Lecturer

Adj. Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Jan Frenzel

Data

Lecture no.: 137400
Semester: Winter Term
Event type: Lecture
Language: German
Contact hours: 4
Credit points: 5
Programs:

• B.Sc. Materials Science
• B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering
• B.Sc. Sales Engineering and Product Management
• B.Sc. Environmental Engineering

Description

In our world, prosperity can only arise if we manufacture technically sophisticated goods that are useful, aesthetically appealing, energy-efficient and, moreover, place little burden on the environment, all at competitive prices. Modern technology is also characterized by keeping the consumption of materials per unit of technical benefit as low as possible, even as overall complexity increases. In technical systems, the cycles of different materials come together over the service life of the respective system. Once a system has reached the end of its technically usable service life, there are two possible extreme cases, both of which are addressed in this lecture. In the best case, recycling can produce secondary raw material from waste. This can be achieved through the reuse of materials, but also through material or energy recovery. The use of secondary raw materials conserves natural resources and contributes to sustainable development. The least favorable approach consists, for example, in using incineration to disperse the atoms of a used material extremely finely across the Earth's surface, in water or in the atmosphere. Against this background, this lecture examines and evaluates material cycles from a materials-science perspective. Particular attention is also given to aspects of sustainability. The resources of our planet are finite, and a significant scarcity of certain key raw materials is to be expected in the future, the first signs of which we are already feeling today. Both the production of materials from primary sources (minerals, ores) and from secondary sources (recycling) is associated with a high energy demand, with the emission of pollutants and often with further forms of environmental impact (frequently irreversible). These aspects must be taken into account in the long term with a view to a sustainable metallurgy.