A collaborative initiative called 3Dstore, spearheaded by the
Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) alongside the
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and steelmaking giant
CELSA, has brought an unconventional solution to a persistent industrial challenge: unplanned machinery failures.
The consortium has engineered a monitoring system driven by a solid oxide battery fabricated through additive manufacturing, capable of detecting early warning signs of equipment malfunction in demanding factory settings.
Additional research partners, including
CIC energiGUNE, a Basque center specializing in electrochemical and thermal energy storage, and the
University of Castilla-La Mancha, contributed to the project’s development.
ICREA professor and IREC’s Head of Nanoionics and Fuel Cells, Albert Tarancón, framed the initiative’s broader ambition: “to monitor and digitalize strategic industries such as the steel sector
.”
