Press releases

Announcement UMSICHT Science Award 2021 Science communication: Focusing on the target group The year 2020 and, in particular, the media attention surrounding the Corona pandemic show how important it is to communicate scientific topics in a comprehensible and target group-oriented manner and what a high priority science has. The UMSICHT Science Award aims at promoting the dialog between science and society and is being presented for the 12th time by the UMSICHT Friends and Patrons Group. Now, the go-ahead has been given to send applications in the categories science and journalism.

The chances of reducing industrial CO₂ emissions by 2030 are good. The technical prerequisites have been created thanks to projects such as Carbon2Chem^®. Now it is important to set up the corresponding framework conditions in the form of regulations, renewable energies and green hydrogen. This is the quintessence of the 3^rd Conference on Sustainable Chemical Conversion on October 27 and 28, 2020.

Making steel production climate-friendly – this is the goal Carbon2Chem^® started with in March 2016. The first phase of the joint project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research was completed in May 2020. During these four years, process concepts have been developed which help to capture and clean the CO₂-containing exhaust gases from Germany's largest steel mill and convert them into basic materials for chemicals, fuels or fertilizers using “green” hydrogen. In the second project phase, these concepts will be validated for large-scale implementation.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen and Hörmann, a family-owned company, have developed a new type of fire-resistant glass that holds up under even extreme heat – and ported this glazing from the beaker to the production line within four years. No more toxic acrylamide, around 85 percent less process waste, a leaner manufacturing process, excellent performance – these product merits garnered the development team the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize.

The "resources SAVED by recycling" study presented today, which the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT prepared on behalf of the ALBA Group, proves that the ALBA Group, one of the worldwide leading recycling and environmental services companies, makes a direct contribution to climate protection through recycled raw materials. In 2019, the ALBA Group saved more than 4.2 million tonnes of climate-damaging greenhouse gases through the closed-loop circulation of 6 million tonnes of recyclables. This corresponds to the positive annual impact on the climate of about 59 million trees. At the same time, recycling saved 32.3 million tonnes of resources, such as crude oil, bauxite and iron ore compared to primary production.

After the successful premiere this year, there will be a second edition of the "E3C – Electrochemical Cell Concepts Colloquium" in May 2021: The interdisciplinary exchange on the design of electrochemical reactors will take place on May 6th – as a hybrid event that enables participation both via Internet and on site at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen. The main topics are functional components, cell design and fluid flow as well as stack design, testing and sealing technology of electrochemical reactors. Anyone wishing to present his or her research results in the form of a lecture or a poster can submit an abstract until January 24, 2021.

Rice is the most important staple food worldwide. However, its production is associated with high energy consumption and the associated negative environmental impact. Researchers at Fraunhofer UMSICHT are developing a promising sustainable alternative by using previously unused biomass for decentralized electricity production.

Packaging protects products during transport and storage. In order to develop sustainable packaging and conserve resources, Henkel developed an evaluation tool that quickly and reliably checks plastic packaging for recyclability. The tool has now been expanded to include common materials, so that packaging made of paper/cardboard, glass, aluminum and tinplate can be analyzed in addition to plastic. Fraunhofer UMSICHT tested the software tool.

Creating an overall concept for efficient energy use and supply of Duisburg's inland port – this is the objective of the "enerPort" project. The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT and Duisburger Hafen AG have reached an important milestone on the way to achieving this goal: One year after the start of the project they have conducted a metastudy. It is intended to ensure the transferability of the concept to other ports. The focus is on the categorization and typologization of inland ports.

There is movement in the fuel market for ocean-going vessels. Targets to reduce ex-haust emissions require new sustainable ways of producing diesel and heavy fuel oil. What could these paths look like? What are the new raw materials? Researchers at Fraunhofer UMSICHT succeeded in mapping the entire process chain for the production of bio-based blending components as part of the PyroMar project. Testing is starting right now.