From today on, visitors to the minerals exhibition at TU Bergakademie Freiberg and anyone else who is interested can find out where refractory materials made of ceramics are used - and how they can be reused thanks to innovative research in the Research Training Group Refractories Recycling.
Without them, nothing works in steel, aluminium, glass or cement production. Yet they are hardly known. It's all about refractory materials and their recycling. In the newly designed showcases in the foyer of terra mineralia, doctoral students from TU Bergakademie Freiberg show, among other things, what is meant by refractory materials, what raw materials they are made of and where they are used.
"Refractory materials are silent heroes. As a material for brick linings in steel or aluminium production, for example, they determine the quality and efficiency of the end products," says ceramics professor Christos Aneziris. "The exhibition at terra mineralia shows how both recycling, i.e. the reuse in similar high-temperature materials, and upcycling, i.e. the material upgrading of refractory materials in metallurgical processes, can be improved through innovative research."
How minerals are turned into high-tech materials
The exhibition was designed by doctoral students in a research training group GRK 2802 funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). "The aim of the exhibition is to draw attention to the existence and importance of refractory materials. Discussions during this year's Night of Science and Industry have shown that there is a high level of interest in the research activities of TU Bergakademie Freiberg. As refractory materials are made from natural raw materials, there is also a direct link to terra mineralia," explains Alexander Schramm, one of the doctoral students of the research training group GRK 2802 and author of the exhibition.
New technologies for current challenges
The annual consumption of refractory materials is 28 million tonnes, with only around 7 percent being recycled. One of the tasks of the research group is to investigate the influence of using recycled material on the material properties of the refractory materials and on the quality of the end products. "Scarce resources and the need to reduce energy requirements and CO2 emissions are extremely challenging for the refractory industry. Research in the field of refractory materials contributes to the development of new hybrid firing technologies and the efficient use of smart recycling concepts for industrial high-temperature processes up to 2,000 degrees Celsius."
Visitors can visit the mini-exhibition free of charge from 29 August until the end of 2024.
The exhibition is part of the anniversary year 2024 of the mineral exhibition at TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
Neue Technologien für aktuelle Herausforderungen
Der jährliche Verbrauch feuerfester Werkstoffe liegt bei 28 Millionen Tonnen, wobei nur etwa 7 Prozent recycelt werden. Eine Aufgabe der Forschungsgruppe ist es, den Einfluss der Verwendung recycelten Materials auf die Materialeigenschaften der feuerfesten Werkstoffe sowie auf die Qualität der Endprodukte zu untersuchen. „Knappe Ressourcen und die Notwendigkeit der zur Senkung des Energiebedarfs und der CO2-Emmissionen fordern die Feuerfestindustrie extrem heraus. Die Forschung auf dem Gebiet der feuerfesten Materialien trägt dazu bei, neue Hybrid-Brenntechnologien zu entwickeln und smarte Recycling-Konzepte für industrielle Hochtemperaturprozesse bis 2.000 Grad Celsius effizient einzusetzen.“
Besucherinnen und Besucher können die Mini-Ausstellung ab dem 29. August bis Ende 2024 ohne Eintritt im Foyer der terra mineralia besichtigen.
Die Ausstellung ist Teil des Jubiläumsjahrs 2024 der terra mineralia.