Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics

Departments of the Institute

Energy Systems Analysis at the DLR

Because of the inherent inertia of the energy system, any decisions taken in the energy sector have particularly long term impacts. Opportunities offered by new technologies and potential negative consequences on the environment and on society can be identified in time by provident and pro-active decision making. A pre-requisite for such a course of action is a thorough understanding of complex systems, which allows decision makers to find a balance between the technical and economic possibilities of to-day, and the long term development perspectives.

Thermal Process Technology

With about 50 members of staff, the department of Thermal Process Technology is concerned with energy storage, thermal management and heat exchange topics. These topics are of importance to all fields of energy use and energy supply.
Apart from applications in the fields of industrial process heat, combined heat and power and fossil power plants, thermal energy storages are developed and qualified for solar thermal power plants. The significance of energy storage for the power plant sector is reinforced by the demands on net stability with an increasing share of renewable electricity production and by the recent developments in the field of solar thermal power plants, to cover the increasing electricity demand in central Europe. Innovative storage concepts for a temperature range from 100 to 1000 °C are being developed and realized in the department. The technologies under development cover sensible heat storage based on liquid and solid materials, latent heat storage and thermochemical systems.

Electrochemical Energy Technology

The section Electrochemical Energy Technology, a team of about 60 persons, develops efficient electrochemical storage and conversion devices, namely electrolysers, fuel cells, and advanced batteries. These technologies are becoming more important in future energy systems due to the transformation of the energy sector in Germany. Our activities range from materials development, cell design, stack development, manufacturing and advanced diagnostics up to system optimization. For specific innovative applications we develop demonstrators and prototypes. Scientific and technical challenges for electrochemical energy technology include finding solutions to conflicting goals of efficiency, durability, safety, reliability and cost reduction.

Fuel Cells at Oldenburg

At our site in Oldenburg we handle all fuel cell technology related issues regarding a successful market launch. In addition to performance optimisation, system durability is also an important factor in the analysis of profitability of fuel cell components and systems. With our expertise in application conditions, we make a significant contribution to the implementation of new system approaches through new components and materials.

Computational Electrochemistry

The further improvement of performance, durability and cost of fuel cells and batteries requires a detailed understanding of the fundamental physical, chemical, and fluid mechanical processes occurring within the cell. At the Computational Electrochemistry, multi-scale and multi-physics models as well as modern numerical simulation methods are developed and applied. Our particular expertise is in the area of microstructure-resolved simulations. The activities are dedicated to solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC), as well as lithium-ion, post-lithium-ion, and post-lithium batteries.

Gruppe Energiesystemintegration

Die Gruppe arbeitet an der Entwicklung von effizienten Batteriesystemen und effektiven, multifunktionalen Brennstoffzellensystemen für stationäre und mobile Anwendungen. Die Arbeiten beinhalten sowohl die Auswahl geeigneter Komponenten als auch den gezielten Systementwurf, basierend auf detaillierten Modellierungen und Simulationsrechnungen. Der maßgeschneiderte Systemaufbau richtet sich dabei nach der spezifischen Anwendung und deren Anforderungen, beispielsweise für die Bordstromerzeugung (Auxiliary Power Unit – APU) für A320 Flugzeuge und den Antrieb in Luftfahrtanwendungen, für Anwendungen im mobilen Bereich oder für die stationäre Energieversorgung. Erklärtes Ziel der Arbeiten im Fachgebiet Elektrochemische Systeme ist die Übertragung wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse aus der elektrochemischen Grundlagenforschung in die Anwendung unter Berücksichtigung etablierter, industrienaher und qualitätsabgesicherter Entwicklungsprozesse.