Kiwa has more than doubled the capacity of its testing centre for hydrogen applications in sectors including the automotive sector. The company is in this way expressly anticipating the energy transition, in which hydrogen will play a prominent role.
Automobile manufacturers have been conducting research into the use of hydrogen in passenger cars for decades. One of the challenges they face is how to store hydrogen. It has extremely low density, meaning it must be stored under high pressure. That’s why manufacturers have worked in recent years on developing exceptionally strong tanks made of composite materials in which the gas can be stored.
These tanks and the related parts are subjected in Kiwa’s hydrogen lab in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, to a wide range of tests under extreme conditions. This testing facility is one of a few of its kind in Europe and beyond.
The recent expansion of the testing centre means Kiwa will now be able to test five ‘benches’ (test cells) simultaneously. Kiwa is also investing in a high-capacity hydrogen compressor that can be used to optimally test multiple on-tank values (modules in which multiple components such as pressure regulators, safety devices and shut-off valves have been integrated).
Hydrogen produced using sustainable sources of energy can make a substantial contribution to replacing fossil fuels and consequently to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by cars. This is because cars that run on hydrogen do not produce any hazardous emissions. After all, the only ‘exhaust fumes’ released with the combustion of hydrogen is water.
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