A summer job at Risø can kick-start careers for students – Tobias Thomsen is living proof of this. During his Bachelor in Engineering studies, he had a summer job at Risø DTU, and then chose what he had been working on as the subject of his exam project. Since his exam, he has held a technical-administrative job in the department, and is now hoping to be enrolled on the MSc programme in Sustainable Energy.
Making the move from being a student to the labour market is not always that easy, but a summer job at Risø DTU is in some cases all it takes to open the right doors.
While studying for a BSc in Engineering degree, Tobias Thomsen came across a summer job in the Biosystems Division at Risø DTU which involved participating in a project aimed at removing CO2 from the atmosphere using biochar.
“It sounded almost too good to be true, so I simply had to find out more. Also, I think it is incredibly important to be able to include practical work on your CV,” says Tobias.
Stream of CO2 measurements
From June to September 2009, he therefore ended up doing hundreds of CO2 measurements on soil samples. The measurements were so-called CO2 emissions from soil samples containing biochar produced by the pyrolysis of straw at different temperatures. The aim was to see what impact the pyrolysis temperature had on the stability of the biochar in the soil.
“Ideally you would conduct such studies over very many years to ensure that levels remain stable. We conducted the measurements over 100 days, but were able to plot some wonderfully stable curves, which confirmed that higher process temperatures produce charcoal which is less biodegradable,” explains Tobias.
The figure illustrates the general calculation structure which was developed during the exam project for calculating energy and carbon balances in energy production through the pyrolysis of Danish straw. The combined calculation is based on three parts: process simulations, a desktop study and correlations developed from experimental data.
Paradise for students
Some of the practical work which Tobias did as part of his summer job could subsequently be used for his exam project on the BSc in Engineering programme. The project looked at carbon and energy balances in modelled energy scenarios, with biochar from the pyrolysis of Danish straw being a key factor.
“It really has been very exciting to get a foot inside the door at Risø. Seeing the research taking place here at such close quarters. There are not that many students on the site, but I see that as a big plus as I’ve really had a lot of resources at my disposal. You can ask anyone for assistance, and people either have the time or go out of their way to help. Moreover, I really feel very involved – for example I attend all the joint meetings,” says Tobias, who hopes that he can ereby continue his affiliation with Risø.
So far, this at least is in place as Tobias has been employed as the technical-administrative staff member at the department; more specifically he will be assisting the Thermal Gasification of Biomass programme where he will help with everything from assessing the biomass potential in Denmark to more practical work involving measurements and taking samples in the production hall.
And this autumn he hopes to be able to go on to do an MSc in Sustainable Energy which is offered by Risø in collaboration with a number of departments at DTU Lyngby.
Tobias photographed publicly defending his exam project. Senior Scientist Jesper Ahrenfeldt, who was supervisor on the technical aspects of biochar production, can be seen seated on the far left and to his right is Torben Kvist Jensen who is head of project at Danish Gas
Technology Centre. Senior Scientist Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen and PhD student Esben Bruun acted as supervisors on the biological part. |