InnoProSys - Technology transfer for innovative products and systems in the field of efficient supply technology using heat and cooling and generating electricity from waste heat

The aim of the initiative is to transfer new technologies from the NCT laboratories to new, innovative products and systems at small and medium-sized enterprises from around the region. The conversion of energy technology to ensure the sustainable supply of power, heating, and cooling to buildings and processes creates market opportunities for companies wishing to address these needs with new, smart products.

However, due to the ever-increasing complexity of energy supply, the requirements for products associated with the supply of energy, such as storage facilities, heat pumps, transformers, and generators, are becoming increasingly stringent. As a result, the development risk increases, particularly for companies that have little to no testing capacity themselves and are not currently able to make use of highly specialized simulation methods.

This is where the project comes in: companies with ideas for products can access laboratory facilities more easily and take advantage of the possibility of knowledge transfer via theoretically and practically oriented seminars.


Project duration:

1 January 2017 - 31 December 2021


Measures to implement technology transfer in the InnoProSys research project

  1. Technology transfer by matching: Building up an expert database
  2. Technology transfer by learning-by-doing and hands-on seminars: Representatives from research and industry work together on current issues encountered in practice in workshops held in the laboratories at Nuremberg Tech.
  3. Technology transfer by technology demonstration: Representatives from research and industry present current research outcomes and examples of application in the laboratories at Nuremberg Tech and Rednitzhembach.
  4. Technology transfer by pilot projects: Based on the laboratory tests, representatives from research and industry conduct lighthouse projects with SMEs, which send a signal to the metropolitan region.

Fields of work

Heat exchangers are key components for thermal processes in industry (annealing, drying, etc.), in supply technology for cooling and heating, for thermal management systems in vehicles, for thermal and electrochemical energy storage systems, and for decentralized systems used for energy conversion (e.g. utilization of waste heat from CHP plants using Rankine processes, cooling of generators, etc.).

Technologies for compact and efficient heat exchangers are therefore crucial for the resource-efficient use of heat and cold. The expertise of Nuremberg Tech can be found application-oriented design of efficient and compact heat exchangers, evaporators and condensers, their design using numerical simulation and optimization methods, the design of thermohydraulic systems, and testing.

Manufacturers of refrigeration technology and heat pumps currently face the challenge of having to develop products for new environmentally friendly refrigerants. The development of new technologies for the digitalization of plant technology and of innovative control concepts for efficient operation of heat or cold storage system are further demands being placed on the companies. The selection of suitable technologies, optimal storage system dimensions and the integration of the storage systems into complex systems are decisive factors for the market success of these types of components.

Nuremberg Tech is already working in the field of applied research with companies active in this field within diverse cooperative technology projects.

Resource efficiency when supplying processes and buildings with heat or cold requires the use of innovative components for process and energy data acquisition, and therefore offers opportunities for process optimization. Due to the complexity of such systems, product developments in this area are associated with a considerable human resources and large commercial risks for the companies.

Nuremberg Tech has extensive experience in using the technologies required, and energy and automation engineers work in close cooperation to find solutions. The objectives of the technology transfer are, in this case, to conduct joint projects in the laboratories at Nuremberg Tech, and to make new technologies for networking and data transfer in application-oriented pilot projects easy to grasp in order to allow cooperating companies to adapt them for new products and systems.

For companies that wish to provide technologies used for power generation from waste heat, the economic efficiency of the process is usually the decisive criterion for market success. There is currently still a need for development work on products and systems for plants with low powers and high efficiency.

For several years, Nuremberg Tech has been conducting research into new technologies such as a maintenance-free micro-steam turbine or a liquid piston Stirling cycle for waste heat utilization together with companies and users. Higher efficiency apparatuses, such as the particularly compact once-through steam generators and high-speed generators, are also key technologies that are currently being researched at Nuremberg Tech in cooperative projects. Cooperative ventures between companies and the university can be found in the fields of the principles of thermodynamics, the simulation of processes, design of apparatuses, testing components and systems, and determining optimal operating strategies.

Frank Opferkuch Frank Opferkuch
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Wolfram Stephan Wolfram Stephan
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Michael Deichsel Michael Deichsel
Prof. Dr.
Arno Dentel Arno Dentel
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Bernhard Strobl Bernhard Strobl
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Andreas Kremser Andreas Kremser
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Armin Dietz Armin Dietz
Prof. Dr.-Ing.

This project is co-financed by funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).