Results / Benefits

Results / Benefits

Terahertz-CT - Computed tomography without the risky "X”

CT is a very powerful tool, usually based on X-rays, that delivers 3D-images of a body's inner structures. What, if we could replace X-rays with non-hazardous light? RECENDT developed exactly that in the PSSP-project.

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Automated Defect Detection - What are the Limits?

In the PSSP-project, the University of applied sciences / FH Wels together with Nemak Linz GmbH dealt with the characterisation of the limits of an automatic defect detection software based on simulated data. Since the late 1990s, computed tomography (CT) has been gaining ground as a non-destructive measurement method in quality assurance. The development of methods to simulate test specimens and virtual defects together with the simulation of CT-scans opens great opportunities for an automated workflow to optimize automated defect detection methods and benchmark those in a POD-study.
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Water revealed by Light

In the course of the PSSP-project, the research institute RECENDT and project partner Lenzing AG joined forces to develop an alternative method for product moisture measurement based on the absorption of near-infrared light. To precisely measure the moisture content, harmless electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum is directed onto the product and a spectrally resolved measurement of the back-reflected radiation is carried out. This measurement reveals the specific absorption bands of the water, which are proportional to the water content of the tested product. Read more...

Ultrasound for Micro-Structure-Characterisation

The idea of using ultrasonic waves for grain structure analysis is as old as this method itself, but it still faces unsolved problems. With optical measurement methods for surface waves and new 3D simulations, an important step forward has been achieved. Read more...

source / owner of all right: TU Vienna

Digital penicillin production

TU Wien and Sandoz GmbH have successfully implemented a real-time computer simulation of the complex growth behaviour of penicillin producing organisms. This simulation now helps to keep the production process under control. Read more...

Chemical computers supervising the future!

Wouldn’t it be nice to own the magic crystal ball providing a view on future events? During a collaboration between the project partners FLLL, MetaDynea and RECENDT in the K-project imPACts, a tool close to that was developed: a method for chemical analytics (for instance in a melamin resin production), providing an automated maintenance strategy which is able to instantaneously alarm on upcoming drifts or errors and – on top – to autonomously correct itself, in order to immediately correct such upcoming errors. Read more...

Beer quality is going non-linear

During the production process of beer, it is of utmost importance to guarantee a high consistency of the beer quality to assure a smooth taste. Manual supervision of essential quality parameters is time-intensive and costly: duration times of about four hours for 10 samples. During a joint collaboration between BrauUnion, RECENDT and FLLL, accurate quantification of the most essential parameters in unfermented beer („bitter value“) and Radler („citric acid“) could be established fully automatically with the combination of NIR spectroscopy and specific non-linear mathematics. Read more...

One in a million – an easy task for the Laser

Researchers of the Technical University Vienna have successfully developed a measurement method for industrial application. Until now, this method was only usable in the laboratory. The measurement tool, which is based on a laser-based analysis method, was recently installed at the OMV-refinery in Schwechat. It measures the slightest traces of the gas hydrogen sulphide (H2S). The high accuracy of the method allows to detect 3 molecules of the gas amongst 20 millions of other molecules. Read more...

Proteins in the Focus of Laser Spectroscopy

When working with proteins, an important factor is the overall amount of sample needed for an analysis. Scientists from the TU Wien established a new measurement setup for the analysis of protein structure that requires lower analyte concentrations as compared to the traditionally employed analysis method based on IR spectroscopy. The improvement in performance and robustness has been achieved by employing a novel type of MIR laser light source. This new measurement setup with its extended analysis potential leads the way to new cooperation opportunities within and beyond the PAC research network. Read more...

Fully automated process control – powered by Infrared Spectroscopy

As a part of the research project imPACts which covers a broad selection of methods for process analytics, a fully-automatic method for process control of chemical reactions was developed and implemented. The aim is to determine the desired endpoint of a batch in the production of melamine formaldehyde resins for decorative surfaces and mineral wool at the company Metadynea Austria GmbH. Before the two K-Projects “PAC” and “imPACts”, it was necessary to take quite a number of samples per batch and analyse those manually. The need for this analysis was now completely substituted with Near-infrared spectroscopy. The determination of the endpoint of a batch is automatically conducted using chemometric analysis of the IR spectra. This enables the employees to focus on other valuable tasks. Read more...

