Der Beitrag
General Technology (Elements of Theory and Application)
der LIFIS-Mitglieder Dietrich Balzer, Werner Regen und Frieder Sieber ist in Prospects Mech Eng Technol. 2023; 1(3) erschienen.
Abstract
The goal of general technology as a technical science is to analyze and determine the structure and parameters of technological systems. In order to achieve this goal, it is particularly important to use quantitative methods in addition to qualitative methods. Starting from the central position of civil engineering within the technical sciences, the special role of construction technology within general technology is also presented. Quantitative methods include above all the mathematical modelling of technological systems. The mathematical models are based on balance equations in the form of material, energy, and momentum balances. Many publications and inventories on general technology neglect the quantitative methods that are of particular importance for practical engineering. Of particular importance for the further development and application of general technology are the relations with ergonomics and communication science. This involves a contribution to the design of a new world of work, which consists above all in the coordinated development and application of a variety of innovation methods and in the first-time creation of optimization algorithms for increasing the effectiveness of work processes. The methods of general technology for the analysis, modelling and optimization of technological processes and plants have been or are used in the realization of the following projects:
• Production of diesel from organic waste and residues.
• Conversion of waste heat into electricity.
• Mobile and energy self-sufficient technological systems for waste processing.
• Transport, handling, and storage processes in construction technology.
• Increasing the effectiveness of biogas plants by methanisation of biogas.
Keywords: Methods of Innovation; Life Cycle of a Technical System; Mathematical Modelling; Universal Technology; Optimization Algorithms; Waste Heat; Methanizing Biogas; Materials Economy; Material Balance; Energy Balance; Momentum Balance; Heat Mobility; Heat Transfer Area; Heat Transfer Coefficient; Kinetic Constants; Enthalpy of Reaction; Geometric Dimensions