LaNDER³: Lusatian Natural Fibre Composites - Decentralized Energy, Raw Materials, Resources, Recycling
The strategic LaNDER³ partnership is a consortium comprising Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) and primarily regional companies and promotes the sustainable and efficient use of renewable raw materials. The aim is to optimise all the process steps in the life cycle of composite materials and supply them with energy internally by converting by-products into energy.
contact details
Website
More about the partnership:
LaNDER³ website
Contact
Dr. rer. nat. Matthias Kinne
Cluster Manager
matthias.kinne@hszg.de
Modern high-performance materials such as carbon fibre-reinforced plastics often save energy due to their low component weights. Still, component production requires extensive energy and resources, which in turn has an impact on the environment. LaNDER³ wants to resolve this conflict between performance and sustainability and create a resource-friendlier alternative.
The research activities focus on natural-fibre-reinforced plastics and their entire product life cycle. The projects address the development of efficient technologies and processes for the production, finishing, use and recycling of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics as well as the generation of energy from organic waste during fibre production and recycling.
By reinforcing expertise and expanding applications, the innovative potential of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics will help to open up new markets and thus strengthen Upper Lusatia as a research and economic hub.
Partnership profile
The plastic processing industry is deeply rooted in Upper Lusatia with many small and medium-sized enterprises. It has been a trailblazer since the phaseout of lignite at the latest, paving the way to the future for the centre of industry and commerce. The LaNDER³ FH-Impuls partnership of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) aims to strengthen the competitiveness of regional companies and provide inspiration for innovations that meet market demands. LaNDER³ thus makes an important contribution to the region’s future potential.
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) established the LaNDER³ partnership in early 2017, with around 25 regional partners. The Upper Lusatian research consortium was one of ten collaborations to receive funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of its “Strong Universities of Applied Sciences – Impulse for the Region” (FH-Impuls) measures.
LaNDER³ focuses on natural-fibre-reinforced plastics, which are not only especially stable, resource-friendly and environmentally compatible, but also exceptionally lightweight. These plastics are primarily used in the vehicle industry. Vehicle manufacturers have used natural-fibre-reinforced plastics in vehicle interiors, including for door panels and fittings, for decades. Natural-fibre-reinforced plastics were even used for the entire frame of the Trabant, the cult car of East Germany, which is why it weighed so little and didn’t rust. A new, promising application for natural-fibre-reinforced plastics is electric mobility, as the lighter electric vehicles are, the better their efficiency and range. Materials based on natural fibres could also prove their worth as innovative filter materials for water and air purification.
The success of biocompatible materials has long been hindered by material properties that are inferior to those of glass and carbon fibre-reinforced materials. Standardised production is also problematic at present due to the fluctuating properties of natural materials. These two aspects not only have a negative impact on prices, but also hinder any efforts to open up new fields of application.
Companies which succeed in using natural-fibre-reinforced plastics more efficiently and sustainably in new applications can therefore benefit from a legitimate competitive advantage. The plastic processing industry is deeply rooted in Upper Lusatia with many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). LaNDER³ is ideal for these SMEs, which are hopeful that the partnership with the university will provide inspiration for their business. “We got involved in LaNDER³ to identify solutions for producing natural-fibre-reinforced plastics more efficiently and sustainably and exploiting new applications,” says Dr Matthias Kinne, LaNDER³ Project Coordinator, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG). “We examine the entire life cycle, from extraction of natural resources to recycling. We analyse each station and think about where we could save energy, simplify processes and optimise procedures. We also use any waste materials to generate energy ourselves for the production of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics.”
The LaNDER³ partners from science and business have worked together in four research projects to date: two impulse, one explorative and one SME project. The entire process chain has been reproduced at a dedicated research centre on the university’s central campus. The project teams get together there on a regular basis to carry out research in realistic conditions and share information across the board.
Efficient and sustainable, from the extraction of natural resources to manufacturing and recycling
Initial solutions for the different life cycle stations of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics, from the extraction of natural resources to processing and recycling:
Raw materials:
The raw materials required for the production of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics do not need to be cultivated, but already exist: LaNDER³ uses biomass in the form of green and agricultural waste sourced from regional farms as the natural basis for the production of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics. The fibres are extracted from the biomass using special pulping processes and undergo biotechnological preparation. Any organic waste is separated and converted into biogas in a special reactor. Inorganic waste such as phosphate is also separated, prepared and further processed.