Chemical maps in HD

Researchers at JKU Linz, a partner of the Austrian research network „Process Analytical Chemistry“ PAC, are using lasers to measure the chemical composition of complex materials. Ultrashort and extremely intense laser pulses are focused on a sample and material is removed from its surface. The different atoms emit light of characteristic color which enables determining the type and concentration of chemical elements in the sample. Chemical maps showing the element distribution of the sample can be measured with high spatial resolution using this new method. Read more...

Levitated viscosity sensing – compact & in line

Inline-monitoring plays a major role in modern biochemical production processes. A large number of sensors monitor the state of the production process continuously. Complex mathematical models are used to predict the quality of the final product and allow an active control of the production process. Every single sensor in the system helps to improve the prediction quality of the model. A very important fluid property for chemical processes is the viscosity, which in many cases allows directly concluding to the progress of the production process. Read more...

The scientific world visiting Austria

The partners within the national funded COMET K-Project named imPACts – standing for “Industrial methods for Process Analytical Chemistry” aim for scientific development and exchange in an internationally networked community. A clear sign for an intense international exchange are scientific conferences that bring together scientists from all over the world to discuss latest developments and share new ideas. The “imPACts”-network managed to gather more than 1.000 people from all over the world in Austria – a strong sign of the international visibility of the Austrian process analytical community. Read more...

All-in-one: a new perspective on bioprocesses

Producers of pharmaceutical products are required to fulfil highest quality standards. Therefore, a significant amount is invested in sophisticated monitoring systems. Researchers from TU Wien in cooperation with Sandoz GmbH took a closer look. They developed a system that combines measurements from different sources and a mathematical description of the process and the biochemical reactions. This combination offers a cost effective monitoring system to guarantee the quality during the production process. Read more...

Intelligent process control by selflearning mathematics

Mathematical models that recognize process changes and automaticallly update themselves are needed, in order to be able to use NIR-spectroscopy for concentration measurement in the viscose production. The researchers engaged in the PAC project have successfully developed such intelligent models based on data from the viscose production. Thus a rapid and simple method for process analysis, based on NIR-spectroscopy, is now available. Read more (German!)...

Manual sampling of toxic substances is replaced by fully automated NIR-measurement

In one of the production processes of company partner Nufarm, an intermediate stage of a manufactured product is highly toxic. Until now three samples had to be taken and to be analyzed in the laboratory every day. Despite being enormously careful, there have already been some serious accidents. The use of automated measuremt techniques and advanced methods for process analytics will make it possible to almost completely replace these dangerous sampling by on-line measurement in the near future. Read more...

Online - viscosity measurement

In order to optimize the quality and yield of the chemical and biological process, it is necessary to be aware of a variety of process parameters. Besides optical methods, which mainly measure the chemical parameters, the acquisition of physical characteristics (e.g. the viscosity of liquids) plays a major role. With the viscosity it is possible to draw a conclusion concerning the reaction progress or to calculate the mixing ratio of two (differently viscous) liquids. In addition to traditional laboratory procedures, which determine the average viscosity of larger sample sizes, miniaturized sensors are used too. These sensors make it possible to analyze very small amounts of liquid online. In the K-project PAC new sensor principles are researched, the ways of manufacturing miniaturized sensors for inline-applications and their comparability with classical measuring methods are of special interest. Read more...

Organization of the 7th Colloquium of "Arbeitskreis Prozessanalytik"

On November 14th and 15th 2011 the 7th colloquium of the "Arbeitskreis Prozessanalytik" in the GDCh and DECHEMA was organized in close cooperation between the K-project PAC and several national and international partners. Thus the event was brought to Linz for the first time. The colloquium offered an excellent networking plattform for the PAC - project partners as well as a good impression about the current development of the ongoing Austrian research in process analytics for the more than hundred, primarily German, guests. Read more...

