16.05.2025 Project report published: Economic and ecological assessment of the EMSARZEM industrial model

We are pleased to announce the publication of the final report of the EMSARZEM research project – Utilization of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) slag as a raw material for cement production – following its successful completion.

Funded from 2021 to 2024, this collaborative project investigated the efficient treatment of the fine fraction of MSWI slag in order to use it as a high-quality secondary raw material for the cement industry and for metal recovery.

The Chair of Business Administration and Production Management conducted the economic and ecological assessment of the EMSARZEM industrial model based on current data and future scenarios. The results show that the developed process, under appropriate conditions, can make a substantial contribution to the circular economy and to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

We would like to thank the following partners for their trustful and constructive collaboration:
Our special thanks go to Prof. Deike for the excellent scientific cooperation and to Dr.-Ing. Warnecke (GKS-Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Schweinfurt GmbH) for the professional project management. We also thank Blue Phoenix Deutschland GmbH, REMEX Mineralstoff GmbH, Dyckerhoff GmbH, LOESCHE GmbH, DK Recycling und Roheisen GmbH, VDZ gGmbH, the Chair of Metallurgy of Iron and Steel Production, and STEINERT GmbH.

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), funding code: 033R265H

You can find the complete project report here: https://doi.org/10.17185/duepublico/83603

16.04.2025 German Operations Research Society (GOR)

Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann, holder of the Chair of General Business Administration and Production Management, has been elected Chair of the Board of the German Operations Research Society (GOR) for the 2025-2026 term of office. An article (in German) in the current alumni newsletter of the Faculty of Engineering describes the history and tasks of the GOR, as well as the importance and areas of application of Operations Research.

12.02.2025 Research Project Operations Research for Sustainability: Energy, Mobility, and Industry

Addressing the climate crisis and promoting sustainability are central themes in scientific research and academic teaching. Operations research methods, such as linear programming and multi-criteria decision analysis, play a crucial role in evaluating and designing sustainable energy, mobility, and industrial systems. However, effectively teaching these methods and their real-world applications presents a didactic challenge.

The project aimed to develop, implement, and disseminate a digital, model-based, and application-oriented teaching and learning program in Operations Research (OR) for Sustainability: Energy, Mobility, and Industry.

Current problems and solution approaches from research projects of the four participating chairs on the design of sustainable energy and mobility systems as well as industrial value chains were prepared as case studies (Overview Case Studies). Each case study is available as a Moodle course on ORCA.nrw. The project results are summarized in the project report.

The project was carried out as part of the OERContent.nrw funding initiative by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia in cooperation with the Ruhr University Bochum and the RWTH Aachen University.

15.01.2025 Excursion to Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann (HKM) in Duisburg-Huckingen

As part of the lecture ‘Plant and Energy Management’ for students on the Master's degree programmes in Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, an excursion to Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann (HKM) in Duisburg-Huckingen took place in mid-January 2025.  During the tour of the plant, the steel production facilities and processes were visited and the measures for implementing the sustainability strategy, including the future use of hydrogen, were discussed. We would like to thank the company most sincerely!

31.12.2024 German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB)

In 2020, Professor Dr. Jutta Geldermann was elected to the Board of the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB - Verband der Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft), and her presidency ends in due course at the end of 2024. The VHB promotes business administration research and teaching, supports scientific discourse among its approximately 2,900 members, and advocates for strengthening the discipline and enhancing its visibility in the economy and society within German-speaking countries.

It was an exciting time collaborating with the board members of 2021–2022 and 2023–2024 – sincere thanks for that! After several fully digital annual conferences during the Corona years, a highly inspiring VHB Conference was held in Lüneburg in March 2024. Shortly afterward, the VHB-Rating 2024 was published, encompassing the journal sub-ratings of the 18 scientific commissions of the VHB. This rating provides a quality framework for scientific journals and other publication media by assessing scientific quality and other subject-specific criteria. In fall of 2024, the current VHB-Junior Scholars Barometer was published on the association’s new web site, along with a statement on the latest draft proposal for a Higher Education Strengthening Act.

