Wolfgang Fratzscher

Wolfgang Fratzscher (2014)

Wolfgang Fratzscher (born June 11, 1932 in Leipzig ) is a German engineer and professor . He is one of the pioneers in process engineering for material-changing processes and is a co-founder of the training of graduate engineers on the basis of an independent basic course of study process engineering in Germany.

Career

Wolfgang Fratzscher was born in Leipzig as the son of the employee Willy Fratzscher and his wife Gertrud. He attended primary school in Leipzig from 1938 to 1942 and then high schools in Leipzig and Grimma ( St. Augustin High School ), where he passed his Abitur in 1950. He then went through a skilled worker training to become a fitter in Leipzig, which he successfully completed in 1951.

His studies took him to the Technical University of Dresden in 1951 , where he graduated in mechanical engineering with a degree in process engineering in 1956 with a thesis on heat pumps for biogas plants supervised by Professor Walther Pauer .

Immediately afterwards, he began working as a research assistant at the Chair of Thermodynamics (Head: Norbert Elsner ) at the University of Transport (HfV) Dresden . After completing his dissertation in 1959 on the fundamental importance of exergy for technical thermodynamics (reviewers: Norbert Elsner and Hans Faltin ), he moved to the Faculty of Nuclear Technology at the Dresden University of Technology as senior assistant until 1961 (head of the nuclear energy working group: Heinz Barwich ).

He then worked from 1961 to 1964 as a department head at the Rheinsberg nuclear power plant and the associated project planning office. His tasks were the preparation of the operational control in the nuclear power plant and the elaboration of the thermodynamic basis for a calculation system of the state curves in the pressure chambers of the nuclear power plant in the event of an accident .

Fratzscher was with the educator Edeltraut Fratzscher, geb. Kalms married. The couple have two daughters and a son who have trained as engineers and high school teachers, and he has four grandchildren. Edeltraut Fratzscher died in 1987. Wolfgang Fratzscher is in his second marriage to the housing manager Renate Fratzscher, geb. Leumuth married.

University professor at the TH Merseburg

In 1964 he completed his habilitation at the Technical University of Dresden on the subject of the influence of irreversibility - shown using the example of the gas turbine process (reviewers: Norbert Elsner and Manfred Oehmichen ). Immediately afterwards he was appointed as a university lecturer at the Technical University "Carl Schorlemmer" Leuna-Merseburg . In 1966 he became a full professor for the fields of technical thermodynamics and energy economics at the Faculty of Process Engineering and Basic Sciences at the TH Leuna-Merseburg. His lectures were in these areas and at the TU Dresden until 1969 in the field of nuclear energy.

In 1966 Fratzscher was appointed director of the Institute for Process Engineering. He exercised this function until the dissolution of all institutes as part of the Third Higher Education Reform of 1968, as was carried out centrally for all colleges and universities by the Ministry for Higher Education and Technical Education of the GDR (MHF). As a result, in particular the establishment of sections, here the Process Engineering Section with several scientific areas (WB), which also included the Technical Thermodynamics / Energy Management under the direction of Fratzscher until 1989 and the WB Automation Technology (head: Georg Brack ). From a scientific point of view, Fratzscher's work group dealt with the development of operational energy management for large-scale chemistry, primarily with the supply of heat and cold for chemical plants. In basic research, attempts were made to demonstrate the importance of technical thermodynamics as a general theory of energy through the application of the term exergy . In this section, qualified engineers were trained in the fields of system and process engineering.

From 1965 to 1967 Fratzscher exercised the elective function as Vice Dean of the Faculty of Process Engineering. Then he was Vice-Rector for Scientific Work at the TH Leuna-Merseburg until 1973 . For this work he could rely on his scientific secretary Klaus Krug . From 1979 to 1985 he was the deputy section director for research in the process engineering section. From 1990 to 1992 he took on the role of Vice-Rector for Scientific Development at the TH Merseburg. Fratzscher was a member of the technical faculty and the senate of the TH Leuna-Merseburg since 1964 and 1966 respectively.

