47 per cent of the net electricity consumed in Germany is used by industry. Particularly in automation technology, robot arms would not move without drive energy and heavy components would remain at a standstill in the production. A potential study recommends new solutions for energy optimised system operations. The intention is to increase the energy productivity of the electrical and pneumatic drive technology by up to 50 per cent.  more...

Laundries consume a total of around 2 kWh of energy per kg of linen; 90 % of this energy is used for generating heat. A flatwork ironer manufacturer from eastern Westphalia has therefore adapted its heat generation system by using a gas burner. In addition, an improved control system manages the temperature of the thermal oil-heated heating band technology that substantially determines the ironer performance. In order to recycle heat, an air-water heat exchanger is used that utilises the warm exhaust air for heating the fresh water.  more...

Large volumes of carbon (coke) are used for the melting process in the cupola furnace, whereby a combustible process gas is formed as a by-product. This so-called cupola furnace gas has a low heating value and has previously been completely combusted for generating the hot blast in the cupola furnace's recuperator. However, in this process only around 35 % of the contained energy is used thermally. Now it is possible to utilise the remaining 65 % of the chemically bound energy that was previously not used in most foundries: a modified biogas combined heat and power plant runs with cupola furnace gas (CFG) from the melting furnace.  more...

Anyone generating electricity or operating high-temperature industrial processes produces waste heat. This waste heat is often not utilised, since its economic use does not seem viable. Small plants using the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) promise help here: they make the waste heat usable in the form of electricity, improve the cost-effectiveness and reduce CO2 emissions. Researchers from Saarland have developed an engine that uses low-temperature heat to generate electricity very efficiently for a large range of uses.  more...

The Internet offers rapid and convenient access to information - including for energy research. However, when it comes to obtaining reliable, complete and quotable information for research purposes, there is no real alternative to using specialist databases. This is the conclusion of scientists from the ETDE (Energy Technology Data Exchange). In a study they compared the search results provided by their ETDEWEB database with those from Google and Google Scholar, whereby they used search terms from different areas concerned with energy transformation and utilisation. The main thematic focus was on renewable energies, but energy efficient technologies such as recycling waste heat or utilising daylight in office buildings were also looked at.  more...

Several industrial products have to go through fire during production. In the metalworking industry, in the production of glass, ceramics and building materials as well as in parts of the food industry, heating processes are key production steps. About 65% of the industry's final energy requirement is expended on it. In Germany, industry furnaces are chiefly produced by small and medium-sized companies and close to every second furnace is exported.  more...

Heat recovery from exhaust gases and flameless combustion - this is the magic formula in many high-temperature processes in order to combine optimal fuel usage with low nitrogen oxide emissions. With a new recuperator burner, this technology now also offers advantages in the lower range of outputs under 100 kW. The exhaust gas losses have been almost halved compared to conventional recuperator burners. A number of burners of this type have been undergoing tests since early in 2009 in heat-treatment equipment for screws.  more...

The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology has published a strategy paper entitled "Eckpunkte und Leitlinien zur Weiterentwicklung der Energieforschungspolitik der Bundesregierung (Cornerstones and guidelines for the continued development of the German federal government's energy research policy)". The detailed analyses and suggestions were developed as a result of the cooperation between a number of institutes in the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres as part of a broadly based consultation process.  more...

An existing low-rise building was to be extended to expand a printing house. That was an opportunity to improve the graphic design and office workstations already housed there at the same time. The company also wanted to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection in this measure, as it is an advertising selling point beyond the printing process.  more...

Flameless burners, which are already providing considerable energy savings and emission reductions in the metal industry, have now been adapted to the special requirements of glass production by the research institute Gaswärme-Institut in Essen, Germany. Together with industrial partners, the researchers investigated how these burners, which operate on the principle of flameless oxidation, can be used to fire glass-melting tanks.  more...