Reallabor Nivelstein – Sustainable Structures for a Future-oriented Raw Material Supply

A secure and sustainable supply of raw materials is one of the societal challenges of our time. At the same time, the extraction of raw materials itself faces challenges of great complexity. These include, among others, the trend towards lower grade deposits, increasing requirements for carbon neutral raw material extraction and rapid advancements in digital technologies. To meet this complexity, the focus is increasingly on interdisciplinary approaches and the integration and involvement of different actors. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular do not usually have their own research, development and innovation (RDI) departments to account for increasing demands with existing capabilities. Universities and other research institutions, in contrast, usually lack access to industry partners and industrial sites in the immediate vicinity as well as to industrial production processes in order to develop and evaluate technologies and solution approaches under relevant, real-world conditions. In the living lab Nivelstein a research, development and innovation infrastructure is currently being created in cooperation between the Nivelsteiner Sandwerke und Sandsteinbrüche GmbH and RWTH Aachen University, in which solutions for a sustainable raw material supply can be developed and tested in a real environment.

1  Research and development for a future-oriented raw material supply

Germany is a resource-rich country with a large number of high-quality primary deposits and is self-sufficient in some raw materials. (1) In addition, Germany has a distinctive mining equipment and technology supply industry, which develops and produces products that are in demand worldwide in many areas. In the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in particular, there is a unique cluster of competencies in the field of raw materials extraction. This cluster relies on a regional concentration of institutions and companies contributing excellence in research, training, innovation and technology embedded in an environment that is open to technology development and promotes innovation. (2) However, the secure and sustainable supply of raw materials today faces challenges with high complexity. These include, among others, the trend towards lower grade deposits, increasing requirements for carbon neutral raw material extraction and rapid advancements in digital technologies.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular do not usually have their own research, development and innovation (RDI) departments to account for increasing demands with existing capabilities. Universities and other research institutions, in contrast, usually lack access to industry partners and industrial sites in the immediate vicinity as well as to industrial production processes in order to develop and evaluate technologies and solution approaches under relevant, real-world conditions. The main reasons for this are the different scale of laboratory compared to industry processes as well as the challenging harsh environmental conditions which are hardly simulated in laboratory. Secondly, high safety requirements in the constantly evolving processes in the field of raw material extraction and processing challenge universities to regularly carry out field testing work.

In order to be able to reconcile demand-oriented raw material extraction with sustainable land, water and energy management as well as quality optimization of the extracted and processed products, new technologies and approaches are required. Through the cooperation of stakeholders from the fields of education and training, research and industry, technological innovations can be fostered and new opportunities can be created through long-term cooperation. In the past, cooperation between education, research and industry has often proved to be a challenge. Differing objectives and approaches, the lack of a common basis for cooperation – such as the point of view on the content or problem or the given infrastructure – as well as often complicated and lengthy paths to public funding for research projects, are frequently mentioned as constraints to efficient and cooperative research and development.

In contrast, cooperative and collaborative research and development projects can offer great potential to all parties involved. Ideally, the mining companies, as well as the numerous suppliers, provide educational and research institutions with insights into current problems and the state of the art of the technology used. In exchange, these industrial companies represent important test fields for education and research. Consequently, education and research provide industrial companies with access to current and future technology developments as well as educate talent. The cooperation outlined above requires trust as well as close and long-term cooperation on the part of all parties involved. Establishing these types of double helix cooperative structures is the intention behind the Reallabor Nivelstein. The Reallabor Nivelstein is a cooperation project between the Nivelsteiner Sandwerke und Sandsteinbrüche GmbH (NSW), Herzogenrath/Germany, and the RWTH Aachen University, Aachen/Germany, represented by the Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT, directed by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elisabeth Clausen) and the Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Aufbereitung Mineralischer Rohstoffe (AMR, directed by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hermann Wotruba), which aims to contribute to the future viability and sustainability of domestic raw material supply (3).

