The total budget of Fraunhofer UMSICHT 2018 with 511 employees was 42.21 million euros.

Lead Project »Combustion Engine for the Mobility of the Future«

Here, the sustainable and economical production of high-quality advanced fuels is demonstrated using two processes developed at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Sulzbach-Rosenberg. The raw materials used in the TCR® process (Thermo-Catalytic-Reforming) are residues such as sewage sludge or fermentation residues, in the Alcohols-to-Fuels process (A2F) the alcohols ethanol and methanol as well as acetone or isopropanol are used. As part of the lead project, about 50 liters of diesel and gasoline will be produced per process.

Electric scrap as a raw material source

With the iCycle® technology developed by UMSICHT, the recycling of electrical scrap is becoming much more lucrative and has meanwhile triggered great demand from all over the world. A metal concentrate containing, for example, gold, platinum, silver and copper is extracted from the shredder residues. High-tech metals such as tantalum and indium can also be recovered. The plastic from the composite materials is converted into fuels, i.e. gas or a diesel-like oil. The gas is burned to supply the process with energy. The oil can be used in engines to generate electrical energy and other heat.

Development of a framework for decentralized energy and process engineering plants

Fraunhofer UMSICHT offers users from industry a fully digital test environment in the future. Industrial companies can place their newly developed systems or components in our pilot plant and then digitally upgrade them with our help. This ranges from the digitization of a specific plant technology to cloud connection, fornt-end development and data engineering, to testing with virtual consumers or components from other manufacturers. Cooperation with our energy and process engineering experts and IT specialists opens up new possibilities - from optimization to the digital business model.