Industries

Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems

Battery Innovation and Technology Center Inaugurated

With a funding of 13.5 million euros from the Free State of Thuringia a new Battery Innovation and Technology Center (BITC) was opened this summer in Arnstadt, Germany. The opening marks an important step in the expansion and networking of activities in the field of battery and energy storage technology in Thuringia. As a new site of the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, the BITC is linked to one of the largest battery research institutes in Germany and has access to strong ties to the economy. Over the next five years, the state of Thuringia is supporting the development of the center into a European flagship for energy-efficient and resource-saving battery production. The State Development Corporation of Thuringia (LEG) has acquired the building complex with approximately 5000 m² of office and technical space for use by Fraunhofer IKTS.

© Fraunhofer IKTS

Green light for batteries: Thuringia's Minister of Economics Wolfgang Tiefensee (right) opens the Battery Innovation and Technology Center in Arnstadt in the presence of Fraunhofer President Prof. Reimund Neugebauer (left) and Fraunhofer IKTS Institute Director Prof. Alexander Michaelis (in the back). The Fraunhofer IKTS site researches new energy storage technologies.

Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR)

New Solar Cells for Space

Almost all satellites are powered by solar cells - but solar cells are heavy. While conventional high-performance cells reach up to three watts of electricity per gram, perovskite and organic hybrid cells could provide up to ten times that amount. A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has now tested this type of cell in space for the first time. Perovskite and organic solar cells are promising options for future generations of solar cells. Over recent years, their efficiency has rapidly caught up with that of conventional silicon-based cells. "The best perovskite solar cells currently achieve efficiency levels of 25 %," says Peter Müller-Buschbaum, Professor of Functional Materials at the TUM Department of Physics. "These thin solar cells, less than one µm thick, applied to ultra-thin, flexible synthetic sheet, are extremely lightweight. They can therefore produce nearly 30 W/g." This is only possible thanks to a decisive advantage of the new solar cells: Production of silicon solar cells requires very high temperatures and elaborate processes. Perovskite cells and organic semiconductors, on the other hand, can be manufactured at room temperature from solution. "These organic solutions are very easy to process," explains the lead author Lennart Reb. "Thus the technologies open up new fields of application in which conventional solar cells were simply too unwieldy or too heavy - and that also applies far beyond the aerospace sector."

© Wei Chen / TUM

Prof. Dr. Peter Mueller-Buschbaum (right) and Lennart Reb (left) in the laboratories of the Professorship of Functional Materials at the Technical University of Munich with the payload module "Organic and Hybrid Solar Cells In Space" (OHSCIS)

Two different types of organic and perovskite solar cells were tested in space for the first time on a research flight as part of the Mapheus 8 program at the European Space and Sounding Rocket Range in Kiruna, Sweden. The rocket reached a height of nearly 240 km. "Electrical measurements during the flight and the evaluation after recovery of the rocket showed that perovskite and organic solar cells can achieve their potential in terms of expected performance," reports Professor Müller-Buschbaum. Due to their much thinner thickness, the new solar cells could also be used in much dimmer light, on missions to the outer solar system

Steuler

State-of-the-art Tunnel Kiln Goes into Operation

As of August 18^th 2020, a new tunnel kiln has been in operation at the Steuler company in Höhr-Grenzhausen, which will create new jobs and increase the production capacity by approximately 8,000 tons per year. This means that the Steuler production sites in Höhr-Grenzhausen and Breitscheid now have furnace capacities of a total of 60,000 tonnes per year for the production of refractory and acid-resistant special bricks. It would have been a celebration of the kind that occurs only once every decade at Steuler. In keeping with the special occasion, representatives from politics, business, the press, science and relevant industries would have come together and joined in the festivities. The first-time ignition of a tunnel kiln is a rare and quite exceptional moment for a ceramic production facility. After all, such a high-performance kiln only goes into operation once and then, ideally, runs uninterrupted for decades.

But in times of corona, however, the ceremonial ignition of the 96-meter-long furnace was somewhat different. With about 80 responsible representatives from all divisions of the Steuler Group, it was a rather small gathering that was allowed to attend this special event under strict hygiene rules, thus heralding a new era of firing technology at Steuler. The new furnace saves up to 500,000 € in gas costs per year - while at the same time increasing performance. Thanks to intelligent heat recovery, the waste heat from the kiln, which burns at 1,350 °C, is used for drying, heating the production halls and for hot water preparation.

© Jennifer Wolf

Empty kiln cars are being driven into the new tunnel kiln during the heat-up phase.

