RWTH Aachen

Das 18. Antriebstechnische Kolloquium wird am 12. und 13. März 2019 im Eurogress Aachen stattfinden. Das ATK wird seit 1987 im zweijährigen Turnus veranstaltet.

Das ATK versteht sich als interdisziplinäre Plattform zum Erfahrungs- und Ideenaustausch zwischen Forschern, Entwicklern und Anwendern auf dem Gebiet der Antriebstechnik. Darüber hinaus soll das ATK den Austausch zwischen Industrie und Hochschule fördern.

The Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT) of the RWTH Aachen University is taking over the presidency of the European Rock Extraction Research Group. Abbreviated to EUREG, the group is a network of the RWTH Aachen University, the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, the Clausthal University of Technology and the Montanuniversität Leoben. Its objective is to intensify research in the area of rock excavation in mining and tunnel construction.

“Automation in mining is one of the most pressing goals for efficient and safe supply with mineral raw materials in future. Sensors are an essential component of this,” says Thomas Bartnitzki, senior lecturer at the AMT. The RWTH “RockCutting” research group is developing a sensor system that will enable an autonomous mining machine to decide which material to extract (Figure 1). The machine’s most important “sense” is its hearing. It can hear which types of rock lie underneath the surface. “We are channelling our expertise into the research group”, says Bartnitzki.

The presidency changes every year. During its term, AMT will be focussing on developing the research blog at www.eureg.blog and planning the first “International Conference on High Performance Mining” (www.high-performance-mining.com), which is set to take place on 4th and 5th December 2018 in Aachen. The conference is a platform for exchange between industry, research institutions and associations. Leading mining companies and technology providers will be using practical examples to provide an insight into success factors for the mining of the future. (RWTH/Si.)

The First International Conference “Mines of the Future” took place in Aachen in May 2018. Prof. Bernd Lottermoser as conference chair took again the opportunity to focus within the renowned Aachen International Mining Symposia (AIMS conference series) on the key issue Mines of the Future (Figure 1). Having attracted more than 230 participants from 30 countries, the two-day conference was an extraordinary success. The conference’s agenda contained more than 90 expert contributions, covering a wide variety of current topics in mining as well as other related fields. A large number of speakers, among them representatives from universities, government authorities, the mining industry and consulting companies put forward their latest findings relevant to the selected topics of technological advances and innovation, best practices and benchmarking and responsible and sustainable mining. Furthermore, eleven different exhibitors seized the opportunity to present their latest products and developments to an international audience (Figure 2).

Prof. Lottermoser and his staff of the Institute of Mineral Resources Engineering (MRE) are delighted with the conference’s outcomes and already look forward to the next AIMS conference in 2019. (RWTH/Si.)

At the start of 2018, the RWTH Aachen University invited 200 miners to take part in a blood testing study looking at PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl). RAG AG, based in Essen/Germany, initiated the study in a bid to shed some light on the subject.

The RAG Company Medical Centre (CMC) is responsible for taking the blood samples and performing medical history checks. A sampling of at least 200 miners is required to provide meaningful comparisons with the possible contamination level of the general population. The CMC is passing the samples and documents on to the Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine (IASU) at the RWTH Aachen University hospital. The institute is undertaking the analyses under the leadership of Prof. Thomas Kraus, a highly regarded expert in the field of PCB.

Every stage of the study is being conducted in close coordination with an extensive steering committee, who developed the scientific concept, incorporated an ethics committee and clarified data protection issues.

In the period from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, hydraulic oils containing PCB were used underground for fire safety reasons. Following a disaster in a Belgian mine in the 1950s, the mining authorities instructed all mining companies to switch to difficult-to-ignite hydraulic oils, which contained PCB at that time. The hazard potential of PCB was assessed differently back then. (RAG/Si.)

On 14th and 15th November 2017, experts of science and industry joined together with representatives of relevant associations in the Tivoli centre, Aachen/Germany, to discuss the latest on the digitalisation of mining. The Smart Mining Conference was organised by the Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT) of the RWTH Aachen University together with the Mining Association of the German Engineering Foundation (VDMA) and DMT GmbH & Co. KG.

This was the second event exploring the subject of mining in the era of Industry 4.0, and this time the 200-person capacity was filled. The organiser concluded that attendance was extremely high for all the presentations – a clear sign that the event is extremely topical.

