Jan Van Herle

Born in Antwerp, Belgium. In Switzerland since 1983. Became Swiss citizen in 2004 out of conviction of principles of democracy and bottom-up participation. No double nationality. Village Council Member for 2 five-year mandates in 2006-2016.

1987 : Chemist from Basel University (CH).

1988 : Post-graduate IT diploma from Basel Engineering School.

1989 : Industry internship ABB Baden (CH).

1990-1993 : PhD Thesis EPFL, on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell cathode reaction mechanisms.

1994-1995 : Japanese Postdoctoral Fellowship in Tsukuba, Japan, on ceramic powders.

1995-2000 : Researcher at EPFL, Dpt. Chemistry : project responsible in PPM2 (materials), FP4-BriteEuram, NEDO (Japan), Swiss Gas Union (CH, oxygen membranes).

1998-2000 : Masters in Energy Technology, EPFL.

2000 : Cofounder of HTceramix SA (EPFL spin-off), now based in Yverdon (14 employees). Taken over by SOLIDpower in 2007, now 250 employees with 70 MCHF raised.

2000 : 1st Assistant and lecturer at LENI (STI-IGM) : fuel cell group responsible, projects on biogas (Federal Energy Office), woodgas (CCEM), fuel cell stacking (CTI, FP6, FNS), ceramic separation membranes (COST, FNS), microtubes (STI Seed), stability/lifetime/reliability in fuel cells (Electricité de France, swisselectric research). Currently 4 Ph D theses ongoing, 14 theses concluded, of which 5 colateral with SB and IMX. M.E.R. since Nov 2008.

Total funding raised so far >18 MCHF (50% as main applicant; 30% outside CH; 20% industry).

Scientific output : >135 peer-reviewed publications, >120 conference papers, 40 invited presentations (8 keynotes), >70 granted proposals.

Fluent in 5 languages (Dutch, French, German ( Swiss-german), English, Spanish).

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ME-459: Thermal power cycles and heat pump systems

This course aims at studying thermal power cycles, heat pumping technologies, and equipment.

ME-460: Renewable energy (for ME)

The students assess and compare all renewable energy resources, their real potentials, limitations and best applications (energy services). Solar thermal, solar electric, wood, bioliquids, biogas, hyd

MSE-441: Electrochemistry for materials technology

This course aims at familiarizing the student with state of the art applications of electrochemistry in materials science and technology as well as material requirements for electrochemical engineerin

Solid oxide fuel cell

A solid oxide fuel cell (or SOFC) is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or ceramic electrolyte. Advantages of this class of fuel cells include high combined heat and power efficiency, long-term stability, fuel flexibility, low emissions, and relatively low cost. The largest disadvantage is the high operating temperature which results in longer start-up times and mechanical and chemical compatibility issues.

Fuel cell

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.

Current density

In electromagnetism, current density is the amount of charge per unit time that flows through a unit area of a chosen cross section. The current density vector is defined as a vector whose magnitude is the electric current per cross-sectional area at a given point in space, its direction being that of the motion of the positive charges at this point. In SI base units, the electric current density is measured in amperes per square metre. Assume that A (SI unit: m2) is a small surface centred at a given point M and orthogonal to the motion of the charges at M.

Fast online diagnosis for solid oxide fuel cells: Optimisation of total harmonic distortion tool for real-system application and reactants starvation identification

Jan Van Herle, Hamza Moussaoui, Gerald Hammerschmid

This study investigates the potential application of total harmonic distortion (THD), as a fast online monitoring tool, to identify the early signs of failure modes in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). I

ELSEVIER2023

Readiness evaluation of SOFC-MGT hybrid systems with carbon capture for distributed combined heat and power

Jan Van Herle, Jürg Alexander Schiffmann, Michele Gaffuri

The aggravation of climate change calls for the timely development and implementation of highly efficient, renewable, zero- or negative-emission energy solutions with high technological readiness and

2023

How Acid Washing Nickel Foam Substrates Improves the Efficiency of the Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Jan Van Herle, Suhas Nuggehalli Sampathkumar, Peter Hugh Middleton

Nickel foam substrates are frequently utilised as porous 3D substrates for renewable energy applications. The preparation of these substrates usually includes an acid-washing step, but the degree to w

MDPI2023