Press releases

Measurement technology is indispensible to the use of hydrogen as an energy source. Sensors that reliably detect leaks in storage tanks, pipelines and supply points are needed to ensure that hydrogen infrastructure is operated safely. Fraunhofer IPM has been working with partners from science and industry for exactly one year on the TransHyDE joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which aims to develop new sensor designs that can ensure the safety of hydrogen technology, enable hydrogen purity measurements and determine H2 content in natural gas grids.

Fluorescence measurement technology has so far been used almost exclusively for qualitative analyses. Now, for the first time, a team of researchers at Fraunhofer IPM is successfully using the method to obtain quantitative measurements with a high local resolution, and is receiving the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize in recognition of this achievement.

In car body manufacturing, it is far more difficult to process aluminum blanks than their steel counterparts. One key parameter determining the quality of metal forming is the thickness of the lubrication layer on the blank surface. The F-Scanner fluorescence measurement system is the only device capable of performing spatially resolved measurements of this layer thickness during production. Four F-Scanners have now been delivered to a US automobile manufacturer where they will be used to ensure the quality of car body parts.

Dams are amongst the most closely monitored structures in Germany. However, traditional methods for surveying the basin of a reservoir are very time-consuming and produce comparatively imprecise data. On behalf of the Weiden Water Management Authority, GeoGroup GmbH and Fraunhofer IPM have now conducted a survey of 100 percent of the Liebensteinspeicher reservoir in Germany’s Upper Palatinate region. The resulting high-precision 3D data provides insights into the reservoir volume, the water table area and the depth of the lake.

Quantum mechanically entangled light particles break down the boundaries of conventional optics and allow a glimpse into previously invisible wavelength ranges, thus bringing about new possibilities for imaging techniques, microscopy and spectroscopy. Unearthing these possibilities and creating technological solutions was the goal of the Fraunhofer lighthouse project QUILT. Fraunhofer IPM contributed to the success of the project by a world first, the »Quantum FTIR«, which is the quantum optical equivalent to the classical Fourier transform spectrometer.

At the moment, industry is lacking in robust sensors that can withstand extremely high temperatures and pressures. Eight Fraunhofer Institutes have now developed a technology platform for building this type of sensor systems as part of the “eHarsh” lighthouse project. These are even capable of monitoring the insides of turbines and deep boreholes for geothermal systems.

With an innovative concept for heat transfer, researchers at Fraunhofer IPM together with industrial partners have been able to significantly increase the efficiency of magnetocaloric cooling systems. As part of a follow-up project, the team plans to apply this new technology to a refrigerator for medical products and further develop the technology to work towards marketability.

Resistance to antibiotics is on the rise worldwide. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM alongside the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have developed a process for rapidly detecting multidrug-resistant pathogens. The unique feature: Even one single molecule of DNA is sufficient for pathogen detection. In future, the platform could be introduced as part of point-of-care diagnostics on hospital wards or in medical practices as an alternative to the established PCR analyses or in combination with other diagnostic methods. The system will be presented at MEDICA 2021.

Bipolar plates are an essential component of fuel cells and are conventionally made of graphite. When it comes to efficiency and cost-effectiveness, metallic bipolar plates are far superior. However, the material forming process often engenders problems which impact quality. In the AKS-Bipolar research project, Fraunhofer IPM together with the University of Stuttgart and the industrial partners ThyssenKrupp and Chemische Werke Kluthe sets out to develop a digital-holographic sensor for comprehensive, in-line quality control of metallic bipolar plates.

Caloric cooling systems have the potential to become the environmentally-friendly alternative to the widely used compressor-based cooling systems. The greatest challenge elastocaloric systems are facing is ensuring the long-term stability of the elastocaloric material while maintaining a high power density. A system presented by Fraunhofer IPM in the journal Communications Physics outperforms previous systems by several orders of magnitude when it comes to long-term stability – at the same time as achieving a high specific cooling power.