Das Projekt "Ultra thin solar cells for module assembly -tough and efficient (ULTIMATE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme durchgeführt. The overall objective of the current project is to make a significant contribution to the dissemination of PV in order to improve the sustainability of the European energy supply, to reduce environmental hazards such as global warming and to strengthen the economical situation of the European PV industry. The main project objective is the demonstration of PV modules using solar cells which are substantially thinner than today s common practice. We will reduce the current solar cell thickness from typically 200-250 mym down to 100 mym. Assuming a projected kerf loss of 120 mym for 2010, this will enable more than 50Prozent additional wafers to be cut from each silicon ingot. Additionally, by using advanced solar cell device structures and module interconnection technology, we target to increase the average efficiency for these thin cells up to 19Prozent for mono-crystalline and 17.2Prozent for multi-crystalline silicon and to reach a module-to-cell efficiency ratio above 90Prozent. The processing and handling of wafers and cells will be adapted in order to maintain standard processing yields. Including scaling aspects, this corresponds to a module cost reduction of approximately 30Prozent until 2011 and 1.0 /Wp extrapolated until 2016. Furthermore Si demand can be reduced from 10 to 6 g/Wp providing a significant effect on the eco-impact of PV power generation. The partners of this project form an outstanding consortium to reach the project goals, including two leading European R&D institutes as well as five companies with recorded and published expertise in the field of thin solar cells. The project is structured in 5 work packages covering the process chain from wafer to module as well as integral eco-assessment and management tasks. The expected impact of the project is a PV energy cost reduction of approximately 30Prozent, a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and an improved competitiveness of the European solar cell, module and equipment manufacturers.
Das Projekt "Short-term in vitro assays for long-term toxicity (PREDICTOMICS)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Bayer AG durchgeführt. The development of new pharmaceutical compounds will be more efficient if human relevant toxicology information early in the selection process is available. While acute toxicity can be reasonably detected during the early preclinical stages of drug development, long-term toxicity is more difficult to predict, relying almost exclusively on animal experiments Animal experimentation of this kind is expensive and time consuming, raises ethical issues and do not necessarily represent a toxicological relevance to man. This project address the urgent need to develop in vitro based systems which are capable of predicting long term toxicity in humans. The major objectives of this project are:1)To develop advanced cell culture systems which as best possible represents the human liver and kidney in vivo. This will be achieved using combined strategies namely:co-cultures of resident cell types,targeted cell transformation,stem cell technology and new developments in organotypic cell culture (i.e. perfusion cultures and 3D cultures).2)To identify specific early mechanistic markers of toxin induced cell alterations by using integrated genomic,proteomic and cytomic analysis.3)To establish and prevalidate a screening platform (cell systems together with analysis tools) which is unambiguously predictive of toxin induced chronic renal and hepatic disease.This proposal is unique in it's mechanistic integration of the three levels of cellular dynamics (genome, proteome and cytome) together with advanced cell culture technology to detect early events of cellular injury. Only with such an integrated approach will in vitro techniques ever be applicable to predicting chronic toxicity in man. This project,if successful will(1) contribute to the replacement of animal testing in drug development, (2) increase ... Prime Contractor: Fundacion Hospital Universitario 'La Fe', Experimental Hepatology Unit, Research Center; Valencia; Espana.