The immense investment in the last 17 months was accompanied by extensive underground construction work along the decommissioned railroad tracks and cost-intensive adaptation of the infrastructure to operate the furnace: preparation, presses, storage areas and packaging lines in Höhr-Grenzhausen had to be modernized and enlarged in order to keep up with the greater capacity of the new furnace. The professional installation and commissioning of the new kiln was the responsibility of the fitters from the kiln manufacturer Grün S.R.O. from Karlsbad (Czech Republic).

Meeting Diary 2020 - 2021

November - November

Formnext Connect

November 10-13, 2020

Virtual exhibition

formnext.mesago.com

Hannover Messe

Hanover, April 12-16, 2021

Messe Hannover, Germany/ Hybrid event

www.hannovermesse.de

Ceramics 2021

Jülich, April 18-21, 2021

Digital event

www.2021.dkg.de

Ceramics Expo 2021

Cleveland, US, May 3-5, 2021

International Exposition Center (I-X Center), Cleveland, Ohio, US

www.ceramicsexpousa.com

ceramitec 2021

Munich, May 17-20, 2021

Messe München, Germany

www.ceramitec.com/en

glasstec

Düsseldorf, Germany, June 15-18, 2021

Messe Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

www.glasstec-online.com

Ceramics UK 2021

Stoneleigh, UK, July 7-8, 2021

NAEC Stoneleigh, UK

www.ceramics-uk.com

ECerS Conference

Dresden, August 29-September 2, 2021

Congress Center Dresden, Germany

www.ecers2021.org

Tecnargilla

Rimini, Italy, 2021

Rimini Exhibition Centre, Rimini, Italy

en.tecnargilla.it

Composites for Europe

Stuttgart, Germany, November 9-11, 2021

Messe Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

www.composites-europe.com

Mesago Messe Frankfurt

Formnext 2020 to Take Place Only Virtually

Due to the recent rise of the Covid-19 infection figures worldwide, and the associated increase in travel restrictions, Mesago Messe Frankfurt has decided to hold Formnext 2020 purely virtually. The digital event will be named "Formnext Connect".

Formnext 2020 was previously planned as a hybrid trade fair, that is, with the on-site event at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds plus a digital add-on component. "The current rise of the Covid-19 infection figures in Germany, Europe and around the world have led to increasing uncertainty among exhibitors and visitors. Together with the renewed tightening of official and in-house travel restrictions, this will no longer allow the otherwise highly international Formnext to be carried out in the accustomed quality," stated Petra Haarburger, President of Mesago Messe Frankfurt.

"We have been planning Formnext 2020 for months now. We have done this consistently and with the full support of our Exhibitor Advisory Board and with the highest level of protection and safety for the health of our exhibitors and visitors. Our disappointment at the end of the summer is all the greater now that we have to recognize that the course of the pandemic is destroying our efforts to make these personal encounters possible again," explained Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President Formnext Mesago Messe Frankfurt.

© Mesago/Mathias Kutt

Formnext is a trade fair for additive manufacturing and the next generation of intelligent manufacturing solutions. It focuses on the efficient realization of parts and products, from their design to serial production.

In the course of the crisis, the additive manufacturing industry has clearly demonstrated the potential that lies in flexible, diversified and decentralized production. "An exchange between technology providers and users is absolutely necessary for this, and we are now putting all our energy into the realization of a virtual Formnext, the Formnext Connect," Wenzler continued.

Formnext Connect will start as a virtual event from 10 November 2020 and will offer a wide range of digital services. These include exhibitor presentations in showrooms, intelligent matchmaking with all participants supported by AI, live streaming and on-demand content of the supporting program and webinars as well as the scheduling of appointments for online meetings with exhibitors.

Fraunhofer IKTS

Manufacturing Products Drop by Drop

Additive manufacturing is currently one of the most significant trends in industry. Now a team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS has developed a Multi Material Jetting system that allows different materials to be combined into a single additively manufactured part. This makes it possible to create products with combined properties or functions. The new system can be used with particularly high-performance materials such as ceramics and metal.

Additive manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing involve building up a desired product layer by layer instead of producing it from a single piece. This enables high-precision, custom manufacturing with precisely defined product characteristics - and the technology is continuously being improved. Although the early years of additive manufacturing were dominated by polymers, this expanded some time ago to include metals and ceramic-based materials.

© Fraunhofer IKTS

System for Multi Material Jetting of high-performance components with combined properties or functions.

Fraunhofer IKTS has now taken another step forward. Researchers have developed a system that enables additive manufacturing of multi-material parts based on thermoplastic binder systems. Known as Multi Material Jetting, or MMJ, this process combines different materials and their various different properties into a single product. "Right now, we can process up to four different materials at a time," says Uwe Scheithauer, a researcher at Fraunhofer IKTS. This opens the door to a diverse range of applications, allowing companies to produce highly integrated multi-functional components with individually defined properties.