Developments in the world of hydrogen are ongoing and follow one another in rapid succession. As an expert in the field of hydrogen, Kiwa is a leader in this trend, particularly when it comes to testing and certifying products that are suitable for hydrogen applications. Therefore, they’ve started building a unique hydrogen test setup in the hydrogen lab at their location in Apeldoorn. This setup should be operational from September and components for the hydrogen distribution network can then be tested at full scale.
Kiwa’s new hydrogen test setup is a State-of-the-art playground and unique for two reasons. On the one hand, Kiwa now has the latest technical gadgets related to hydrogen, so that the company’s experts can conduct tests needed for certification purposes. And, on the other hand, Kiwa can now also gives clients the chance to ‘play’ with their products. They’ve noticed that clients don’t always have the proper facilities at their disposal, to get the most out of their hydrogen product. With the new test setup, their experts can examine hydrogen’s effect on a product. This will be possible in the new hydrogen laboratory. The setup will be used to test hydrogen and hydrogen gas mixtures; things like regulators, safety valves and gas stoppers, etc.
Pilot
In a temporary test setup, a pilot project has been carried out over the past few months, to test the behaviour of gas stoppers according to inspection requirement 214. Here, they examined at what pressure the gas stopper closes and what happens when the pressure slowly or suddenly increases to a specific value. Will the stopper still close correctly? They also performed tests on the leakproof capacity, by opening and closing the gas stopper one hundred times. All tests were performed with 100% hydrogen and a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas.
Kiwa and the client in question were both impressed with the results of the pilot. The client stated that they’d like to return for further testing. That will be possible from September 2020. In the new hydrogen test setup, Kiwa experts can test hydrogen products in terms of their leakproof capacity, pressure loss, long-term properties (for example, by opening and closing a valve ten thousand times) and to determine the shut-off pressure.
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