Das Projekt "Beseitigung materialabhaengiger Probleme bei der NOx-Verringerung bei Dieselmotoren mit grossem Hubraum durch Einspritzung eines Reduktionsmittels in den Zylinder" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von MAN B&W Diesel AG durchgeführt. General Information: For reduction of NOx from large Diesel engines in ships power stations the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is assigned technology. It has several severe disadvantages, economically and technically as well as ecologically. To overcome this a package of engine modifications including reducing agent injection and exhaust gas recirculation has been developed which, however, is not yet applicable because of very high wear of engine components. It is the aim of this project to remove this obstacle by the application of new materials. The main objectives for this purpose are the following: A) Getting further insight into the mechanisms underlying the exorbitant wear phenomena observed in connection with reducing agent injection so as to improve the basis on which the questions of materials can be defined. B) Finding a compromise between the NOx reduction and the wear involved. C) Adaptation of the engine and the reducing agent injection system, in terms of design and materials used, to the higher corrosive attack, relying on the know-how as per A). D) Testing of filtering systems that are capable of cleaning ash-bearing exhaust gases and that could be for filtering the gases in the exhaust gas recycling system. A reduction of additional costs for NOx reduction of 30 per cent is expected. Achievements: The main results can be summarized as follows: Materials were identified which allow the design of injection nozzles for urea solution under high temperatures and pressures. State-of-the-art common-rail injectors for diesel fuel-injection are not suited for injection of water or reducing-agent-solution due to their high leakage rates and wear. Standard diesel injection nozzles can successfully be operated with water if a sufficient amount of a suitable lubricant is added to the water, - injection pressure is not too high, - the nozzle is not used as a control device as is the case with certain common rail injectors. The wear characteristics can be improved by suitable materials. The NOx-reduction rate achieved with RAI is not sufficient. RAI is thus not economic. A theoretical model for RAI has been developed which is able to explain the failure of this method. With the combination of DWI + EGR + FWE it is possible to reduce NOx by more than 80 per cent while keeping reasonable smoke limits. A filter system has been developed which is able to clean exhaust gases of diesel engines operated on HFO with an efficiency of 98 per cent with respect to SOx and 80 per cent with respect to particulates. This filtering efficiency is however not sufficient to make possible the long term EGR operation of an engine burning HFO. Materials for piston rings and cylinder liner have been developed which are able to provide state-of-the-art or even better wear results in an engine running with DWI.
Das Projekt "Qualitaetsverbesserung fuer das Wasserstrahlschneiden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hannover, Fachbereich Maschinenbau, Institut für Werkstoffkunde durchgeführt. General Information: Water jet cutting is a very young technology that offers due to its possibilities the opportunity to cut nearly every material. Especially difficult-to-machine materials like composites (metal matrix), austenitic steel, titanium and aluminium as well as xome ceramics can be cut. Water jets are a non-thermal cutting tool, so that no heat-affected zone occurs and also heat sensitive materials can be cut. Aim of the project is to improve the quality of cut to minimise or avoid further machining operations. Criteria will be chosen to characterise the quality of the cutting result. Working groups will run parallel R and D activities in relation to the main parameters that influence the quality of the cutting results. These results will lead to an improved knowledge of all partners to produce more efficient quality cuts. Achievements: Quality criteria as well as measuring procedures were chosen to characterise the quality of the cutting result. All samples were measured in one lab to guarantee comparability of results. Extensive know-how about the influence of process parameters on the cutting quality was delivered. Extensive cutting tests at several facilities (industrial and research) were conducted. Quality criteria were measured and evaluated. On the basis of extensive quality data a first technological model for the prediction of the roughness of the shoulder of the cut was developed. The model showed encouraging agreement with experimental data. Aluminium and glass samples have been cut using a range of suspension type, abrasive water jet cutting machines. Analysis of major process parameters have shown clear trends which seem generally apply to both the cutting of aluminium and glass. Ideally, it should be possible to determine surface roughness by either increasing abrasive concentration or reducing traverse speed. Different abrasive cutting heads were tested in order to understand the influence of the mixing chamber design on the cut quality. Six different abrasive cutting heads were tested. After analysing the 6 abrasive cutting head designs and discussion of results, a new abrasive cutting head was developed. Innovative aspects of the cutting head are: - autocentering of water nozzle and focusing nozzle - reduced angle of the entrance of the focusing tube and increased length - mixing tube and focusing tube are monobloc. First tests with the so called 'Euro cutting head' showed improved cutting quality. The influence of process parameters on the accuracy of the cut contour, by analysing the squareness at the top and the bottom of the workpiece as well as dimensions of overshoots at incontinuities, like angles, was investigated. Such criteria are of great interest for manufacturers of cutting systems to qualify the accuracy of cutting systems.
