Trade Fairs, Exhibitions, Conferences

Our topics at the Hannover Messe 2025: reformer technologies for the production of hydrogen from hydrogen carriers, radiation-resistant bolometers for fusion research and automated enrichment and isolation of rare (tumor) cells.

Visit us from March 31 to April 4, 2025 at the Hannover Messe 2025 at the

• special exhibition area Hydrogen + Fuel Cells Europe in hall 13 booth C47/1 (to the exhibitor profile) and the
  
• Fraunhofer joint booth in hall 2 booth B24 (to the exhibitor profile).

Make an appointment and get in touch with our applied research experts.
 

Reformer technologies for hydrogen production from the hydrogen carriers ammonia and methanol

At the special exhibition area of Hydrogen + Fuel Cells Europe in Hall 13, Stand C47/1, we are presenting our application-oriented developments for fuel processing from all conventional and renewable fuels. These include our reformer systems, which can be used to convert hydrogen carriers such as ammonia, methanol, ethanol and synthetic hydrocarbons for hydrogen-based stationary and decentralized energy supply. For these reformer systems, we develop catalysts and catalytic coatings for microstructures that are optimally adapted to the respective reactor type and the scaling of your process.

Radiation-hardened bolometers for nuclear fusion research

At the joint Fraunhofer Booth in Hall 2, Booth B24, we will be presenting our research and development of radiation-resistant bolometers for nuclear fusion research.

According to the current state of research, it will take some time before electricity from fusion energy can be fed into the grid and nuclear fusion can (significantly) contribute to the energy transition. Technologically, there are several approaches, of which plasma confinement, also known as magnetic confinement, is one of the two main approaches. Fraunhofer IMM develops bolometer chips, which are the core element of bolometer cameras used to monitor the plasma confinement in a reactor vessel.

One of the most well-known projects in which Fraunhofer IMM is involved is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a nuclear fusion reactor currently under development. The bolometer chips will be used to measure the intensity of the photon spectrum emitted by the ITER plasma, which ranges from infrared to X-rays. The measurement method was developed by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching and is already in use in a number of national and international facilities.

Each of these high-tech facilities poses special challenges that have to be overcome. The material must be highly resistant to radiation, and the detectors must withstand the impact of fusion neutrons as well as high temperatures of up to 450°C. It is therefore always necessary to make specific adjustments to meet customer requirements. It is also important to understand and fulfill the respective quality requirements.

The benefit of our work lies in supporting the development of nuclear fusion plants based on the measurement of radiated plasma, from the infrared to the X-ray range of the photon spectrum.

CTCelect: Single cell isolation of rare (tumor) cells – new data for AI

At the joint Fraunhofer Booth in Hall 2, Booth B24, we will also be presenting our research and development of automated systems in personalized diagnostics. Here we present our expertise and a system for the automated enrichment and isolation of rare cells (e.g. circulating tumor cells) liquid biopsies or dissociated tissue.

The progression of cancer is difficult to predict and, thus, the prognosis for the patient often is uncertain. Although it is known that each patient responds differently to one and the same therapy, in clinical practice diagnostic and therapeutic options are still not sufficient to allow for a treatment taking into account the patient’s individual tumor characteristics.

For a more efficient investigation of treatment options we have developed a fully automated system for the “liquid biopsy” in order to isolate single tumor cells (CTCs) from patient blood. The system is designed to enable cancer researchers to obtain CTCs from individual patients, to study tumor characteristics and develop therapeutic approaches on that basis. This would be a further step towards so-called personalized medicine. In the future, artificial intelligence can be used as an important driver by analyzing genomic data, optimizing individual therapy recommendations and monitoring the effectiveness of treatments in real time. CTCelect closes a gap here by simplifying and accelerating the acquisition of the necessary extensive and simultaneously high-quality data volumes.

• “Hydrogen from hydrogen carrier: Methanol - why, how, what?”
  Dr. Gunther Kolb (Fraunhofer IMM)
  Tuesday April 1, 2025 | 11:30 a.m. CEST
  Technical Forum at Hydrogen + Fuel Cells Europe in hall 13 booth A30