SP A1.16
Dr. Pieter Levecque, Head of Materials Technology, Battolyser Systems
One of the main challenges of the energy transition is how to deal with the intermittency of our renewable electricity supply and ensuring that we can store, convert and transport this renewable energy in a very efficient manner. This requires storage and conversion technology that is fully flexible in its operation. The Battolyser® is such a technology.
In the early 1900s Thomas Edison developed the iron nickel battery. During charging, elemental iron (Fe) and nickel oxy hydroxide (NiOOH) are formed in the electrodes. These materials are excellent catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction respectively. As charging progresses, the potential also goes up. As a consequence of the combination of excellent catalysts and a potential which is high enough, this battery also produced H2 through electrolysis when charged long enough. At the time of its invention this was seen as problematic, however in a zero emission world this has huge potential as integrated technology.
This kick started the Battolyser® journey. At first with experiments in the TU Delft labs and later (after being spun out of the university) the steps take the technology from labscale to pilot, prototype and manufacturing. As this is new technology, each step required us to not only come up with technological innovations but also to build teams, structures, processes and a company around it. In my talk I will take you through the unique bits of what a Battolyser® is but also discuss how we have grown as a company and share some insights as to what it takes to bring a big piece of equipment from paper to reality.
Pieter Levecque completed his MSc and PhD in Bio-engineering (catalytic technology) at the KU Leuven (Belgium). Part of these studies included an exchange to the University of Cape Town and Pieter joined the University of Cape Town (South Africa). First as a postdoctoral fellow and in 2010 as a researcher in Chemical Engineering. In this latter role he was instrumental in setting up the laboratory and research group in PEM fuel cells and electrolysers under the Hydrogen South Africa programme (HySA/Catalysis). Between 2010 and 2021 he led the electrocatalyst and electrodes group whilst moving through the academic ranks to Associate Professor. After a short stint in the ELCAT group at the University of Antwerp, he joined Battolyser Systems as a Research Manager in August 2022. At Battlolyser Systems he started with a team of 4 which grew to close to 30 by October 2023 when he was promoted to Head of Research in a role consolidating all activities involving testing, validation, materials research, multiphysics modelling, stack internals and electrode development. After successfully reconfiguring this team in smaller teams he is currently Head of Materials Technology with a focus on more fundamental materials and electrode research.