From 1978 to 1988 he headed the University Industry Research Group (HIFOG) process engineering. The HIFOG was a research facility of the chemical industry of the GDR, which was fully integrated in terms of content and institution into the academic work of the university and thus also influenced it. The subjects of work were long-term development tasks in the production of basic chemicals, such as carbohydrates and high polymers, and also the provision of small-tonnage products in so-called multi-product plants.

University professor at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

At the beginning of 1991 a faculty for technical sciences and mathematics (dean: Georg Brack) was founded at the TH Leuna-Merseburg. However, the Technical University of Leuna-Merseburg (THL-M), founded in 1954, was closed in March 1993. Most of it was transferred to the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) as a branch in Merseburg and partly to the Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, which was newly founded in 1992 (today Merseburg University of Applied Sciences ). This process was prepared from 1991 to 1993 by an integration commission MLU-THL-M, whose members included Fratzscher.

In 1992 Fratzscher was confirmed as a professor under the new law under the University Renewal Act (HEG) . At the same time, Fratzscher was appointed head of the Institute for Thermodynamics, Energy Technology and Fluid Mechanics in the Process Engineering Department of the MLU.

From 1992 to 1997 he worked as dean of the newly founded department of process engineering at MLU. In the period from 1994 to 1996 he was vice dean of the newly founded mathematical-natural-science-technical faculty of the MLU and from 1996 to 1997 dean of this faculty. In addition, from 1996 to 1998 he was the Rector's representative for the development of technical sciences at the MLU. Since 1993 Fratzscher was a member of the Mathematical-Natural-Scientific-Technical Faculty and the Senate of the MLU.

Scientific activities

Fratzscher has assumed responsibility for the content of numerous scientific conferences :

• Symposium “Energy Industry in Chemical Companies”, KDT, annually (until 1988);
• Merseburg Technological Days “Energy and Materials Management” (1982);
• Section “low temperature heat” at the XI. International Conference on Industrial Power Economics (1984);
• Conference "Heat Transfer", KDT, every two years (until 1988)
• Merseburg Technological Days "Chemistry and Environment" 1992
• Symposium "Waste Energy Use" 1999, among others

His scientific publications reveal a broad specialist spectrum and include 300 specialist lectures at domestic and foreign scientific conferences and other events (including guest lectures, advanced training events, etc.), more than 250 publications in domestic and foreign specialist journals on problems of thermodynamics and the energy industry , Nuclear engineering and process engineering. There are also around 100 book reviews, mainly for the specialist journals “Chemical Technology”, “Energy Application”, “Energy Technology”, “Nuclear Energy” and others. He is co-owner of 10 patents, one of which is a USSR patent.

Fratzscher worked as a member of the editorial collective for the textbook "Verfahrenstechnik" with around 30 titles, some of which were published in 3rd and 4th editions. He was a member of the editorial collective “ABC-Verfahrenstechnik” (technical dictionary) and a member of the editorial committees for the specialist journals “Chemische Technik” (1970 to 1994) and “Energieanendung” (1975 to 1992).

Fratzscher retired in March 1998. In his teaching and research he developed many new ideas and motivated his employees to be highly motivated, whereby he was also a role model for his fellow professors in terms of honesty and personal commitment.

Memberships and awards (selection)

For many years, Fratzscher was a member and deputy chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for Process Engineering at the MHF from 1966 to 1989. At the same time, from 1973 to 1989 he was responsible for the main research area (HFR) process engineering in the chemistry program of basic research at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (AdW) and the universities. From 1972 to 1989 he was appointed as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Basic Energy Research at the Presidium of the AdW (Chairman: Klaus Fuchs ). From 1976 to 1985 he was chairman of the technical committee “Energy Management of Chemical Production” in the Chamber of Technology (KDT).

In 1974 Fratzscher was elected as a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, in 1979 as a full member. Since 1993 he has been a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW). Since 2002 he has been a member of acatech , the German Academy of Science and Engineering.

