1.) Hannover Messe: DBU presents projects for sustainable digitalisation and energy efficiency

“Integrated Industry – Industrial Intelligence” is the theme of this year’s Hannover Messe, which is being held from 1 to 5 April 2019. With this theme, the world’s leading trade show for industrial technology is highlighting the growing importance of artificial intelligence and machine learning in industrial applications and in the energy industry.

And the DBU will once again be in attendance – and adding the topics of sustainability and environmental relief to the main theme. At their shared booth in Hall 2, “Research and Technology” (A 02), the foundation will be presenting innovative projects for sustainable digitisation and increased energy efficiency in small- and medium-sized enterprises. Five SMEs and research institutions will show exemplary solutions – from the eChiller refrigeration unit that uses water as a natural refrigerant to a new insulating glass with maximum thermal insulation, from real-time plant detection using sensors and an energy-efficient, low-material process for casting semi-finished composite products all the way to digital material flow management. Another co-exhibitor is nachhaltig.digital, the competence centre for sustainability and digitisation in SMEs.

The exhibitors and their projects in detail:

• Efficient Energy GmbH, based in Feldkirchen, Germany, is presenting their innovative eChiller: the eChiller is a refrigeration unit that uses pure water as a refrigerant and that is already being used for cooling in industrial processes, data centres and buildings with a capacity ranging from 35 kW to more than 300 kW. In contrast to commonly used refrigerants – in particular perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) – water is climate-neutral, environmentally friendly and future-proof. By relying on water as a refrigerant instead of chemicals, the eChiller is not subject to any environmental and safety regulations for refrigerants. This makes the eChiller significantly less expensive to manufacture, operate and maintain. Furthermore, the technology provides extremely high partial load efficiencies, which allows for a maximum heating seasonal performance factor compared to other standard technologies. The eChiller has already won many prizes for environmental friendliness and efficiency, and recently received the European Business Awards for the Environment by the European Commission.
  
  
• Helmut Hachtel GmbH, based in Schwäbisch Hall, has developed the "THERMUR" window system with a thermal transmission coefficient of 0.2 W/(m²K). As a result, this window meets the latest requirements for exterior walls in KfW-funded new construction projects. The development of new, xenon-filled insulating glass is expected to cut this heat loss value in half once again. The laminated glass panel has a thickness of under 40 mm, which allows it to be installed into areas that cannot be fitted with standard insulating glass due to design constraints. Furthermore, they are currently working to reduce the loss of the gas filling in the insulating glass in order to achieve a service life of 50 years. Software simulations determined a number of suitable glass structures that are currently being realised as prototypes.
  
  
• Bögra Technologie GmbH, based in Solingen, Germany, and RWP GmbH, based in Roetgen, Germany, have combined casting and joining into a single step, allowing them to offer a quicker process for manufacturing dual-component semi-finished copper composite products that is more efficient in terms of both materials used and energy required. During this step, the heat from casting, which would otherwise be dissipated, is immediately used to join the pieces together. This eliminates the need for chemical surface treatments such as pickling or degreasing. The companies were able to demonstrate that the layered composite does not delaminate at any point in the process chain, and that the finished piece demonstrates a metallurgical bond. The cast copper composite bands can then be formed or reshaped in a subsequent processing step. This new process can reduce energy consumption by up to 40% compared to standard roll bonding procedures. Moreover, the improved bond quality also increases material utilisation by up to 30%.
  
  
• The multispectral true-colour sensor arrays, which were developed by Premosys GmbH, which is based in Kalenborn-Scheuern, Germany, and tested at the University of Bonn, are characterised by their extremely high detection precision and an especially rapid signal-response behaviour. This allows for selective differentiation between crops and wild plants, allowing for the precise, needs-based dosing of fertilizer and herbicides. With support from the DBU, the project partners have developed the GG-Detector®, which can be installed on a wide variety of equipment and machinery. The corresponding actors such as valves and relays are directly controlled using the integrated controller. The system can detect leaves as small as 1 cm² while travelling at speeds of up to 25 km/h and, unlike other systems, it is not dependent on ambient light. The needs-based dosing makes it possible to cut herbicide use by up to 90%.
  
  
• Reducing waste and conserving energy in small- and medium-sized manufacturers by adopting aspects of Industrie 4.0 – that is the aim of a project currently being developed by the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin (HTW) and NOVAPAX Kunststofftechnik Steiner GmbH & Co. KG. This project involves the creation of a prototype for the intelligent, automated machine data recording with a self-learning control system. The challenge lies in using machine learning evaluation algorithms to draw conclusions from the collected operating data. These conclusions will make it possible to optimise production and control and, on the basis of this, to use materials more efficiently and reduce waste and emissions. Another advantage of this system: it is adjusted to the requirements of small- and medium-sized enterprises, for which standard Industrie 4.0 solutions for digital operational networking tend to be too cost-intensive and require too much manpower. Moreover, in cooperation with the ifu Hamburg and the Rhein-Neckar Environmental Competence Centre (UKOM), the HTW Berlin is presenting the DBU project “MFCA mobile”, which involves carrying out material flow cost accounting using up-to-date operating data collected via app. The main idea is to use these kinds of modelling and simulation tools in order to provide companies with opportunities to reduce material losses during commercial manufacturing and eliminate barriers to entry when it comes to data collection.
  
  
• How can digitalisation be used ecologically, socially, ethically and economically in order to create a sustainable, liveable future? This is the core question behind nachhaltig.digital, the competence platform for sustainability and digitalisation in SMEs. The platform is a joint venture between the German Environmental Management Association (B.A.U.M.) and the DBU with the objective of bringing aspects of sustainability into the discussion surrounding digitalisation and, in particular, integrating it into the digital processes of small- and medium-sized enterprises.
  
  
• EurA AG, Ellwangen, has also confirmed its participation in the DBU booth at the Hanover Messe. The Europe-wide technology and innovation consultancy developed an innovative measuring system that enables the simple and above all cost-effective recording of all relevant energy consumption data of the connected individual electrical consumers within a larger production environment. This enables manufacturing companies to implement and permanently monitor targeted, energy consumption-dependent measures to save electrical energy.

Read more about the DBU at Hannover Messe here: https://www.dbu.de/hannovermesse.

You can find more information about DBU project funding here: https://www.dbu.de/antragstellung