Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKSWorldwide challenges like geopolitical risks and regulatory requirements, are creating major uncertainties for industry and society because of disruptions to material flows in the supply of materials. Nickel, magnesium, aluminum, rare earths and other resources are on the list of critical raw materials for 2023. However, industry requires these resources to manufacture a wide range of products. This is where the Fraunhofer flagship project comes into play. ORCHESTER focuses on ensuring a resilient and sustainable supply of functionally reliable material as well as to harmonize value chains with climate, social and environmental aspects. To achieve this, we combine digitally integrated high-throughput screening methods based on experimental and simulation techniques as well as different kinds of data sources into a digital ecosystem that provides integrable solutions for evaluating functional safety and enables recommendations for action based on a digital knowledge base.
Three application examples within the energy transition context will demonstrate the effectiveness of the research results, showing their practical applicability and tangible benefits for the industry. ORCHESTER is a significant step in the development of sustainable and resilient material supply – a blueprint for future crisis and the holisitic design of “green” materials, processes and products.
Fraunhofer IWKS together with six other Fraunhofer Institutes will be working on this interdisciplinary project for the next four years.