The Reallabor Nivelstein is a joint research infrastructure of two partners of RWTH on the premises of NSW, which is described in more detail in the following section. For the activities in the Reallabor Nivelstein, bringing together relevant actors, including future key technologies and develop interdisciplinary solution strategies are key factors for success (Figure 1).

NSW is an innovative medium-sized family business and a producer of high-quality quartz sand and sand and gravel. In addition, one of the largest photovoltaic plants in North-Rhine Westphalia is located on the property of the quarry. The AMT is specialized in research and technology development in the field of automation and digitalization of machines and processes in underground and surface mining and is known for its combination of fundamental research and applied industry-related research and teaching. The AMR is the only university institution in Germany that focuses on the field of mineral processing. AMR’s research focuses on technical and economic as well as environmental aspects of mineral processing. Due to the close cooperation between AMT and AMR in the past, excellent research results could already be achieved that even resulted in receiving the German Raw Materials Efficiency Award 2020 for a collaborative project.

2  Living lab Nivelstein

Living labs or so-called regulatory sandboxes in general are considered test spaces for innovation and regulation and make it possible to test innovative technologies and business models under real conditions that still face limitations in the general legal framework. (4)The working method of living labs is based on a transdisciplinary and, moreover, transformative approach, which often involves civil society in addition to actors from science and practice. (5) Due to the relevance and diversity of living labs, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has published a handbook on the purpose, structure, legal framework and other aspects. (6) At least as important as a clear legal framework and the economic feasibility and promotion of a living lab is the compilation of relevant core partners as well as the development of a common vision and resulting strategic roadmap.

Research and development of novel processes and products for a sustainable raw material extraction and processing are at the core of the activities in the living lab Nivelstein. Physically, this living lab comprises a research laboratory as well as the use of the infrastructure of the existing mining operation

• to link and connect research and industry;
• to carry out joint cooperative research projects;
• to support competence-oriented university teaching and the combination of theoretical content with practical relevance in teaching; as well as
• to support the transfer of technology and knowledge.

As part of this cooperation, NSW is providing the research facility on their premises, which was equipped by RWTH institutes with internal RWTH funding from the Excellence Initiative (7). In addition to AMT and AMR, the Chair of Information and Automation Systems for Process and Materials Engineering (formerly PLT, directed by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tobias Kleinert) was also involved in this Exploratory Research Space (ERS) project. The research facility has a pilot plant area on the first floor and adjacent co-working space on the upper floor. In the living lab, modular pilot plants with process elements of raw material extraction and processing can be set up. The co-working space (Figure 2) with its six open workplaces, a coffee area as well as a meeting area offer the necessary equipment for regular research activities as well as workshops and teaching events. In the past months, a modern IT infrastructure as well as the basic equipment for the office, workshop and laboratory area could be created, so that the living lab Nivelstein is almost ready for work and the first events and project meetings could be organized.

In terms of content and subject matter, the living lab Nivelstein offers ideal opportunities to explore and further develop fundamental research approaches for sustainable and responsible raw material extraction. At the core, this involves:

• the development of autonomous systems for the extraction of primary raw materials;
• the development of resource- and energy-efficient systems; and
• the development of climate-neutral systems, products and services.

From AMT’s point of view, the living lab Nivelstein offers – among many other aspects – the possibility to tackle the specific challenges of mine automation and digitalization topics in a protected “experimental space”. These challenges, which can be assumed to be in some aspects similar for every mine worldwide but must be technically evaluated individually, are summarized in Figure 3.

Automation and digitalization in the raw materials industry are mostly affected by one or more of the challenges depicted in Figure 3. Many of these challenges can be addressed in the living lab Nivelstein in iterative processes and with novel methods in an environment that cultivates tolerance towards errors to promote learning and innovation. The question arises, e. g., as to which technology can be used to make the 1.5 M m² site digitally accessible, which is currently largely not connected to a network infrastructure, or how the data on the mobile and stationary machines and systems of various manufacturers can be utilized. In addition, new approaches to tracking material flows and qualities, or mapping and navigation solutions for the further development of autonomous driving based on novel sensor technologies and algorithms can be developed and tested.