Das Projekt "Gegentaktverarbeitung von kurzfaserverstaerkten Thermoplasten und Fluessigkristallpolymeren" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Stuttgart, Fakultät für Verfahrenstechnik, Institut für Kunststoffprüfung und Kunststoffkunde durchgeführt. General Information: It is proposed to investigate and model the properties of highly anisotropic short fibre composites (glass fibre reinforced LCP's and 'long fibre' reinforced thermoplastic materials). These advanced composites are compared to standard short fibre composites. 'Push-Pull' injection moulding is used to process these materials and to come to a quasi-multilayered laminate structure in the parts. The properties of these composites are highly determined by processing parameters, design of part and gating and especially by the local fibre and matrix orientation and fibre length distribution. The proposal is intended as fundamental research to provide novel tool for designing, processing and quality control of highly anisotropic materials. These tools are morphology-based and pay attention to the high gradients in fibre and matrix orientation. These objectives are achieved by three principal tasks: 1. Modelling of the 'Push-Pull' injection moulding process will provide tools to predict fibre and matrix orientation in the layers, that are formed while the melt flows several times through the mould. Crystallisation and viscous heating effects in the solidifying boundary are important for the process-related morphology. 2. Modelling of local material properties (tensors of stiffness and thermal expansion) based on measured local matrix and fibre orientation tensors, local fibre volume fraction, matrix crystallinity and local fibre length distribution. 3. Developing and application of new 2D and 3D image analysis methods to measure morphological parameters of the fibre reinforcement. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy using optical and physical sectioning combined with pattern matching will provide fibre orientation and length data in a one-step 3D analysis. Successful completion should strengthen the European position in the market of these advanced composites by a reduction of the development time for new parts of more than 30 per cent. This will result in a corresponding reduction of product costs. Material properties of advanced composites are improved significantly (e.g. weldline strength by more than 50 per cent) by the new 'Push-Pull' process. Achievements: A new Push-Pull mould was developed to produce different plate geometries with different grades of nylon-6.6 and LCP. Fibre orientation measurements proved that Push-Pull processing can be used to produce highly oriented glass fibre reinforced samples. The influence of non-constant thickness, diverging and converging flow respectively was investigated by fibre orientation measurements and tensile tests in these parts. A range of fibre reinforced samples has been characterized by 2D image analysis, 3D confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and ultrasonic, time of flight measurements. Significant sample regions have been scanned by these techniques.
Das Projekt "Asbestfreie Materialien fuer Dichtungen von verschraubten Flanschanschluessen" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Stuttgart, Staatliche Materialprüfungsanstalt durchgeführt. General Information: Bearing in mind rising standards of immission control and restrictions on the use of gasket materials containing asbestos, the proposed project plans to create the basis for a systematic and optimized development of new gasket materials and to provide realistic evidence of the strength and tightness of flanged joints. The main tasks of the project are: - to define and set the relevant gasket factors, - to work out, verify and set the test procedures for the determination of the above mentioned gasket factors, - to determine the gasket factors for asbestos free materials including the sealing and relaxation properties under realistic operation conditions (medium, temperature, time, pressure, changing loads), - to draft out European standards for defining gasket factors under testing procedures as well as specifications for gasket materials, - to create a data basis for a data bank. Apart from improved technological co-operation in Europe, there will be a positive effect on the competitiveness in many areas of industry and improvements in environmental protection and working conditions. Achievements: The main conclusions which can be drawn from the project are the following: - New gasket sheet materials were developed and tests were performed in laboratory conditions. Most of these new materials are distinctly improved in view of e.g. tightening capability, creep strength and load bearing capacity compared to reference materials available on the market at the beginning of the project. - Gasket factors were defined which realistically describe the behaviour of gasket materials and which allow a realistic assessment of the gasket's performance. A gasket factor data bank is prepared. - Optimized gasket testing techniques were developed and fixed which guarantee a realistic assessment and evaluation of gasket's performance in view of tightening capability, load bearing, creep resistance and long term behaviour under the influence of time, temperature and medium and therefore a targeted development of new gasket materials; the description of these testing procedures will be the basis for a CEN standard on gasket testing. These testing techniques were evaluated by comparison of the results received with those of real flanged joint tests. Fairly good agreement was shown between gasket testing and flanged joint tests, so that the testing procedures can be looked as verified. Figures of gasket factors - related to leak rate or tightness - are determined which allow combined with the new European calculation code pr EN 1591 a strength and tightness analysis of flanged joints. These results can be the basis for gasket factor classification in the CEN calculation code per EN 1591.
