Industry Europe – Issue 28.2

Page 25

NEWS

TECHNOLOGYSPOTLIGHT

Advances in technology across industry

Audi, Italdesign and Airbus combine self-driving car and passenger drone

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udi, Italdesign and Airbus have developed ‘Pop. Up Next’, an entirely electric, fully automatic concept for horizontal and vertical mobility. In the distant future this vehicle could transport people in cities quickly and conveniently on the road and in the air, at the same time solving traffic problems. The dominant interior feature is a 49-inch screen, while interaction between humans and the machine is performed by speech and face recognition, eyetracking and a touch function. The ultra-light, two-seater passenger cabin can be attached either to a car module or to a flight module. Audi is supporting the project with know-how on battery technology and automation. “Creativity is needed where new mobility concepts for cities and people’s diverse needs are concerned. Italdesign is an incubator for innovative technologies and radical prototyping. Pop.Up Next is an ambitious vision that could permanently change our urban life in the future,” says Dr Bernd

Martens, Audi board member for Procurement and President of Italdesign. Italdesign develops futureoriented vehicle concepts for Audi and customers around the globe. Jörg Astalosch, CEO of Italdesign, says: “Various players will define the rules of urban mobility in the

future. We are proud to collaborate with Airbus to investigate solutions for future mobility.” Astalosch sees Pop.Up Next as a flexible on-demand concept that could open up mobility in the third dimension to people in cities. Visit: www.italdesign.it

New technology streamlines production of biogas and bioethanol

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extile reactors, developed at the University of Borås, have new features that provide a more efficient production of fermented products such as biogas and bioethanol, and to a significant lower cost of the fermentation process. The PhD student Alex Osagie Osadolor has developed new systems for regulating the temperature in the reactor, flow of mass in and out of the reactor, and a system for mixing the content. The textile reactors used in industry today depend on inherent temperature conditions in the environment where the reactor is placed. Most often

they are placed outdoors. Cold climate, for example, is not optimal, as the microorganisms that thrive and work best in a warm space, can freeze and die. With the systems and calculations made by Alex Osagie Osadolor, the environment is significantly improved in the textile reactor. This makes the microorganisms thrive, they remain in the reactor, and the fermentation process will improve. In total, the project shows that it is possible to reduce the cost of the fermentation process by over 20 per cent. Visit: www.hb.se

A novel, water-stable metal-organic framework for selective CO2 adsorption

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limate change is correlated with increasing CO2 emissions as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels in power stations, vehicles, factories and homes. One way to keep the atmospheric CO2 concentration within acceptable levels is by selectively removing it from power plant emissions. The physical adsorption of CO2 using porous materials provides an economically viable route for such CO2 capturing. At the Research Priority Area Sustainable Chemistry of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Dr Stefania Grecea develops synthetic strategies for making porous materials that enable efficient adsorptive separations.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline microporous materials that exist of metal ions (or clusters of metal ions) linked by organic ligands. MOFs are very promising materials for gas separation since their pore surfaces can be easily functionalised to tune the interaction with various gas molecules. The UvA team designed a series of MOFs using a flexible organic linker in combination with alkaline metal ions, which are abundantly available, lightweight and low-cost. They show that when the guest molecules are removed, the three-dimensional structure of these MOFs shrinks. According to Dr Grecea, the study opens

new avenues in developing low-cost and non-toxic materials, not only for CO2 capture but also for other gas separations. Visit: www.uva.nl

Industry Europe 23


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New bio-venture vision Mölnlycke

4min
pages 128-131

A greater capacity to innovate Şişecam

4min
pages 125-127

Core technologies for future needs EconCore

5min
pages 122-124

Rolling steel technology forward Beltrame Group

4min
pages 113-117

Promoting latvian engineering MASOC

6min
pages 118-121

Boosting visibility and secure

6min
pages 110-112

maximising mini-speaker performance

3min
pages 100-102

luxury logistics Bollore Logistics

4min
pages 106-109

Firmly in control Strix

5min
pages 103-105

Best salami pick Pick Szeged

4min
pages 96-99

New customer-centric technology

4min
pages 92-95

Building on diversity Renco

4min
pages 84-86

New ideas to freshen up Tesco

4min
pages 87-91

Solid foundations Global Project Services

6min
pages 81-83

The bigger the better Főmterv

5min
pages 78-80

From ideas to implementation Utiber

4min
pages 74-77

Solid tradition, promising future Rochester Gauges

5min
pages 71-73

Sustainable comfort solutions Recticel Group

4min
pages 68-70

At full speed ŠKODA

5min
pages 65-67

Vehicles tailored to clients’ needs Gniotpol Trailers

9min
pages 58-64

embracing the automotive evolution Mitsuba

4min
pages 54-57

lightweighting the heavyweights

4min
pages 50-53

A century of innovative solutions Dätwyler Group

4min
pages 46-49

Shaping the future of mobility Daimler

6min
pages 42-45

Industrial automation from lubawa Intek

6min
pages 38-41

A single supplier for end-to-end ceramic production SITI B&T Group

4min
pages 35-37

Propelled to the top GE Aviation Czech

5min
pages 32-34

Blade Runner Airbus

5min
pages 28-31

Agriculture news The latest from the industry

7min
pages 18-19

linking up Combining strengths

7min
pages 22-23

Winning business New orders and contracts

7min
pages 20-21

Robots and drones: addressing agricultural challenges

5min
pages 16-17

moving on Relocations and expansions across Europe

3min
page 24

Technology spotlight Advances in technology

3min
page 25

Chemicals news The latest from the industry

7min
pages 14-15

Adapting to change Strongest growth in years but will it last?

6min
pages 12-13
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