18.12.2024 Merry Christmas

The Chair of Business Administration and Production Management wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

30.08.2024 Successful graduation

Dr. Christina Wüstefeld defended her doctoral thesis successfully on 8 July 2024.
The title of the dissertation is:

Entscheidungsunterstützung zur strategischen Ausrichtung der regionalen Lebensmitteldistribution in Deutschland unter Beachtung ökonomischer und ökologischer Kriterien zur kooperativen Tourenplanung

It can be openly accessed at Duisburg-Essen Publications online.

The Chair of Business Administration and Production Management congratulates Dr. Wüstefeld and would like to thank all members of the examination committee.

First supervisor:          Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann (Universität Duisburg-Essen)
Second supervisor:    Prof. Dr. Heike Proff (Universität Duisburg-Essen)
Co-examiner:              Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Wieland (Universität Duisburg-Essen)
Chair of committee:   Prof. Dr. Andreas Wömpener (Universität Duisburg-Essen)

24.06.2024 Successful graduation

Dr. Sebastian Schär defended his doctoral thesis successfully on 28 May 2024.
The title of the dissertation is:

Prospektive multikriterielle Entscheidungsunterstützung für die Entwicklung und Bewertung von Maßnahmen im Wasser-Energie Nexus: Das Wasserdefizitproblem im Nahen Osten

It can be openly accessed at Duisburg-Essen Publications online.

The Chair of Business Administration and Production Management congratulates Dr. Schär and would like to thank all members of the examination committee.

First supervisor:          Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann (Universität Duisburg-Essen)
Second supervisor:    Prof Dr. Valentin Bertsch (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
Co-examiner:              Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Panglisch (Universität Duisburg-Essen)
Chair of committee:    Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kaiser (Universität Duisburg-Essen)

21.05.2024 New publication: Life cycle assessment of carbon dioxide sequestration

Chapter 11 “Life cycle assessment of carbon dioxide sequestration” in
Carbon Dioxide Sequestration in Cementitious Construction Materials

Nils Thonemann, Leon Zacharopoulos and Jochen Nühlen

Mineral carbonation is a type of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) based on a natural mineralization reaction in which atmospheric CO2 reacts with alkaline earth metals to form stable carbonate rocks. The book chapter provides a qualitative insight into the literature on LCA studies of carbonation technologies and quantitatively compares the environmental impacts of these technologies.

08.02.2024 Research stay at the Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics (BCAM)

Isabel Wiemer is currently at the Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics in Bilbao. On 8 February, during a four-week research stay, she presented her work on the location planning of emergency services entitled "Modeling Emergency Medical Service Locations under Consideration of Uncertainty - Case Study for the City of Duisburg, Germany", which is being carried out in collaboration with the fire department of Duisburg.

New publication in the European Journal of Operational Research

The paper "Selection of multi-criteria energy efficiency and emission abatement portfolios in container terminals" by Dr. Erik Pohl and Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann in the European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR), 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2024.02.004, presents an approach for multi-criteria portfolio selection to environmental decision problems. It is illustrated via an extensive case study for environmental sustainability measures in a container terminal in the harbour of Hamburg. Particularly, energy and emission abatement measures are assessed and used to construct a portfolio that improves the overall energy efficiency of the terminal.

Call for Papers –13th International Ruhr Energy Conference (INREC) 2024

As a corporate member of HEMF (House of Energy Markets and Finance), we are co-organiser of the 13th International Ruhr Energy Conference - INREC 2024 with the topic "Uncertainty in Energy – Market, Systems and Decisions" at UDE-Campus Essen on  27. and 28.08.2024. Further informationen and registration: www.inrec.wiwi.uni-due.de

06.12.2023 Meeting of the Board of the GOR

On 4. and on December 5, 2023, Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann attended the meeting of the Board of the GOR (Gesellschaft für Operations Research) hosted by the current president Prof. Dr. Alexander Martin in Nuremberg.

09.10.2023 Duisburger Nachhaltigkeitstalk

On 17. October 2023, 6:30-9 p.m., the "Duisburger Nachhaltigkeitstalk" (Duisburg Sustainability Talk) will take place at the Fraunhofer-inHaus-Zentrum, Forsthausweg 1, 47057 Duisburg. Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann will join other experts on the podium to discuss which solutions the circular economy offers to sustainably change industry in the Rhine and Ruhr regions.

