To stay at the forefront of the business and compete in an aggressive international market scenario, Magaldi invests about 3% of the annual turnover in Research and Innovation.
Over 20 highly skilled engineers work tirelessly in the R&D Dept., balancing creativity with a strong sensitivity to market requirements. The aim is to turn ideas into viable technologies to ensure customers receive concrete benefits from innovation.
So far, the R&D team has patented 20+ proprietary technologies, generating roughly 400 patent applications worldwide.
Testing is the essence of R&D
Innovation is pursued with an ongoing commitment to applied research. This is possible thanks to a continuous engagement with the Production Dept.
In the in-house testing laboratory located inside the Buccino factory, the R&D team works closely with the engineers and craftsmen who design and produce the equipment, in order to validate the effectiveness of new processes and technologies and to ensure that each one is engineered to meet the specific project requirements.
R&D networks to drive innovation
The R&D Dept. develops projects internally and in synergy with external partners with the best specific expertise.
Over time, many R&D networks have been built with academia and advanced national and international Research Institutions, including:
- the University of Naples “Federico II”
- the University of Salerno
- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- various Institutions of the National Research Council
- the AMAFOND Association (Italian Foundry Suppliers’ Association)
- the ESWET Association (European Supplier of Waste-to-Energy Technology)
- the ZAR Foundation (Centre for Sustainable Use of Waste and Resources)
- the COTEC Foundation for Innovation
- the ISRI (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries)
- the HILT CRC
- the ESTEP (European Steel Technology Platform)
The combination of academic knowledge and business pragmatism has proven to be a winning approach, especially in developing complex projects. The latter are often financed through funding from regional (Regional Grants for competitiveness and innovation), national (Ministry of Economic Development, tax credits), or European institutions (Horizon 2020, Life).
The latest frontier of innovation
Over the years Magaldi has made strategic investments in research which have driven forward the frontiers of technology and engineering excellence.
Currently, the company is investing in projects focused on Industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy. In particular, they aim to:
- Improve existing proprietary technology and develop new disruptive solutions to increase company competitiveness and enter new markets;
- Implement the concept of the circular economy through the development of breakthrough technology;
- Meet the customers’ expectations by offering suitable and competitive solutions able to optimize their production processes, and enhance efficiency and production flexibility.
TES – Fluidized sand bed thermal battery for the decarbonization of industrial processes
The TES project is structured around three lines of investment: Line A focuses on expanding the production capacity of the Buccino facility; Line B is dedicated to research and development of a demonstration plant for thermal storage, while Line C is aimed at training Magaldi personnel on topics related to decarbonization and the digitalization of industrial processes.
STEP - Sistema di accumulo Termico a letto fluidizzato per il rilascio di Energia ad alta temPeratura
The STEP project aims to study and model the configuration and process parameters for thermal storage systems charged by Renewable Energy Storage (RES) electricity.
MANTEIA - Early fault detection methodologies, applied to a thermal storage system, based on Artificial Intelligence techniques
The MANTEIA project aims to research appropriate predictive control techniques for the development of 'early fault detection' software to be applied to the MGTES fluidized bed thermal storage technology.
DEMETRA STEM - Energy production for agro-alimentary processes with Advanced Renewable Technology STEM
The DEMETRA STEM research project originates from the expertise of the proposing party and is aimed to develop innovative and improved solutions, in terms of energy performance and economic competitiveness, for components and systems related to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology for the distributed generation of electrical and thermal energy useful to guarantee the energy requirements of plants in the agro-food industry sector.
SMART - Magaldi High Performance Systems for the Cooling and Heat Treatment of Materials
Based on the experience gained in the field and the knowledge acquired over the years, with the SMART project Magaldi has improved a technology capable of cooling both cast iron and aluminium castings, as well as optimising the temperature control and more generally the cooling of reduced iron briquettes in order to address the market segment of raw material suppliers to steel mills.
SOLTESS - Solar thermodynamics with solid storage
"SOLTESS - Solar thermodynamics with solid storage" research project aimed to develop a new technology for the production of electricity, using thermodynamic cycles from solar energy. The innovative element of the proposed technology is represented by the solar energy storage system located inside a receiving unit into which the rays reflected by the heliostats flow.
DISTEM - Direct Irradiated Particles Solar Thermoelectric
The DISTEM project is focused on technologies that aim to achieve the transition to a reliable, sustainable and competitive energy system envisaged by the Horizon 2020 Program. The project focuses on the development of a new technology for generating power from concentrated solar radiation CSP (Concentrating Solar Power).
SOlarGrid - Thermodynamic and photovoltaic solar systems with Storage for co-generation and network flexibility
The SOLARGRID project provides an innovative and improved solution, in terms of energy performance and economic competitiveness, for components and systems related to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and Concentrating PhotoVoltaics (CPV) technologies for electrical and thermal power generation.
BioValue
This project is developed within the framework of the "Energy valorisation of biomass and residues" line of the Energy Technology District of the Campania Region. The overall objective is to contribute to the development of innovative technologies for the valorisation of renewable energy sources (RES).