Forum Bergbau 4.0 has been held every other year since 2015. The event is designed to facilitate conversation among key figures from industry, research and relevant associations, enabling them to exchange ideas on the growing use of digital technologies in mining. Digitalisation is considered at an international level and from a range of different perspectives.

This year, the 24 presentations looked at the cycle of data in mining and how it can be processed securely in the age of Industry 4.0: Topics included ruggedised sensors, i. e. which data can withstand the conditions of mines, how to process data securely in the big data era, and ensuring communication between machines is standardized and secure. The organisers set out to establish connections and raise awareness for the necessary interfaces. This is firstly because there is still a high degree of variation in terms of the technology available internationally, and secondly because mining operations cannot be automated until communication is standardised.

The mining industry is unanimous in its goal to realise a future of autonomous mining. The main benefits of this would be that humans need no longer work below ground in dangerous locations and the physical impact on mines would be significantly reduced – i. e. minimising the repercussions for people and the environment. These questions are also fundamentally important to the future existence of mining, e. g. in marine mining or extraterrestrial mining.

To make the forum more internationally accessible, the presentations on both days were conducted in German and in English. Guests and speakers from 16 different nations swapped notes on the latest developments in mining technology in their respective countries and made new contacts during the evening event. A major highlight of the forum was the opening address by Erich Schnake, Deputy Minister for Mining in the Republic of Chile. The German-Chilean Raw Materials Forum was held in the same conference centre shortly before, which meant Forum Bergbau 4.0 was able to secure a prestigious delegation of speakers from Chile.

Besides giving participants the opportunity to exchange ideas, Forum Bergbau 4.0 also sets out to promote and develop Germany’s international reputation as a leader in technological innovation (Figure 1).

All the organising parties deemed the event such a success that they are already discussing plans for the next Forum Bergbau 4.0 in 2019. These include the possibility of additional formats, such as a company-wide app contest. There are also plans to give young innovatives a platform to showcase the topic of innovation in mining. Other topics on the agenda include shared standards, IT security and legal questions surrounding data ownership.

In general, however, the organisers painted an extremely positive picture in their closing speech, describing those affected by digitalisation as significantly more responsive and embracing than they had been two years earlier. In short, digitalisation is now an everyday feature of the mining industry. (RWTH/Si.)

The 2nd International Conference “Mining in Europe” took place in Aachen/Germany in June 2017. Prof. Bernd Lottermoser as conference chair took again the opportunity to focus within the renowned Aachen International Mining Symposia (AIMS conference series) on the key issue Mining in Europe. Having attracted more than 200 participants from 22 countries, the two-day conference was an extraordinary success. The conference’s agenda contained more than 70 expert contributions, covering a wide variety of current topics in mining as well as other related fields. A large number of speakers, among them representatives from universities, government authorities, the mining industry and consulting companies put forward their latest findings relevant to the selected topics of Responsible Mining, Mining Technologies and Mineral Resources. Furthermore, 13 different exhibitors seized the opportunity to present their latest products and developments to an international audience (Figure 1).

Prof. Lottermoser and his staff of the Institute of Mineral Resources Engineering (MRE) are delighted with the conference’s outcomes and already look forward to the next AIMS conference. Starting a new conference series, the AIMS 2018 conference will be the 1st International Conference Mines of the Future taking place during 23rd to 24th May 2018. Key topics will be technological advances and innovation, best practices and benchmarking, as well as responsible and sustainable mining. RWTH Aachen University’s lecture hall complex PPS will provide a most appropriate setting to foster a dialogue among mining expects. The accompanying dinner party will take place in the sophisticated ambience of the Coronation Hall located within Aachen’s historic City Hall. Having been the site of numerous coronation feasts for kings and princes over centuries, the MRE is looking forward to welcoming conference participants from near and far once again.
(RWTH/Si.)

The Maintenance Monitoring Control Conference AKIDA with exhibition has a long tradition at RWTH Aachen University. It was organized by Prof. Andreas Seeliger for the first time in 1996. Since then, it has been providing a platform for communication between science and industry every two years.

