BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Memento EPFL// BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:MechE Seminar: Efficient and clean cogeneration and power-to-fuel applications with reversible solid oxide cell technology DTSTART:20260908T120000 DTEND:20260908T130000 DTSTAMP:20260916T224118Z UID:6a9c994c2748e6e93c24ca940677522a312f4b6754594d60cf89a832 CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars DESCRIPTION:Prof. Jan Van Herle\, Institute of Mechanical Engineering\, S chool of Engineering\, EPFL\nAbstract: Energy demand is increasingly elec trified not only for traditional use (industry\, IT\,..) but also for mobi lity (EV) and heating (heat pumps). The explosive demand due to AI is caus ing a paradigm shift. The demand is partly met by the continuous rise in i nstalled PV\, wind and other renewable power which\, due to intermittency\ , require power storage. Natural gas remains a key energy vector owing to its availability\, distribution network\, use versatility and price.\nReve rsible solid oxide cell technology (rSOC) is uniquely capable within a sin gle installation (1) to convert natural gas to electricity and useful heat \, in fuel cell mode\, and (2) to store electricity\, in electrolysis mode with heat recovery\, back to methane (CH4) re-injected into the gas grid\ , with high round trip efficiency and very low polluting emissions. CO2 is recovered during fuel cell mode (winter) and reconverted to CH4 with the H2 generated during summer electrolysis mode\, by downstream methanation. Such an application is relevant for countries with high hydro/PV power and low wind power shares\, hence Switzerland.\nSOC is not limited to natural gas and can use biogas\, syngas\, H2\, NH3 and liquid fuels. Further\, st orage is not limited to CH4 and can be extended to e.g. mobility hydrocarb on fuels using co-electrolysis of H2O/CO2 and downstream Fischer-Tropsch s ynthesis. Its applications are therefore manifold in the energy landscape. \nDesigning and operating a rSOC\, which at heart is an electrochemical sy stem like a battery and therefore intrinsically modular\, but which additi onally includes complex fluids input/output and heat exchange optimisation \, requires a multi-scale multi-disciplinary approach. The GEM lab covers SOC R&D from nm-resolved materials interfaces and electrode structures up to 100 kW demo-systems\, with a focus on electrochemistry\, catalysis\, co rrosion\, heat integration\, and operational control\, and the aim to achi eve long fuel cell/electrolyser stack lifetime\, which implies the underst anding of the degradation mechanisms at work.\nThe presentation will take a tour through this R&D illustrated with multiple examples\, highlights an d key insights. GEM is also active in related fields (PEM fuel cells\, AEM electrolysers\, bio-electrolysis)\, that will be briefly touched upon.\n\ n\nBiography: Holds a chemistry degree from Basel University (CH) and a P hD from EPFL (Dpt of Chemistry) on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell cathode mechanism s (1993). After a postdoc in Japan (1994-5) on ceramic materials\, he retu rned to EPFL to lead a Materials Programme collaboration project with ETHZ and industry until 2000. In 2000 he cofounded the EPFL spin-off HTceramix and moved to Mechanical Engineering under Prof D Favrat (Industrial Energ y Systems Laboratory - LENI). There he built up the activity on fuel cells as a subgroup of LENI\, which in 2013 became an independent STI-IGM entit y renamed to GEM (Group of Energy Materials). In parallel\, HTceramix team ed up with Italian industry to become SolydEra\, one of the world’s lead ing companies in Solid Oxide stack manufacturing (50 MW/yr). In 2015 he mo ved GEM to a new lab on the EPFL-Valais/Wallis campus\, building up facili ties specialised in fuel cell / electrolyser device diagnostics with 30 te st rigs\, and also engaging in ambitious demonstration installations. GEM is highly active in industrial and European collaboration. The lab raised 42 MCHF through 140 projects and published just over 500 journal and confe rence papers. In 2025 and 2026 2 new start-ups were created out of the lab ’s activities.\n  LOCATION:BM 5202 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BM%205202 https://epfl.zoom.u s/j/61360740951 STATUS:CONFIRMED END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR