Koen Berns, 4th-year student at HAN Mechanical Engineering, graduated with research on the material properties and lifetime of the plastic frame in the electrolyser. He did this at XINTC Global based on literature research. Koen created a digital simulation of the improved frame.

Koen (pictured left): “For my graduation project, I investigated a special type of plastic from which the frame in the electrolyser is made. In doing so, I paid particular attention to frame deflection and service life. I did this with a thermal-mechanisation simulation of the design, which incorporates the material properties. This allows you to test the frame digitally and find the optimal shape.” Koen’s analysis shows that the frame can last up to at least 15 years.

Thermal and mechanical properties

“Testing the plastic frame of the electrolyser is all about the balance between the thermal and mechanical properties,” says Nikola Pozderovic (left in the picture), researcher at HAN’s Balanced Energy Systems Lectureship. He is supervising Koen. “These are very thin frames, we are talking about millimetres, for which Koen has calculated the performance stability.”

Source: Tech Gelderland
Photography: Gerard Burgers