Bremerhaven university lecturer tests environmentally friendly combined heat and power plant

Green hydrogen is considered an important component of the energy transition. It can be used to store energy from solar and wind power for a later point in time and, in the best case scenario, ensure a power supply that is independent of the time of day and the weather. At Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, university lecturer Peter Seedorf now wants to find out whether hydrogen-powered engines are suitable as components of a sustainable energy supply alongside fuel cells. The first trials are due to start at the end of February.

Small but powerful: the motor box, which was custom-made by Ostermeier H2ydrogen Solutions GmbH, takes up less than one cubic metre of space. Nevertheless, it could produce enough energy to supply a detached house. "Basically, the hydrogen engine is a small combined heat and power plant that can generate not only electricity but also heat," says Peter Seedorf, who teaches on the Marine Engineering and Engineering Management programmes at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. As part of his doctorate, he not only wants to investigate whether the engine could replace fossil-fuelled combined heat and power plants, but also compare it with fuel cell technology. The questions: For which areas of application are the technologies particularly suitable? And could fuel cells and hydrogen engines perhaps even be combined? The doctoral project is being supervised by Prof Dr Uwe Werner.

The university produces the hydrogen used to run the engine itself. Since 2021, it has been operating a microgrid test laboratory in a container. Here, the storage density, safety, service life, user-friendliness and maintenance-free nature of local and independent energy grids are analysed. The test results are channelled into various projects. The aim is to use the findings to drive forward the supply of "green electricity" to households and industrial estates. The energy for producing the hydrogen comes from a solar and wind energy plant on the roof of the university building, House C. "The hydrogen is stored in 50 litre cylinders at 200 bar pressure. That's about 0.8kg of hydrogen. This corresponds to the energy content of around three litres of diesel. The engine works according to the petrol principle and drives a generator. The hydrogen is burned and ideally only water vapour is produced as exhaust gas. The products we get are electrical energy and heat," explains Peter Seedorf.

By the end of the year, the university lecturer hopes to carry out the majority of the experiments he needs for his doctoral project. Students can also use the new technology for Bachelor's and Master's theses if required. Later, the motor will form part of the laboratory exercises in the Bachelor's degree programme in Engineering. "Our students should learn how to work with new and pioneering technologies in order to be optimally prepared for their professional life. This also includes renewable energies and green hydrogen," says Peter Seedorf.