Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse
The quiet hum of innovation driving railways forward
Bern (ots)
Knowledge is one of Switzerland's most important resources. But it alone does not create prosperity. Value is only created when scientific knowledge is transformed into marketable innovations. This is the mission of the ABB Group in Baden.
Until a few years ago, diesel locomotives with hybrid engines that could also run on electricity were just a visionary concept. Now, such hybrids are operating in Europe, Canada and the United States. They produce lower CO2 emissions and, instead of noise, only a quiet hum. This was only possible through a lengthy innovation process.
What has now become commonplace in freight transport is the result of a complex process that often remains invisible. It is an excellent example of how research can generate added value and increase prosperity in Switzerland.
This process did not begin in a railway station or a factory, but in a laboratory in Baden-Dättwil in the canton of Aargau. The technology company ABB has been operating one of its most important research centres there for decades. It is precisely here, in the largest of the group's five research laboratories, that new technologies often begin their journey, far removed from the commercial market.
Many questions and the search for answers
It is a place where the initial focus is not directly on products, but on knowledge. Around 100 researchers from 26 nations are working on questions that, at first glance, do not yet serve any market. What will the next industrial revolution look like? How can the energy transition succeed? How can the world meet the growing demand for energy due to artificial intelligence? And where might there be bottlenecks in the next three to five years?
The group's largest division, which generates around half of ABB's approximately 30 billion dollars in sales, is its Electrification division. That is why many of the group's questions revolve around energy generation, energy transmission and energy storage. What battery systems exist, and how do they hold up through thousands of charging cycles? How does the chemistry in battery cells work? How do energy storage devices age, and what chemical and physical effects are observable? How do batteries develop more power, and do they need to be cooled or possibly heated?
Batteries as a challenge
This is where the innovation process comes in. "Using the latest knowledge, the researchers are trying to answer all such questions," explains Till Ruemenapp, Head of ABB Corporate Research in Switzerland, about their approach. "We rely on findings from the Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa)." Batteries in particular are a scientific challenge.
Ruemenapp describes the internal processes as follows: Experts in chemistry, electrical engineering, physics, mechanics and mathematics work together to research fundamental questions. Their aim is to understand the charging and ageing processes, cell chemistry and efficiency levels as well as to carry out simulations.
Researchers at ABB pursued the idea of making batteries more durable and reliable. The serial and parallel connection of battery cells resulted in powerful bundles of batteries, known as battery packs, which are now used worldwide in electric buses, mining vehicles and diesel locomotives.
Where added value is created
What follows from this process in Baden is the decisive transition from science to ABB corporate research. Findings from the laboratory are translated into technical concepts. The researchers present their results to internal specialist departments, and models are turned into prototypes. Test set-ups are used to develop systems under real conditions and ultimately the market-ready products. This is exactly where value creation in the narrower sense begins, i.e. the direct benefit for people.
"Numerous other product ideas were developed in ABB's Battery Technology division," says Ruemenapp. The original idea of storing braking energy from vehicles in batteries and thereby reducing CO2 emissions was only the first step. Battery packs are also suitable for providing the high electrical power required at short notice, which makes their application versatile.
Production in Switzerland
ABB has been manufacturing these energy storage systems for trains, electric buses, trolleybuses and electric lorries in Baden since 2019. Around 40,000 modules from which battery packs are made now roll off the production line every year. These are seen as the key to sustainable mobility.
"Swiss basic research has made all this possible," explains the head of the research centre. He also points out that publicly supported research does not work in a vacuum. In Baden, it is closely interlinked with ABB's corporate research.
And the cycle goes on and on. The experience from the technology group also flows back into science. ABB supervises numerous master's and doctoral theses at its research centre. And the researchers publish 50 to 60 scientific papers a year, which in turn prompt new questions.
"ABB employees even return to cutting-edge research," emphasises Ruemenapp with obvious pride. In fact, twenty alumni from his research centre have become professors, and an ex-employee from Baden heads a department at Empa.
All of these interrelationships are of central importance for a country like Switzerland. Without raw material deposits, Swiss prosperity is based on knowledge, technology and the ability to solve complex problems.
The text of this news, a download image and further information are available on the website of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Contact:
Swiss National Science Foundation
Communication
Email: com@snf.ch