We implement projects co-financed by the European Union in cooperation with institutions: National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR) and Malopolska Centre for Entrepreneurship (MCP). We cooperate with a number of scientific institutions: AGH University of Science and Technology, Institute of Matallurgy and Materials Science of Polish Academy of Sciences and other scientific entities: Institute of Ceramics and Construction Materials (ICiMB) in Gliwice and Krakow Institute of Technology. This cooperation generates a synergic growth effect resulting from combining the potential of several factors. These are: support for research and development co-financed by the EU, knowledge and research instruments of scientific units, technological solutions, including access to machines and equipment offered by technological institutes and implementation and commercialisation of new solutions by enterprises.
Total budget: 268 532,42 Euro
Innerco’s budget: 89 303,17 EUR
Project duration: 36 months
Partners:
Poland: Politechnika Śląska, Innerco Sp. z o.o.
Türkiye: Bayburt University, Cevher Alloy Wheels
Innerco is proud to be a part of the AluWHEEL project, an innovative Polish-Turkish initiative focused on developing advanced, lightweight aluminium components for the automotive industry. Co-funded by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), the project aims to significantly reduce vehicle weight, contributing to lower CO2 emissions and enhanced energy efficiency, while also ensuring high safety standards.
The call has five interest areas. In this project, three of them will be addressed. “Energy” is the first one where theuse of secondary aluminium is aimed to be increased in wheel production. Typically, primary aluminium alloy is preferred in casting of wheels. Secondary aluminium is considered to be lower in quality than primary aluminium. However, the recycling process (secondary aluminium) requires 95% less energy than primary aluminium production. In primary process, pure Al2O3 ore is subjected to electrical currency in order to remove oxygen from aluminium. These values are around 15.000 kWh. So, by recycling, the energy consumption will be decreased, as well as the use of ores will be decreased which lies in the second category of the call: “Environment”. And, finally, ERP systems will be installed in the foundry to control the quality level of the melt that will be cast to produce wheels. An autonomous system will be developed to collect data from liquid metal and the assessment of the quality level will be recorded, thus, it will cover the third category in the project call: “ICT – information communication technology”
Project co-financed by RPO WM 2014-2020, Sub-activity 1.2.1 Projekty badawczo – rozwojowe przedsiębiorstw. Innerco Sp. z o.o. is implementing a project entitled: „Technology and reactive components for in situ fabrication in tungsten carbide reinforced composite zone castings” co-financed by European Funds within the Regionalny Program Operacyjny Województwa Małopolskiego for 2014-2020.
The objective of the project is to increase the innovativeness of the regional economy through the development of modern chemical components (reactive mouldings) for the production of castings locally reinforced with composite zones, which are in turn reinforced with tungsten carbide particles, characterised by innovation in terms of quality and functionality in comparison with alternative solutions available on the domestic and global markets. The implementation of this project and the achievement
of its stated objective will bring the following benefits to Innerco:
– diversification of the product offer and expansion of the current market,
– increase in sales potential,
– the possibility of international expansion, particularly into the western markets of the European Union,
– creating an image of an innovative entity, creating new solutions responding to market needs,
– increase in the Company’s revenue from the sale of new products.
Project implementation period: 01.03.2019 – 30.06.2023. Total project value:14 295 070,70 zł. Co-financing of the project from the EU: 8 239 275,00 zł
Priority axis; Strengthening the scientific and research potential. Action: Research and development. Secondary goals: Application programs. Operational program: Intelligent Development Operational Programme. The project involves the development of 2IC InnerComposite technology for the production of castings with TiC/Fe alloy composite zones,
ultra-resistant to abrasive wear. Thanks to the developed technology it will be possible to implement it under license in at least one Polish foundry and to offer and sell its products on the global market by EUROCAST company. INNERCO will implement a technology of manufacturing systems for production of castings with composite zones.
INNERCO Sp. z o.o. has received funding from the European Union for the implementation of the project:
The objective of the project is to develop Reactive Liquid Foundry Coatings (RLFC) for the in situ production of composite layers reinforced with tungsten carbide (WC) particles in cast components. The RLFC technology will be used to reinforce the surfaces of cast components, increasing their resistance to abrasive wear and thereby extending their service life.
The project includes both industrial research and experimental development.
During the industrial research phase, a sedimentation-stable RLFC formulation will be developed under laboratory conditions. The developed RLFC will be used to produce in situ composite layers in simplified castings.
During the experimental development phase, small batches of RLFC will be produced on a pilot production line designed for the project. These batches will be used to evaluate the properties of the RLFC and to produce composite layers in prototype brake discs and progressive cavity pump housings.
The prototypes and reference castings, including those manufactured using alternative technologies, will be tested under laboratory conditions that closely replicate actual operating conditions and, ultimately, under real operating conditions.
The expected outcome of the project is a ready-to-implement RLFC product that enables the production of abrasion-resistant composite layers reinforced with in situ tungsten carbide (WC) particles in castings with both simple and complex geometries, including internal surfaces. The technology will be applicable to a wide range of casting alloys, including gray cast iron and high-chromium white cast iron.
The RLFC technology to be developed within the project will address the current gap in casting surface hardening technologies by providing a simpler, more energy-efficient, and more versatile method that is economically viable for a wide range of applications compared with currently used technologies such as plasma-sprayed coatings and laser-clad coatings.
Total Project Value: 7 580 791,00 zł
European Union Funding: 4 628 960,00 zł
