Tom Huiskamp

Ever since he was a little boy, Tom Huiskamp knew that he would become an electrical engineer. At TU/e’s Electrical Energy Systems research group, the infectiously enthusiastic assistant professor develops high-voltage pulsed power technology for energy efficient environmental applications.

‘I have always been fascinated by electronics, robotics and the like,’ Huiskamp starts telling the tale of how he ended up in his current position. ‘During my studies here at TU/e, I was on the road toward working on either electricity grids or power electronics when I first met Guus Pemen during one of his courses. I had missed the first few weeks of the course, and he was so kind to give me private lessons to get me up to speed with the other students. That is when I first learnt about using pulsed power to generate transient plasmas. I got so fascinated by the topic that I ended up doing an internship, a graduation project and later on a PhD project with Guus. And here I am.’

The gifted lecturer he is, Huiskamp succinctly explains in laymen’s terms what his current research is about: ‘Basically, what we do is use the energy provided by a wall socket as energy efficiently and as effectively as possible to drive chemical processes. We develop dedicated systems that are able to transform the 50 Hz, 230 V, sinusoidal electricity signal into very short, high energy pulses. These pulses contain so much energy that they can turn room temperature gas into plasma. A plasma is a highly charged state of matter which enables chemical reactions that normally need high temperatures and high pressures. This way it is possible to make chemistry a lot less energy-consuming.’

Fertilizer fabricated at the farm
The technology can for example be used for local air purification, water cleaning, or the production of fertilizer. The latter is a nice example of how his research relates to EIRES, he says. ‘The production of fertilizer currently is responsible for three percent of the total worldwide energy consumption.’ The Haber-Bosch process used to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia requires high temperatures and high pressures, due to the strength of the nitrogen bonds that have to be broken. ‘By electrifying this process with our technology, we can do this at room temperature, and at much lower energy cost. And instead of having to build dedicated large scale factories, the fertilizer can now be produced locally, for example on the farmyard, driven by renewable energy generated by solar panels on the roof of the farmer’s stable.’

The main reason for Huiskamp to want to work in academia is that it enables him to freely follow his imagination. ‘As an assistant professor, I can follow my own curiosity and develop new research lines in directions I find interesting or promising.’ At the moment, his main goal is to develop high voltage sources with more modern technologies than the traditional, yet relatively crude, spark-gap switches. ‘By using power electronics instead, we will be able to gain much more control over the shape and size of the pulses, tailoring them to the required application. Furthermore, current lab set ups for high voltage power production are way too expensive and not very user-friendly.’

Challenging field
Though this might seem a rather straightforward goal, achieving it is far from easy, Huiskamp explains. ‘We need to go from a sinusoidal voltage with a period of twenty milliseconds to pulses with a duration of nanoseconds, and in that time increase the voltage from 230 V to some 50.000 V or even higher. And we have to switch these pulses on and off extremely fast. The question is not only how to produce those types of pulses, but also how to measure them.’ Another challenge in using these pulses for plasma production is to get them at the right spot. ‘Our plasma reactor consists of a cylindrical structure containing a thin wire over which a voltage is applied. As soon as the pulse reaches the plasma chamber, it sees a high impedance, and simply won’t go in. Huge electrical fields are generated at locations where you do not want them. And currently available power electronics is too slow to switch at the desired rates and the desired voltages.’

Even though there are still many fundamental challenges to be overcome, the technology is already on the market. ‘We collaborate with a company called VitalFluid, which produces and sells systems based on pulsed power plasmas for fertilizer generation in water.’ However, the amount of possible other applications is countless, he says. ‘You could use the plasmas for disinfection, to very locally treat tumors, to control weeds without the need of using pesticides…’ Over the past few months, Huiskamp has witnessed an increasing interest in this technology. ‘If anything, our technology can help save a significant amount of energy for all kinds of chemical processes. And with the current skyrocketing energy prizes, that has become a very desirable attribute.’