A new research project at the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V (LZH) is concerned with environmental protection during the laser beam welding and brazing processes. The project's goal is to record and provide data on the emissions produced during laser processing. This data can be used to simplify the planning and realization of environmental protection, as well as to reduce costs.
"Lasers produce emissions," says Jürgen Walter, physicist at the LZH. Walter is, among other things, responsible for recording emission data in the project. "One of our goals is to provide information so that environmental protection can be easily integrated into cost planning."
Especially small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can benefit from this project, since they often do not have the possibilities and means to measure emissions themselves. The data attained will help companies to implement optimal protection measures during the planning of laser units and machining processes. This data will also help to lower emission rates as well as reduce efforts for exhaust air cleaning systems. Overall, companies will also benefit from cost savings.
In the near future, the results will be made available as an interactive database on the LZH homepage. Companies will then have access to the newest results and can introduce measures for environmental protection and take appropriate protection action.
In addition to six German SMEs, Volkswagen and Daimler Benz are also participating in the project, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The project is under the supervision of the DVS - German Welding Society e.V. and the AiF - German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke" e.V.