Competitive advantages in turbomachinery design and manufacture: Fraunhofer launches a cluster of innovation for resource efficiency in energy and mobility

Press Release / March 07, 2013

In the medium and long term, power generation will still be mainly dependent on fossil fuels, since renewables can only cover percentages of today’s electricity demand. This is the reason why it is essential for the automotive, aerospace and energy sectors to develop new emerging concepts that are capable of significant decreases in the emissions and reductions in the fuel consumption.

On February 20, 2013 the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft announced its new cluster of innovation “AdaM – Adaptive Production for Resource Efficiency in Energy and Mobility”. Together with 21 partners from industry, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Production Technology IPT and for Laser Technology ILT will be seeking new technologies and concepts to improve the resource efficiency in the fields of power generation and mobility.

The main aim is to implement new turbomachinery concepts and component designs that enable measurable reductions in CO₂ emissions and increases in the efficiency of energy conversion. This will be the first time that resource efficiency is assessed along the entire product life cycle – from manufacture via operation to maintenance, repair, and overhaul.

The cluster “AdaM” will receive a total of 10 million euros of funds over three years; of this, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will be contributing with 2.5 million euros each, with the remaining 5 million euros being the contribution of the industrial partners. AdaM brings together manufacturers of power plant technology and members of the aerospace community, along with suppliers of goods, services and technology from North Rhine-Westphalia and nationwide.

ICTM – International Conference on Turbomachinery Manufacturing

Johannes Remmel, the secretary of the ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Dr. Raoul Klingner, head of the International Business Development within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, were joined by representatives from industry partners when they officially launched the cluster of innovation at the gala dinner of the second International Conference on Turbomachinery Manufacturing – ICTM in Aachen.

This year’s ICTM comprised presentations by 21 top-class experts from industry and research delivered to an eager audience of more than 250 participants from leading edge companies in the aircraft manufacturing and power generation sectors across fifteen countries. The conference was focused on how to deploy current and future trends in production and product development.

Live demonstrations by the research institutes

Special highlights of the conference were on-site live demonstrations by the two Aachen based Fraunhofer Institutes. Using manufacturing and repair processes, the researchers showed how technological innovations can be implemented into an industrial environment and can be integrated into an adapted closed-center process chain.

The conference’s immediate relevance to all participating branches of industry was brought home by the accompanying industrial exhibition that contained twelve major companies presenting their products and services for turbomachinery design and manufacture.

Due to the positive feedback on the conference, ICTM will take place every two years: the next ICTM will be held from 25 to 26 February 2015.

For further information on the conference, visit www.ictm-aachen.de

Fraunhofer clusters of innovation strengthen collaboration between industry and research

AdaM – Adaptive Production for Resource Efficiency in Energy and Mobility is one out of 20 Fraunhofer clusters of innovation that are currently being conducted across Germany. By facilitating networking of this sort, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is providing targeted support to areas of technology with a high potential for innovation. The clusters of innovation serve as a platform for bringing together all the relevant players from industry, science and education, government and society. The partners see it as their shared responsibility to use new technology to open up the markets of the future, in the process of securing and creating jobs in a high-wage country such as in Germany. A decision by the Arnsberg district council on December 12, 2012 gave notice of North Rhine-Westphalia’s intention to provide funding for the AdaM innovation cluster.

Press Release March 07, 2013

Competitive advantages in turbomachinery design and manufacture: Fraunhofer launches a cluster of innovation for resource efficiency in energy and mobility

ICTM – International Conference on Turbomachinery Manufacturing

Live demonstrations by the research institutes

Fraunhofer clusters of innovation strengthen collaboration between industry and research

Partners of the cluster of innovation “AdaM”