ttz Bremerhaven was founded in 1987 in Bremerhaven, Germany as an independent non-profit organisation to serve as a practical oriented link between the University of Applied Sciences in Bremerhaven and the regional economy. Today TTZ employs more than 100 highly skilled people working in application-oriented research and development in the areas of food, environment and health. TTZ provides innovative technology transfer services and conducts customer-oriented training, research and development, making use of its worldwide partner network. TTZ has a long experience in national, European and international projects, for instance it has participated in more than 250 projects during the 6th and 7th Framework Program, either as co-coordinator or key member.
In FRESH-DEMO, the Environmental Department as well as the Food Department of TTZ are involved. The Environmental Department performs applied research and development in areas such as waste and (waste-) water treatment, sustainable biomass and biogas production and use, renewable energies & energy efficiency. The Food Department at TTZ is well known for developing and optimizing food products as well as the manufacturing processes and technologies involved. Further activities include corresponding analytics, sensory evaluation, microbiology as well as feasibility and market research studies. On the basis of the specialized knowledge within TTZ on raw materials, product and process development, energy efficiency, water treatment, etc. as well as knowledge transfer, innovative product ideas evolve which are put into practice in cooperation with national and international enterprises, associations and research partners in the field.
Given TTZ’s extensive experience in research, technology development, prototype manufacturing and testing, technical and economic assessment of innovative technologies as well as coordination of national and international projects, the institute offers the right skills, knowledge and infrastructure to support the design of the FRESH-DEMO prototype system and evaluate its performance during the demonstration trials. TTZ’s participation in the FRESH-DEMO consortium is therefore of uttermost importance for the industrial evaluation and optimization of the system and the development of a sophisticated marketable product.
Main tasks in the project:
Within FRESH-DEMO TTZ will be involved in a number of different tasks, offering its extensive R&D experience and infrastructure to be able to establish a technology which optimally fits the requirements of the fruit and vegetable industry. TTZ will lead the assessment of the post-harvest supply chain of fruit and vegetables and draw the necessary conclusions what requirements players in this chain have regarding humidification/disinfection. This info, coupled with TTZ’s know-how on process design will feed into the establishment of the overall design of the prototypes (including process simulations). Furthermore, TTZ will define necessary test protocols for the demonstration case studies and conduct these tests to thoroughly assess the system’s performance, besides overseeing the general implementation of the demonstration trials. TTZ will also be responsible for the website set-up and maintenance/updates.