The Freiberg site of the Köppern Group, Köppern Aufbereitungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG, has borne the addition "Institute at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg" since November. The Freiberg-based company is part of Köppern, an international company founded in Hattingen in 1898 and still owner-managed today, a hidden champion of German mechanical and plant engineering. Köppern develops, builds and sells systems and heavy machinery for industrial processes in the fertiliser, building materials, mining, metallurgy and recycling industries worldwide. The two partners will be working even more closely together in future to research the processing and recycling of raw materials for the energy transition. One joint research project centres on the development of briquettes made from iron ore, which can be processed into green steel in hydrogen-powered furnaces in the future.
The TU Bergakademie Freiberg has been cooperating with the mechanical and plant engineering company for several decades. In order to further intensify the cooperation in the future, both partners signed a contract according to which Köppern Aufbereitungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG is now an affiliated institute of the university. "Together with other research institutions and researching companies, our scientists work on innovations and bring technologies into application. The collaboration with the current eleven affiliated institutes is particularly close," explains Rector Prof Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht.
"Technical universities, and TU Bergakademie Freiberg in particular, have a special responsibility when it comes to technical and technological upheavals due to their profile. Scientific findings must be transferred into practice as quickly as possible in order to ensure the competitiveness of German industry. This can be achieved through joint research projects with companies, spin-offs or staff exchanges. All of this strengthens the attractiveness of Freiberg as a location," says Prof Georg Unland.
In the coming years, the collaboration between Köppern and TU Bergakademie will therefore also focus on alternative processes and the machines required to process iron ore.
Iron ore briquettes for green steel
Christopher Schäfer, Managing Partner of the Köppern Group: "Processes and machines, starting with the crushing of the ore and the "refinement" of the iron ore concentrate for the production of suitable pellets for the direct reduction process, through to the hot briquetting of the sponge iron produced, can be further developed together with the TU Bergakademie and even mapped on a semi-industrial scale. State-of-the-art test facilities are available for this purpose at the Institute for Processing Machines and Recycling Systems Technology."
"In addition, in a current research project together with the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, we are investigating the use of AI-supported processes (artificial intelligence) for the further development of potash processing plants for the production of fertilisers for agriculture in order to secure food for a growing world population," says Artur Hubert, Managing Director of Köppern Aufbereitungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG. "Together with industrial partners as well as on a semi-industrial scale, we are developing processes and machines with the TU Bergakademie to make the processing of primary and secondary raw materials even better, more effective, more energy-efficient and more sustainable."
The collaboration is organised at the Institute for Processing Machines and Recycling Systems Technology (IART). In addition to research activities, student training plays a major role. "Over 50 joint student projects have already been supported during the existing collaboration. The new affiliated institute will further deepen and expand this collaboration," says Prof Holger Lieberwirth from IART. "Employees of Köppern Aufbereitungstechnik also support teaching through lectures, seminars and practical programmes."
Background: affiliated institutes of TU Bergakademie Freiberg
An affiliated institute is an independent research institution that cooperates with TU Bergakademie Freiberg on a long-term basis and complements the university's teaching and research programme. They are recognised as affiliated institutes in accordance with the Saxon Higher Education Act (Section 102).