Last but not least, the comprehensive research facility and direct links to the production processes provide an opportunity for small and medium-sized mining companies and machine suppliers, that have often been rather rarely involved in research projects, to work on a specific set of problems. By carrying out these kinds of collaborative research projects, especially those companies that could be particularly negatively affected by structural change in the Rhenish area could benefit from developing their innovation capabilities.

From a processing technology perspective, the living lab Nivel-stein offers AMR an excellent infrastructure and starting point for carrying out research projects on a pilot plant scale. In the pilot plant area of the living lab, comminution, classification or sorting processes or any combination of the three process types can be implemented and continuously operated on a pilot scale. On the one hand, this creates an opportunity for validating laboratory results with larger sample quantities, and on the other hand, with appropriate sensor technology equipment, process data can be recorded over longer periods of time in order to identify possible automation potential in the processing area or to support the development of process models. Of course, this does not exclusively refer to the processes of conventional sand and gravel production, but also to novel methods of sensor-based sorting of any processing of mineral primary and secondary raw materials.

For PLT, the living lab Nivelstein offers a platform for the development and testing of novel automation and digitisation concepts for raw material extraction and processing from systems engineering perspectives. Standardised and mutually compatible metadata, data and information models are developed as a basis for this (8). Based on this, possibilities for the organised and systematic collection, integration and storage of data from different sources, e. g., production plants and equipment, software systems and separately installed sensors, can be researched so that automatic data processing for subsequent data evaluation is possible. Furthermore, the question of which functions and components an autonomous system for raw material extraction and processing should at least contain is a research topic that should not be neglected. This is a necessary first step in system development.

For those involved at RWTH, the possibility of short development and iteration cycles in combination with the inherent interdisciplinarity of the participating departments and the close connection to the business of raw material production is particularly valuable. Through the research and development infrastructure created, the living lab Nivelstein opens up methodologically innovative types of cooperation with opportunities for value creation by and for all participants.

3  Next steps in the living lab Nivelstein

Beside a sensor-based selective extraction of an autonomously acting dredge and demand-driven controlled sand drying fed from PV power, numerous concrete research questions of the cooperation partners as well as other potential partners have already been identified collaboratively. In addition to the opportunities arising from integrating the processes, there are many opportunities for optimizing the process chain. For the integration of renewable energies in energy-intensive mining processes the partners are currently involved in several research proposals that are in the review phase.

In addition to the successful completion of the RWTH internal project to establish the working capability of the living lab (Figure 4), university teaching in the living lab though inhibited by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – is also beginning to take its first steps. Some of the technical focal points of the living lab outlined above are currently being developed in the form of student theses. In addition, the Nivelstein site serves as a positive example of sustainable mining of mineral raw materials and subsequent use as a case study in a first-semester course of the B.Sc. Sustainable Raw Materials and Energy Supply (NREV) degree program at RWTH.

It may also be mentioned, that the knowledge gained from the work should help to secure the attractiveness of the region (Nivelstein –> Herzogenrath –> Aachen –> North-Rhine Westphalia –> Germany) in the research landscape in the area of sustainable raw material extraction and processing in the long term. Through synergies of the above-mentioned aspects, intended spin-offs can be supported in a targeted manner. This enables the living lab to actively promote a positive start-up culture within the region.

In 2022, the regular operation of research and development in the living lab Nivelstein will start, realized through collaborative research projects, preparation of theses, organization of workshops and courses as well as numerous other formats. The project partners also want to intend the network of the living lab Nivelstein this year and are looking for innovative and interested research and innovation partners.

4  Summary

In the living lab Nivelstein a research, development and innovation infrastructure is currently being established in cooperation between NSW and RWTH aiming at the development and testing of solutions for one of the societal challenges of our time – a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials – in a real environment. A special feature is the cooperative and open approach, which enables industry and research partners to jointly develop and test novel technologies and products, processes or services.

If this article has attracted interest in a potential collaboration in the living lab Nivelstein, please contact the main author Sebastian Graszk (sgraszk[at]amt.rwth-aachen.de).