Das Projekt "Verbesserte Wasserstoffspeicherlegierungen fuer kadmiumfreie wiederaufladbare Hochleistungsbatterien im geschlossenen Kreislauf" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von VARTA Batterie, Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentrum durchgeführt. General Information: Energy storage by Hydrogen absorption in metals and alloys is becoming increasingly important technology today. Electrochemical Hydrogen storage has been realized in the rechargeable Nickel/metal hydride (Ni/H) cells which are beginning to penetrate the market for portable and consumer appliances. Ni/H-batteries have 50 per cent more energy density than comparable Nickel/Cadmium (Ni/Cd) batteries. But their use is as yet limited to low drain applications. The high drain requirements of batteries for motive power or portable power tools cannot be satisfied by existing Ni/H technology. These markets are available to Ni/Cd batteries, but the use of these cells will become increasingly constrained by environmental factors. Automotive manufacturers have hesitated to use Ni/Cd batteries in traction applications because of lack of efficient and environmentally compatible recycling for this system. The proposed research therefore is directed towards the development of new environmentally compatible materials to enable new, competitively priced and high performance Ni/H cells to be developed to meet the growing needs of the market. The major objectives of the R and D project will be: 1. Development of suitable, cost effective, and environmental compatible materials optimised for electrochemical Hydrogen-storage meeting the high performance requirements of power tools and electric vehicles. 2. Establishment of the technology for the production of the Hydrogen storage materials and big Ni/H-batteries on a commercial basis. 3. To assess the potential for an effective commercial recycling operation and to develop the basis for a closed loop recycling process. A successful outcome of this project will facilitate the production of high performance, cost effective, and environmentally acceptable batteries which can be recycled in a closed loop environmentally safe process. At the end of the project the full commercial development of the battery technology will require a further two years. Achievements: Hydrogen storing alloys were shown to offer a chance of further improvements. This is valid mainly for the high load performance. It was demonstrated that the use of new materials could improve the discharge rate capability by more than 50 per cent compared to the standard materials currently being used. Though there still is a gap to the well established Ni/Cd-system the materials developed showed that NiMH-cells with improved materials can meet most of the power demands set by industrial applications today. The power capability of the new electrode materials was demonstrated with a new high power battery with high efficiency. Due to the high gravimetric and volumetric power values the hydride vehicle is the preferred application if this new battery.
Das Projekt "Validation of radical engine architecture systems (DREAM)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG durchgeführt. Since the publication of the ACARE goals, the commercial and political pressure to reduce CO2 has increased considerably. DREAM is the response of the aero-engine community to this pressure. The first major DREAM objective is to design, integrate and validate new engine concepts based on open rotor contra-rotating architectures to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions 7Prozent beyond the ACARE 2020 objectives. Open rotors are noisier than equivalent high bypass ratio turbofan engines, therefore it is necessary to provide solutions that will meet noise ICAO certification standards. The second major DREAM objective is a 3dB noise emission reduction per operation point for the engine alone compared to the Year 2000 engine reference. These breakthroughs will be achieved by designing and rig testing: Innovative engine concepts a geared and a direct drive contra-rotating open rotor (unducted propulsion system) Enabling architectures with novel active and passive engine systems to reduce vibrations These technologies will support the development of future open rotor engines but also more traditional ducted turbofan engines. DREAM will also develop specifications for alternative fuels for aero-engines and then characterise, assess and test several potential fuels. This will be followed by a demonstration that the selected fuels can be used in aero-engines. The DREAM technologies will then be integrated and the engine concepts together with alternative fuels usage assessed through an enhanced version of the TERA tool developed in VITAL and NEWAC. DREAM is led by Rolls-Royce and is made of 47 partners from 13 countries, providing the best expertise and capability from the EU aeronautics industry and Russia. DREAM will mature technologies that offer the potential to go beyond the ACARE objectives for SFC, achieving a TRL of 4-5. These technologies are candidates to be brought to a higher TRL level within the scope of the CLEAN SKY JTI. Prime Contractor: Rolls Royce PLC; London; United Kingdom.
