Interviews with UMSICHT researchers

What role does hydrogen play in the energy transition? Where is the potential for urban agriculture? And what could a circular plastics economy look like? Scientists at Fraunhofer UMSICHT get to the bottom of current economic and social issues. In interviews, they provide insights into their work, categorize topics and take a stand.

If urban districts or industrial areas are to be made climate-neutral, there are many different ways to achieve this goal – from building refurbishment and the efficient use of renewable energies to the transformation of local infrastructures. But which of these paths makes the most economic sense and also guarantees the support of stakeholders? The researchers at Fraunhofer UMSICHT provide support in answering this question: They analyze prerequisites, framework parameters and technological options and develop customer-specific transformation plans on this basis. Sonja Witkowski and Carsten Beier explain what this looks like in practice.

to the interview about local energy systems

Circular economy = recycling waste? Not only! Dr.-Ing. Stephan Kabasci and Dr.-Ing. Jochen Nühlen make it clear in an interview that there is much more to circular economy than recycling. The scientists also talk about the challenges on the road to the circular economy and explain how Fraunhofer UMSICHT can help overcome these hurdles – whether by developing technologies and materials or providing advice on the circular transformation.

to the interview about circular economy

In the Syschemiq project, 21 organizations from all over Europe have been working for around 1.5 years to improve plastic recycling in the trilateral region of Belgium, the Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia. Dr. Anna Kerps, Sustainability and Participation Department at Fraunhofer UMSICHT, explains in an interview how systems for the collection, sorting and pre-treatment of plastic can be optimized, how awareness of the issue should be raised in society and why life cycle assessments are so important for design for recycling.

to the interview about Syschemiq

Fundamental changes are needed if North Rhine-Westphalia is to become a climate-neutral industrial location and remain competitive at the same time. In addition to new production processes and production methods, an optimized infrastructure and adapted framework conditions are required above all. The IN4climate.NRW think tank provides input for this. Representatives from industry, science and politics are meeting here for the first time to provide impetus for the transformation of the raw materials industry. Christoph Glasner from Fraunhofer UMSICHT has been involved right from the start.

to the interview about the transformation of the basic material industry

Green Hydrogen is one of Fraunhofer UMSICHT's key research topics. In this interview, Dr.-Ing. Esther Stahl and Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Stießel discuss the role of green hydrogen in making our economy climate neutral. They highlight both challenges and opportunities and explain how our scientists can support the development of a hydrogen economy – from the production, use and storage of green hydrogen to the evaluation of systems and locations where hydrogen is to be used.

to the interview about the role of green hydrogen

Realizing a market-ready and scalable production of green methanol for shipping and aviation – this is the objective of the "Leuna 100" project. Fraunhofer UMSICHT is part of the consortium together with the Climate-Tech-Start-up C1, Fraunhofer IWES, the DBI-Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg and the Technical University of Berlin. In this interview, Dr.-Ing. Norman Kienzle provides insights into the research, talks about the challenges and explains where UMSICHT's focus lies in the joint work.

to the interview about decarbonization and methanol production

The EU is planning to ban the manufacturing and utilization of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This is an important step towards limiting emissions of PFAS pollutants – given the approach is differentiated and appropriate. Dr. Stefano Bruzzano, co-developer of the PerfluorAd® treatment technology, talks about ecologically and economically sensible ways to reduce PFAS.

to the interview about PerfluorAd^®

Torben Daun and Johannes Voß are working on their doctorates at Fraunhofer UMSICHT and are researching methanol production from metallurgical gases as part of the Carbon2Chem^® project. Their research concerns the behavior of the catalyst system and process under changing conditions or gas compositions. They also intend to digitally model the entire dynamic synthesis of methanol.

to the interview about dynamic methanol synthesis

Dr. Kai Girod from the chemical energy storage department is working at a technical center on the thyssenkrupp Steel industrial site in Duisburg as part of the Carbon2Chem® project. His work involves testing catalysts for methanol production with real gases from the steel mill.

to the interview about mathanol production

Putting sustainable production, sustainable consumption and the circular economy into practice requires systemic and technical solutions. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft proposes to achieve this via a Germany-wide network of CIRCONOMY^® Hubs. In this interview, Dr. Hartmut Pflaum explains the thought process behind this idea and the various ways these hubs can be implemented. He is the project manager of the CIRCONOMY^® initiative.

to the interview about CIRCONOMY®-Hubs

During the oil crisis in the 1970s, it was talked about as a storage technology – only to disappear into a drawer again afterwards. For some years now, it has been experiencing a renaissance: In the search for reliable stationary energy storage systems that can compensate for the fluctuating power generation by means of photovoltaic or wind energy plants, researchers have once again come across the iron-air battery. Among them is a team from Fraunhofer UMSICHT and the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences. Marvin Kosin, doctoral student in the Electrochemical Energy Storage department, talks in the interview about the joint work on a demonstrator as part of the project "Development of an Iron-Air Battery Stack as Stationary Energy Storage for Photovoltaics" (ELUSTAT).

to the interview about the iron-air battery

The second phase of the joint project Carbon2Chem^® is currently underway. One of its aims is to validate the large-scale implementation of sustainable methanol production based on metallurgical gases. What are the next steps? What is the significance of simulation for real plant operation? Tim Schulzke and Stefan Schlüter in an interview.

to the interview about sustainable methanol production

The second phase of the Carbon2Chem® joint project is intended to lay the foundations for the large-scale implementation of the project results. Compared to the first phase, the focus is therefore even more on cooperation within the overall consortium. Coordination and communication therefore play a very important role. Torsten Müller reports in an interview on the work in the sub-project of the same name.

Interview about the Carbon2Chem® sub-project “Coordination and communication”

Are redox flow batteries the large-scale energy storage systems of the future? In this interview, Jan Girschik, scientist in the Energy division at Fraunhofer UMSICHT, explains the functions and applications of energy storage systems.

to the interview about redox flow batteries

The virtual "E3C – Electrochemical Cell Concepts Colloquium" will take place on 14 May. Organizer Jan Girschik has answered some questions about electrochemical reactors, their applications and commonalities.

to the interview about electrochemical reactors

The Fraunhofer Institutes UMSICHT, IAP, ICT, IML and LBF are committed to creating a circular plastics industry. As a Cluster of Excellence ˮCircular Plastics Economyˮ – CCPE for short - they want to develop prototypes for new plastics, additives and compounds. They also focus on reusable packaging for the online trade and child car seats to demonstrate what products with circular properties look like. What sounds like a simple basic idea is complex to implement, reveals UMSICHT scientist and cluster office manager Dr. Hartmut Pflaum in an interview.

to the interview about a circular plastics economy