Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin)
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The Technical University of Berlin is decreed a technical university and as such has the specific profile to develop through scientific expertise and technological innovation solutions to global problems. As a strong research university, it supports the cooperation of science and business. To address societal demands and technical questions in the future suitably, the core competences are organized in interdisciplinary research associations. Energy is one of seven such defined scientific fields of concentration.
The activities of the Berlin Institute of Technology in the area of energy research range from conversion, distribution, and efficiency and mathematical modeling approaches to economic and social system research. The Innovation Centre Energy is centrally bundled and consolidated with the goal to provide a holistic examination of complex energy questions.
In the project three departments from the Institute for Power Engineering, Faculty III: Process Sciences with:
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Department of Electrical Engineering und Environmental Protection
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georgios Tsatsaronis
The department focuses its research on the analysis, valuation and optimisation of energy conversion equipment to reduce product costs, the burden on the environment and to increase energy efficiency.
The experimental processes incorporate for example CHP with integrated coal gasification, cogeneration plants for heat and power, plants with CO2-deposition, hydrogen generation, and different energy intense chemical processes (for example, different sections of a refinery, steam cracking units, carbon-black plants, and aniline plants).
In addition to process optimization, capable mathematical techniques (MINLP) as well as iterative exergy based methods are applied. The exergy based methods (exergo economical and exergo ecological anlysis) are based on many years of experience, which are implemented to identify thermodynamic inefficiencies and the causes thereof, to evaluate the costs and ecological damage that are linked with particular equipment components and thermodynamic inefficiencies, and in so doing ascertain potentials, possibilities, and alternatives to improve upon components and equipment.
In the framework of the project ”Hydrothermal Carbonisation of Biomass“ different equipment concepts for the procedural implementation will be developed, analysed and optimised with the assistance of exergy based methods.
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Department of Machinery and Energy Equipment Engineering
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Felix Ziegler
The department of Machinery and Energy Equipment Engineering researches in two larger fields of application: the first being classical cooling technology, in which the slightly uncommon sorption-chilling process is represented, and the other being the large area of energy efficiency. The basic work pertains to detailed experimentation with heat and material transmission. On this basis is built the technical equipment work: development of compact heat exchangers and their application in pilot projects, in order to initiate their full implementation. Complementing this is experimental research and development work on comprehensive systematic inspections and project support, which are also considered from interdisciplinary viewpoints. The goal is to facilitate the optimal integration of all possible varieties of energy technology in the feed-in concept and to align the technology itself better to the tasks and the respective social environment.
The present project is concerned with experimental experimentation on the reactionary heat and on the integration of heat and waste heat recovery. The department is equipped with a testing hall and several laboratories. Currently there are 20 scientific colleagues employed by the department.
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Department of Energy Process Technologies and Conversion Technologies for Renewable Energies
Prof. Dr. Frank Behrendt
The departmental research focus of Energy Process Technologies and Conversion Technologies for Renewable Energies lies in the experimentation and simulation of reactive multiphase dynamics in and around porous media. Current research is addressing the examination of pyrolysis- and gasification-processes of single particles and in fixed bed- and fluidised bed-reactors. Detailed data on the starting materials, products as well as the process parameters will be determined experimentally on diverse test stands and as the case may be in departmental fuel laboratories. The numeric models of the processes will be tested with this data. This working group also occupies itself with the questions on energy conversion systems. In doing so, the complex conversion chains will be analysed.
Based on these competencies in the experimental investigation of mass balances, a significant contribution will be made to evaluate the hydrothermal carbonisation of biomass.