Katrin Kienzler and Paul Satke receive the Leipzig Energy Prize for their Master's theses during the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Engineering.
During the graduation ceremony, the Faculty of Engineering honours the best technical and scientific theses in the field of energy technology. This year, Jan Schubert, Team Leader Heat, Asset Management at Netz Leipzig GmbH, presented the Leipzig Energy Prize, which is endowed with a total of 1,000 euros, during the ceremony on 22 April 2023 in Plant 2:
- Katrin Kienzler | Energy, Building and Environmental Engineering, Master's thesis
- Paul Satke | Mechanical Engineering, Master's thesis
Prize winner Katrin Kienzler dedicated her master's thesis to the topic of "Industrial waste heat utilisation - integration of large heat pumps in industrial processes". The thesis was supervised by Dipl.-Ing. Christian Neumann from solares bauen GmbH and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Steffen Winkler, Professor (emeritus) of Sanitary, Hygiene and Installation Technology at HTWK Leipzig.
In her master's thesis, Katrin Kienzler analysed the application limits of commercially available large heat pumps in industrial and commercial processes. To this end, she analysed their technical, economic and ecological potential based on sample projects from the supervising company. In addition, she addressed the question of which refrigerants without ozone depletion potential (ODP) and with low global warming potential (GWP) can be used in the most climate-friendly way possible for high-temperature applications above 70°C in large heat pumps and which factors stand in the way of widespread integration into industrial processes. The results generated by Katrin Kienzler are of great benefit and have found their way into the planning work of the supervising company.
Since graduating, Katrin Kienzler has been working as a project engineer at solares bauen GmbH. There she is responsible for the design of technical systems in the field of heating, cooling and ventilation technology. Her tasks include the planning and project management of industrial, commercial and public projects with a particular focus on the design of sustainable and energy-efficient building and energy systems. These include projects at the Reichstag building in Berlin, the Kulturpalast in Dresden and an extension to the TU Braunschweig.
Professionally, she would like to expand her range of tasks to include construction supervision and support. For Katrin Kienzler, the link between science and practice plays a key role in the quality assurance of technical building services planning and the sustainable, needs-based development of our energy system.
Prizewinner Paul Satke was awarded the Leipzig Energy Prize for his master's thesis on "Development and analysis of models for energy-related building and system simulations with geothermal energy at neighbourhood level". He was supervised by Prof. Dr Stephan Schönfelder, Professor of Simulation of Energy and Technical Systems at the Faculty of Engineering at HTWK Leipzig and research assistant M.Eng. Jakob Randow in the EASyQuart project.
His Master's thesis was accompanied by a project-based research activity in the EAsyQuart project. In his master's thesis, Paul Satke dealt with the development of dynamic, energetic models for neighbourhoods. The focus was on geothermal heat supply and the system technology required for this (heat pumps, storage tanks, controls) and their modelling. The models he developed were able to simulate the load profiles of urban neighbourhoods in detail. In addition to the high modelling depth, the scalability of the models down to neighbourhood level was made user-friendly by reducing parameters and automation scripts. To this end, Paul Satke worked with the programming languages Python and Modelica beyond a purely engineering understanding. The models developed had to be tested by comparing them with other calculation methods or measurement results. The models and results used for this were described very precisely by Paul Satke so that they are reproducible in the scientific sense. He has thus created essential models for comprehensive neighbourhood simulation, which can be used in the context of digitisation and will be followed by further research work.
Paul Satke is now a research assistant in Prof Dr Stephan Schönfelder's team and is currently working on the application for the follow-up project EASyQuart+. If approved, he could then focus on applying his models to current construction projects and existing neighbourhoods. He would also like to pass on his findings from research and development to students in the future.
The Faculty of Engineering congratulates Katrin Kienzler and Paul Satke and wishes them every success for their future careers.
Leipzig Energy Prize | Netz Leipzig GmbH
Netz Leipzig GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leipziger Stadtwerke based in Leipzig. As a network operator, it bundles all competences and services relating to the transport and distribution of electricity, gas and district heating in Leipzig. It operates the electricity, gas and district heating networks in Leipzig as well as a telecommunications network. Its responsibilities include network expansion planning, maintenance, inspection, construction management, network information for external partners, network management and co-operation with the regulatory authority (BNetzA). Netz Leipzig is an employer for more than 400 people.
As a subsidiary of Leipziger Stadtwerke, Netz Leipzig GmbH supplies energy for Leipzig. People and companies in the region are supplied with energy reliably and efficiently. It supports the city of Leipzig in realising its climate targets - with clever concepts and innovative technologies that pave the way for a sustainable, liveable and economically strong region. Over the next few years, more than 400 million euros will be invested in new, environmentally friendly generation plants and grid expansion in the region - a challenge that they, as grid operators, want to help make a success.
Netz Leipzig GmbH has been honouring students from the Faculty of Engineering at HTWK Leipzig for outstanding technical and scientific theses with the Leipzig Energy Prize since 2017. These are focussed on the energy world of tomorrow and address current developments in technologies or energy grid structures. One of the criteria for the award is the context of implementation capability and the categorisation of economic principles and ecological consequences. The decision is made by the Asset Management division in consultation with Netz Leipzig's management.