His professional work was highly valued and therefore honored with awards : among others in the GDR with the Patriotic Order of Merit in Bronze (VVO) and as an Honored Technician of the People , later with the Medal of Honor of the Association of German Engineers (VDI).

Fonts (selection)

• Co-edited by: Michail P. Wukalowitsch: Wasserdampftafeln. First edition in four languages. Verlag Technik, Berlin 1958.
• Editorial and technical processing (with an independent appendix to the term exergy): Michail P. Wukalowitsch: Technische Thermodynamik. Verlag Technik, Berlin 1962.
• with Felke: Introduction to nuclear energy. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1971, 2nd edition 1973.
• Co-author: Introduction to process engineering. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1973, 2nd edition 1975, 3rd edition 1979, 4th edition 1982, 5th edition 1986.
• Energy industry for process engineers. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1974, 2nd edition 1982, 3rd edition 1989.
• Contribution: Use of the specific energy consumption. In: Economic use of materials. Publishing house Die Wirtschaft, Berlin 1976.
• with Peter Picht: Material data and characteristics of process engineering. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1979, 2nd edition 1984, 3rd edition 1987, 4th edition 1993, Hungarian edition 1982.
• Terms for general process engineering, technology and energy engineering. In: ABC process engineering. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1979, License: SNTL, Praha 1990.
• with Fonyo Szolcsanyi: Energetic analysis of thermal material separation processes. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1980, License: SNTL, Praha 1987.
• Exergetic analysis of chemical-technological processes (Bulgarian). Burgas 1984.
• with Brodyansky and Michalek: Exergy - Theory and Applications. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1986, German edition. Energoatomistdat, Moscow 1987, Russian edition.
• Co-author: Exercises in technical thermodynamics. Deutsche Verlags Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1984, 2nd edition 1987.
• Edited with K.Stephan: Strategies for waste energy recovery . Wiesbaden 2000. E-book published by Springer-Verlag, 2014.

literature

• Hans Faltin: Technical heat theory. Knapp-Verlag, Halle (Saale) 1948; Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 5th edition 1968.
• Georg Brack : Dynamic models of procedural processes. Automation technology series, vol. 115. Verlag Technik, Berlin 1971.
• Hans-Joachim Bittrich , Ch. Duschk, G. Fuchs: Carl Schorlemmer. German publishing house for basic industry, Leipzig 1984.
• Dietrich Werner, D. Herrmann: msr presents: Technical University "Carl Schorlemmer" Leuna-Merseburg - Process Engineering Section, Automation Engineering Science Area. In: measure, control, regulate, Berlin. Vol. 27, No. 5, 1984, pp. 231-235.
• Heinz Töpfer : Prof. Dr. sc. techn. Georg Brack - 60 years. In: measure, control, regulate, Berlin. Vol. 34, No. 1, 1991, p. 2.
• Georg Brack : Automation technology for users - an introduction for chemical engineers and processing technicians. German publishing house for basic industry, Leipzig; Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-342-00670-6 .
• Werner Kriesel ; Hans Rohr; Andreas Koch: History and future of measurement and automation technology. VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-18-150047-X .
• Klaus Krug , Hans-Joachim Hörig, Dieter Schnurpfeil (editor): 50 years of the university in Merseburg. Merseburg contributions to the history of the chemical industry in Central Germany, publisher: Förderverein "Sachzeugen der chemical Industrie e. V. ", Merseburg, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2004.
• Wolfgang Fratzscher: Encounters and contacts. Book factory Halle, Halle (Saale) no year (www.buchfabrik-halle.de).
• Frank Fuchs-Kittowski, Werner Kriesel (Ed.): Computer science and society. Festschrift for the 80th birthday of Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski . Frankfurt a. M., Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Vienna: Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, PL Academic Research 2016, ISBN 978-3-631-66719-4 (print), E- ISBN 978-3-653 -06277-9 (e-book).

Web links

• Literature by and about Wolfgang Fratzscher in the catalog of the German National Library