Reduction of manual sampling by almost 90 percent

In collaboration with the company partner DYNEA an enormous reduction of the necessary sampling in the chemical production process was achieved. Nine samples had to be taken per charge in the past. Today one sample is enough for the technicians, and that one is only necessary for monitoring and validating the automatically measured data. All in all there had been a reduction of the analysis effort by 89 %. Moreover the employees of th company now have the chance to use their time more productively, which also increases their motivation. Read more...

SW-Tool IMAGELAB: analyzing images with a chemist's eye

Within the K-project PAC a software tool for the researchers was developed in cooperation with external partners. Although this tool is not yet ready for the market there has already been great response of the users. Through practical usage the future SW-product can be optimized by the inputs and requirements of the researchers. There is also an advantage for the project itself, as the tool can be specified according to the needs of the network partners. Read more...

Live-stream from the Tall-oil distillation

In the chemical process of tall oil distillation it is important to be able to precisely monitor the process in order to optimize the parameters so that an economic process management is possible. Previously at least three samples from the process were measured daily in the laboratory. If something goes wrong and it is too late recognized are the process quality and economical targets at risk. The developed and in the process implemented inline-monitoring system using infrared spectroscope provides continuous flow of critical process parameters: it is therefore possible to reduce the laboratory analyzes and the general safety factors are greatly increased. Read more...

"nano-scale magnifier" for chemical analyses

Scientists of the research network PAC made significant progress towards non-destructive chemical imaging in the nanometer range. Through the combination of an atomic force microscope and infrared laser radiation from novel quantum cascade lasers chemical information can be obtained with an up to 1000-fold higher spatial resolution than achieved with conventional infrared imaging techniques. The "nano-scale magnifier" is already in use for the analysis of fungi employed for the production of antibiotics and will serve as a tool for the study of tumor tissues in the future. Read more...

PAC being successful and recognized

During the years of PAC, the consortium, established in 2010, already succeeded to be recognized as “The Austrian Research Network for Process Analytical Technologies”. Through various activities and by bundling all the single excellent researchers under the brand “PAC”, recognition also beyond Austria could be achieved. Individual successes of researchers were positively associated with PAC and PAC also made new successes and new contacts and opportunities for individual researchers and research groups possible. Read more...

Novel technology for analytics of gases – implemented in 3 prototypes

Mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopic direct absorption techniques employing novel MIR technologies were established, optimized and implemented into on-line and at-line operating prototypes at three different settings at the industrial cooperation partners. Read more...

A novel near infrared diffuse reflection method for the determination of the cellulose content of alkali cellulose

For the fast determination of the cellulose content of the alkali cellulose a Near infrared (NIR) method was developed. Read more...

QEPAS: quantum cascade lasers sniffing for trace gases

A compact sensor system based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) employing a mid-infrared (mid-IR) quantum cascade laser (QCL) was developed for trace gas detection at sub-ppm concentration levels. The sensor system proves excellent suitability for industrial process gas monitoring, with other potential application fields such as environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics. Read more...

Process control without direct measurements – new methods for production of antibiotics

Similar to the era of Alexander Fleming, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of penicillin, today, fungus cultivations are the primary means for antibiotic production. However, controlling the organism’s biology on an industrial scale is a mighty challenge. The PAC consortium has developed a method, which by combining different measurements, is able to control the industrial production process, effectively predicting the biology without direct measurements of the organism. This method will be implemented in the production process, improving Austria’s competitiveness in the global economy. Read more...

Looking inside nontransparent materials with Terahertz-technology – Spectral Descriptors in the Terahertz region

The concept of “spectral descriptors” brings the analysis of samples (that is the application of chemometric methods) on a higher level. Dataanalysis is possible within split seconds and will be presented in colourcoded images where interpretation is simple. Analysing the data with spectral descriptors has the big advantage that only informative regions of the signal are going to be used for data analysis. Read more...