Das Projekt "Neue Materialien fuer Aluminium-Elektrolysezellen, die mittels selbstfortpflanzender Hochtemperatursynthese (SHS) hergestellt werden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von W.C. Heraeus durchgeführt. General Information: The proposed research is directed at substituting the existing carbon components presently used in hall-heroult cells for aluminium production with non-carbon components produced by the SHS process. The SHS process is a method using a mixture of powdered precursor material which is pressed to yield a green body or is applied as a coating on top of a substrate. The reactor heat sinters the reaction products to form a body or a coating provided the compounds have sufficiently high heat of formation like carbides, borides and aluminide. The research is based on the following stages: - identification and selection of suitable materials; - optimization and control of the SHS process and manufacturing of small components: testing on small scale; - scaling-up of manufacturing capability; - testing on pilot cell scale of new components; - evaluation of benefits to the aluminium industry. The research will comprise the operation of a newly designed pilot cell for at least six months with non-carbon electrodes to produce aluminium with an industrially acceptable purity standard. The successful completion will result in a reduction of 20 per cent in the electric energy consumption and a saving of 100 ECU per ton of aluminium produced due to the cost reduction of the electrodes used. In addition there will be a greatly reduced environmental impact due to the elimination of the CO2 and fluoro-carbon emissions which are the consequence of the consumption of the carbon anodes presently used (consumption rate of 450 kg of carbon anodes per ton of aluminium produced). Achievements: The main objectives of the project were achieved. An aluminium wettable TiB2 coating was successfully developed by the Consortium for applying onto carbon substrates. The wettable cathode enabled the operation of a 5 kA pilot cell at Allures in the drained mode with no loss in current efficiency. The pilot cell tests demonstrated that the TiB2 coating is aluminium wettable, stable, abrasion resistant and can be incorporated into drained cell designs. The 5 kA pilot cell tests required extensive instrumentation for data acquisition, monitoring and management. A cell monitoring system was specially designed and installed by ENEA. Self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS), also known as combustion synthesis, was found to be an economical and efficient method for producing advanced materials such as intermetallics and ceramics. Green bodies are formed using conventional powder metallurgical processing and are subsequently brought to reaction, 'combustion', by introducing them into a preheated furnace. The heat released by the exothermic reaction causes simultaneous sintering of the combusted products, thereby avoiding long sintering times at high temperature as in conventional ceramic technology. Using SHS processing methods, TiB2/Al2O3 composite tiles and Ni-Al-Fe-Cu (nickel intermetallic alloy) anodes were successfully fabricated as new non-carbon electrodes
Das Projekt "Identifikation von Kunststoffen und Polymeren im Hausmuell fuer Recyclingzwecke mittels Hochgeschwindigkeitslaser" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik durchgeführt. General Information: For material recycling of plastics and polymers from domestic waste it is necessary to identify and sort the different parts to obtain pure material fractions. A rapid piece-by-piece method is possible by identification of the composition of each waste particle with laser using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. It is the aim of this project to investigate the technical feasibility of this technique for the recycling of plastics and polymers from domestic waste. The project activities comprise the beam guiding of the laser to the plastic and polymer parts, the detection of spectra, determination of spectral features for the identification of different materials and handling, sorting and further processing of the different fractions. Achievements: The sorting of waste bottles into pure polymers fractions of PE, PP, PET and PVC with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been investigated. Element and molecule structures were detected in spectra of laser-induced plasmas. Classification algorithms based on multivariate statistical analysis and neural networks were tested. The achievable identification accuracy depends on the kinds of polymers and their additives. Typical results on recycled and virgin polymer samples achieved under laboratory conditions are 90-95 per cent for PE and PP and largely 99 per cent for PET and PVC, where 20 per cent of all measured samples could not be identified and have been sorted out. For bottle pieces, about 95 per cent have been classified correctly. The measuring times are smaller100 us, the evaluation times in the order of milliseconds, enabling sorting rates of 10 per second and more. Autofocussing to the varying geometry of the bottles is a challenging problem. An autofocus system based on triangulation operates reliably with coloured samples, but not with transparent ones. Future work should aim to avoid the necessity of an autofocus system by proper handling of the bottles and usage of a focussing lens with a long focal length. A modular handling and sorting equipment for singularization, pressing to +/- 10 mm surface position range and sorting 3 bottles per second was constructed and put into operation. The handling and sorting equipment is successfully combined with a PC for laser triggering and generation of sorting signals. Singularization and transport of about 10 bottles/s is assessed as feasible. Nevertheless, in order to avoid two bottles arriving at the identification point at the same time, the handling device has to be carefully adjusted. In summary, after completion of the fundamental research project, the possibility of laser-based identification of plastics is realistic. Further work has to concentrate on technical oriented development.
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