This week my data analysing seems to be taking shape. The plant is running for more hours every day giving me a bigger list of results on the spreadsheet. By the end of the week my boss and I hope to have the first chemistry report ready to send to HQ in Belfort where fellow Saltire GE Intern Euan is working.

 On Tuesday the guy from Methrom finally came back with the Chromatograph all nice and repaired.  Using this large and not very cheap machine which is connected to a computer, I can analyse the steam inside the plant for things like Chloride, Fluoride, Phosphate etc. This steam will eventually go to the turbine, making it turn and produce electricity. Right now the steam is not of high enough quality to be passed into the turbine (it will corrode if we do) and we therefore make it bypass the turbine until it is clean enough.

This is my office

I spent most of this week putting in long hours at the plant. During my free time I’ve been trying my best to fit in some exercise; going out running, press-ups etc. I’ve also been making good use of my guitar, a few more steps closer to that #1 album I think…

 After work on Thursday I went with Fred and Sam to see Captain America at the cinema. It was pretty good actually, better than I thought it would be and better than Harry Potter anyway. Yes that’s right I said Harry Potter was rubbish, bit of a let down after a ten year build up if you ask me.

 Once again we ended the working week on a high as the power plant achieved its 260 MW base load for the gas turbine. (the minimum amount of energy that must be generated by the plant during its normal operation, set by our customer Essent) So now the plant can power 5.2 million 50 Watt bulbs, in case you were wondering. To celebrate this achievement we went to our wee local; the Irish pub, (as is tradition) followed by a few clubs. I didn’t wake up till 3pm on Saturday afternoon, hence a good night was had.

At around 7.30pm on Saturday I was in the supermarket picking up a few things when I received a call from Samuel inviting me to dinner with him and some of the other guys from work. The reservation was 8pm so I had to run quickly back to the apartment and get ready. It must have been a strange sight, a guy running through the streets with a water melon under his arms. People were looking at me as if I had killed their cat on Christmas day.

Despite having minimal time to beautify myself we all made it to the Belgian restaurant on time. The meal was rather good; mozzarella and tomato salad to start, a tasty pork dish for the main and of course a Belgian waffle for desert and it tasted a sight better than the waffles found in your local Wetherspoons…

With full stomachs we ventured back to Breda city centre to join more of our colleagues at the bar. Tonight’s pub crawl began at our local Irish pub again, then our German comrade Christop took us to a German rave discotheque which was actually unbearably loud (definitely not helping my tinnitus). Still, good atmosphere.

Awesome random DJ dude

As we wandered outside afterwards, pondering where we should go next, my deafened ears somehow picked up the galloping riffage of an Iron Maiden tune coming from a bar down the street. As some of you may know I am quite partial to a little rock music and upon entering the establishment I felt right at home.  The DJ had one awesome playlist everything from Hendrix and The Doors to Limp Bizkit and System of A Down. This DJ is now my best friend. You can’t beat a bit of head banging to them rock anthems. Give me sumthina break.

Due to sheer exhaustion after the week’s events I didn’t get up to much on Sunday though I did give the apartment a good clean seeing as it is now roughly the halfway point of my adventures in Holland.

Chris x