For 1.5 years, VIRO’s Roy van Gemert has been seconded to Nedstack in Arnhem. How does secondment work and what does Roy’s role involve? Roy is here to tell us more!
Nedstack is a leading player in the PEM fuel cell industry, with a strategic focus on mission-critical, high-power fuel cell applications. They are supporting the growth of the hydrogen economy by developing, creating, verifying, applying, and servicing PEM fuel cell solutions.
Hydrogen power?
‘I’ve been seconded as a test engineer to Nedstack, and my job involves working with fuel cells (aggregates) that use hydrogen to generate electricity. These generators guarantee a constant supply of around 600 kWe and are used for various purposes, including as backup power systems. Systems delivering this level of power are about the size of a shipping container. There are also 20 KWe systems on the market that are a lot smaller and which are often used at festivals and on construction sites. However, due to regulations aimed at controlling nitrogen and CO2 emissions, normal generators are banned in certain situations. So, this machine would be a perfect solution. Another major part of Nedstack’s work focuses on the use of fuel cells in the shipping industry.
These machines have hydrogen and oxygen added to them, and the hydrogen reacts with the oxygen to form pure water. The primary aim of this process is to generate power. The amounts of hydrogen and oxygen are very exact: if there’s too little hydrogen, for example, this will damage the cells in the stack.’
What is your role as test engineer?
‘I test a lot of different things that are important for this machine and for the safety of the people working with it. For example, we want to know whether the machine closes properly when you press the emergency stop, so that safety is guaranteed at all times. We also measure the temperature of the cooling water going into and coming out of the machine. It’s also important to measure the amount of air as well as its humidity, as it’s a chemical process and the conditions for this are quite precise.
I use all the data from the tests to write up documentation and produce reports with test results. We also depict the results visually in a graph.’
How is it a sustainable machine?
‘The byproduct of using hydrogen to generate energy is water, and the process doesn’t produce any harmful emissions. What makes this machine sustainable is where the hydrogen comes from. What happens more and more these days is that surplus wind and solar energy is used to generate this hydrogen through electrolysis. If this is the case, you instantly have a sustainable solution that emits zero CO2. Another application is for a customer whose process creates the byproduct hydrogen, which used to be released into the air via an exhaust. This byproduct – hydrogen – is now used to generate power on the spot, which can be fed back into the grid and doesn’t end up in the atmosphere,’ explained Roy.
What is the benefit of being seconded?
‘I love being seconded!’ said Roy. ‘Working with so many different types of companies, people, and machines teaches me a lot. I have plenty of variety in my work and get to learn a great deal on the job. I’m constantly gaining new experiences.’
Photo: Nedstack, test engineers Wouter Balk and Roy van Gemert (photo by Gerard Burgers)