This year, AKIDA took place from 15th to 16th November in the Technology Center Aachen/Germany with about 80 participants and was organized by Prof. Karl Nienhaus, Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies at the RWTH. The keynote “Everything 4.0 and everything is fine?” by Prof. Bruno van den Heuvel critically examined the topic of Industry 4.0 in maintenance. Which contents of the agenda Industry 4.0 are relevant and useful for maintenance? Not only in the keynote, but also in many lectures, the availability and processing of large amounts of data was discussed. A recurring question of great interest dealt with the assigned rights on these provided company data. In various lectures, examples from research and industrial practice were presented. A final answer to the legal questions is still pending. The question of whether data from different companies with the same machines are allowed to be compared by service providers, as well as which data are relevant, has been discussed controversially. Furthermore, the meaning of the term “smart maintenance” in the sessions of the same name was discussed, especially with regard to the resulting changes in maintenance.

Numerous discussions took place on the exhibition, including the exhibitors of all booths (Figure 6). Here, various companies presented their exhibition equipment using small test benches. The miniaturized measuring cards and mobile sensors, which can be used flexibly at the plants, were of special interest. This interest was countered by the critical examination of the added value of these sensors in the discussions.

The discussions showed that Industry 4.0 is to be viewed as evolution, not as revolution. However, this evolution offers innovation potential for maintenance purposes.

The next AKIDA in Aachen will be held from 4th to 5th December 2018. (RWTH, Si.)

Aachener Kolloquium für Instandhaltung, Diagnose und Anlagenüberwachung (AKIDA)

Das AKIDA 2016 findet nicht mehr wie gewohnt im Eurogress statt, sondern im Technologiezentrum Aachen. In der Nähe des Europaplatzes bietet das Technologiezentrum ein Tagungszentrum mit offener Ausstellungsfläche. Hier können unsere Aussteller nicht nur das Publikum der Fachtagung erreichen, sondern auch alle weiteren Besucher und Mitarbeiter am Technologiezentrum in Aachen.

Das AKIDA ist seit 1996 eine etablierte deutschsprachige Konferenz für Instandhaltung, Diagnose und Anlagenüberwachung. Durch unsere Nähe zu Belgien, Niederlanden und Luxembourg, möchten wir unsere Konferenz auch für das internationale Publikum öffnen. Daher ist der Call for Paper dieses Jahr nicht nur in deutscher, sondern auch in englischer Sprache erschienen. Es ist geplant die Konferenz durch Dolmetscher für das deutsche und englischsprachige Publikum zugänglich zu machen.

Auch 2016 bietet das AKIDA ein Forum für Fachleute aus Industrie sowie Vertreter der Universitäten, um sich über Trends und Neuentwicklungen zu informieren, aber auch um über aktuelle Problemstellungen zu diskutieren und Anstöße zu neuartigen Lösungskonzepten zu geben.

In an official ceremony held in the Aachen City Ratskeller the Wilhelm Heinrich Sobbe Foundation prizes for the best final theses in raw materials engineering 2014 were awarded for the third time to the Raw Materials and Waste Disposal Technology Division at RWTH Aachen University.

The award for the best Bachelor’s thesis went to Violetta Storoschewich for her work ‘Deep-sea winning of massive sulphide deposits: developing a cost model to assess the cost effectiveness of future seabed mining projects’, while the best Master’s award was picked up by Mark Linssen for his thesis ‘Development and assessment of a strategy for storage optimisation using load displacement, with allowance for the local geomechanical conditions, based on the example of the EGL gas storage facility’. Finally, the award for the best doctoral dissertation went to Dr.-Ing. Christopher Robben for his work ‘Characteristics of sensor-based sorting technology and implementation in mining’.

Prof. Dr. phil. Rainer Slotta, a member of the board of trustees of the Dortmund-based Wilhelm Heinrich Sobbe Foundation, used the awards ceremony to recall the life of Friedrich-Wilhelm Sobbe, who bequeathed his entire estate to the Foundation on his death in 2008. Up to that time he was the owner of the Sobbe company, the Dortmund Derne-based detonator manufacturing firm that was founded in 1909 and is still thriving to this day. Sobbe’s production programme includes electrical and mechanical detonators, ignition cables, pyrotechnic assemblies and a whole range of special products. The Foundation’s work includes the advancement of teaching and research in the field of mining, with a special focus on the promotion of young scientists. Prizes of 1,500, 2,500 and 4,000 € were awarded in recognition of the best thesis work. (RWTH Aachen/Si)