic) is played as the Shell logo appears.