Production:
In production, it’s all about improving component properties and changing the surface characteristics of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics with processes tailored to the material in use. This should open the door to new applications for components made from natural-fibre-reinforced plastics, with a focus on research and the development of intelligent, connected and efficient manufacturing processes for efficient components made from natural-fibre-reinforced plastics.
Recycling:
The partners develop and optimise innovative processing technologies for products and materials made from natural-fibre-reinforced plastics. State-of-the-art sensor and data processing technologies sort out recyclable parts made from natural-fibre-reinforced plastics and reintroduce them into the process chain, whilst non-recyclable materials are converted into energy for the local energy supply using special systems.
New applications for natural-fibre-reinforced plastics
In addition to optimising processes, research activities also focus on exploiting new applications for natural-fibre-reinforced plastics. Collaboration partners thus work on changing the surface properties of natural fibres, so that they can be flexibly tailored to different manufacturing processes. Experts also conduct research on manufacturing materials based on natural fibres for efficient air and water purification.
Benefits for everyone involved
For the companies
++ New applications, new markets
++ Knowledge exchange
++ Increased investment in research and development, for example, through satellite projects
++ Long project duration for planning security
++ Network access
++ Qualified specialists
For the UAS
++ Funding enables investments in the scientific infrastructure and expansion of the university’s research profile
++ Student acquisition and retention through state-of-the-art equipment as well as a key focus on practical applications thanks to close collaboration with regional companies
++ Higher planning security for projects and investments due to long-term funding
For the region
++ Reputation as a national science and business hub
++ New jobs through company growth and corporate spin-offs
Benefits for everyone involved
For the companies
++ New applications, new markets
++ Knowledge exchange
++ Increased investment in research and development, for example, through satellite projects
++ Long project duration for planning security
++ Network access
++ Qualified specialists
For the UAS
++ Funding enables investments in the scientific infrastructure and expansion of the university’s research profile
++ Student acquisition and retention through state-of-the-art equipment as well as a key focus on practical applications thanks to close collaboration with regional companies
++ Higher planning security for projects and investments due to long-term funding
For the region
++ Reputation as a national science and business hub
++ New jobs through company growth and corporate spin-offs
Questions to...
... Matthias Schwarzbach, IHK Dresden, head of the Zittau branch, member of the LaNDER3 Advisory Board
What are the Advisory Board’s responsibilities?
We assume the role of moderator for all projects within the network and promote exchange between the various project participants. The Advisory Board meets every six months and is always hosted by one of the participating companies. Each meeting is accompanied by a company tour, which allows the partners to get acquainted with their competitors’ business in a practical context and find valuable inspiration.
What do you like most about LaNDER³?
LaNDER³ examines the entire process chain associated with the life cycle of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics, from the cradle to the grave, so to speak. Recycling, in particular, offers huge potential. If you no longer have to dispose of plastic components, but instead can at least reuse parts of them, that drastically increases the sustainability of the materials. For example, disposal of modern high-performance materials made from carbon fibre-reinforced plastics has become a problem worldwide. It takes much more energy, as incineration of carbon fibres requires temperatures of 1,200 to 1,300 degrees. Natural-fibre-reinforced plastics offers an environmentally and climate-friendly alternative and thus a large market for our regional companies. That’s ultimately how we’re driving structural change in Upper Lusatia with LaNDER³.
... Christian Prescher, co-founder and product developer, Strucnamics Engineering GmbH, Dresden
Your company has been a partner since early 2017 and a recipient of LaNDER³ funding (SME project) since 2019. Which projects are you involved in and how?
Strucnamics has developed a special software for ensuring quality control as the composite materials harden. With our involvement in LaNDER³, we want to further develop this software. It’s not just about monitoring this one special process with software, but also other processes involved in the production of composite materials. The topic of natural-fibre-reinforced plastics is particularly attractive to us because we see a sustainable future for composite material technology.
How do you benefit from participation in LaNDER³?
As a project partner, we can try out new things and expand our knowledge without any sort of cost pressure. The project provides us with direct access to state-of-the-art system technology that we otherwise wouldn’t have. Research into natural-fibre-reinforced plastics also offers us the opportunity to get involved in new, promising technologies, as we’re confident that LaNDER³ will expand natural-fibre-reinforced plastics from a niche product for the vehicle industry to a leading material in the plastic processing industry.
(Text: Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e.V. / Technopolis Group Deutschland)