Further information: https://mailchi.mp/duisburg.business/9rzo2g76ic-10450917?e=f6c55b1750

Registration: https://ruhr-symposium.de/ruhr-symposium-duisburger-nachhaltigkeitstalk/

25.09.2023 New paper in "DER BETRIEB": Erstellung eines Carbon Footprint für Produkte für die Stahlherstellung in Deutschland

Erstellung eines Carbon Footprint für Produkte für die Stahlherstellung in Deutschland

Geldermann, Jutta; Zacharopoulos, Leon; Wiemer, Isabel; Sprecher, Marten

In this paper the Carbon Footprint (CFP) was described regarding ISO 14067 in the context of alloyed steel. For determining the CFP material and energy flows of the system under consideration were partitioned between co-products by allocation and substitution.

08.09.2023 LCM: Conference on Life Cycle Management

From 06.09.2023 – 08.09.2023 the LCM (Life Cycle Management Conference) took place in Lille.

In a session concerning „Prospective life cycle management of emerging technologies and Next-generation Materials“ Leon Zacharopoulos gave a lecture on „Substitution in prospective life cycle assessment of resource recovery from waste incineration slag", presenting the project EMSARZEM.

01.09.2023 Annual conference of the German Society for Operations Research (GOR)

Recently the annual conference of the German Society for Operations Research (GOR) was conducted. The conference provided a plattform for the OR community to discuss the latest developments, challenges and opportunities in the OR domain, such as Life Cycle Assessment, Teaching OR and Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis.

We would like to thank GOR and the Universität Hamburg for their excellent organization and the opportunity to exchange or ideas and experiences.

30.06.2023 International Symposium on Locational Decisions (ISOLDE)

From 25.06.2023 – 30.06.2023 the International Symposium on Locational Decisions (ISOLDE) XVI combined with EWGLA XXVIII conference took place in Kaiserslautern and Baden-Baden, Germany.

​

Isabel Wiemer held a lecture at that conference about „Analyzing the Challenges of Planning the Emergency Medical Service Locations for the Metropolitan Area Ruhr“.

We want to thank the Fraunhofer ITWM for the organization and the opportunity for a scientific exchange with international colleagues.

15.06.2023 Guest Article in "ZEIT" Magazine

ZEIT magazine published a guest article from Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann concerning artificial intelligence artificial intelligence in business administration. The article refers to important basic knowledge and the comprehension of complex tasks in context of companies, economy and society. Guest article in ZEIT

​VHB news

13.03.2023 Welcome to our chair website!

We are overjoyed to be almost fully operational again after a good three months and to be able to welcome you to our official chair website since March 13. Now that the file servers are also available again, we were able to determine after a first review of the data that our chair is not affected by any data loss.

With kind regards

Your chair team for Business Administration and Production Management

Note: Currently, parallel to the official website, there is also our temporary website, which was set up after the hacker attack. You can find the temporary website here.

16.11.2022 New Paper: Environmental optimization of the charge of battery electric vehicles

Environmental optimization of the charge of battery electric vehicles

Zacharopoulos, Leon; Thonemann, Nils; Dumeier, Marcel; Geldermann, Jutta

New publication on how and when to charge your electric vehicle taking an environmental perspective. We modeled the electricity grids for the years 2019, 2025, 2030, and 2050 on an hourly basis using the brightway2 framework coupled with driver behaviors and used an optimization algorithm to find environmentally favorable charging times and whereabouts.

10.11.2022 Guest lecture: Dr. Martin Treitz (STIHL)

On 10.11.2022, Dr. Martin Treitz from the STIHL company gave a guest lecture entitled Vulnerability, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity in Operations Management - Transformation & Change in Production and Plant Planning as part of the Plant and Energy Management course of the Chair of ABWL and Production Management. The lecture offered the students interesting insights into how manufacturing companies are strategically meeting the current challenges in logistics chains and energy markets and illustrated the methods from plant management taught in the event with practical examples. We would also like to thank Mr Treitz and STIHL on behalf of the students.

09.11.2022 Lecture: Life cycle assessment to increase energy and resource efficiency

How can life cycle assessment be used to increase the energy and resource efficiency of production processes? Prof. Dr Geldermann gave a lecture on this question at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf on 9 November 2022 as part of the research colloquium "Empirical Management Research".

01.08.2022 New Publication: Techno-economic analysis of integrated water infrastructure projects

Techno-economic analysis of integrated water infrastructure projects 

Schär, Sebastian; Geldermann, Jutta

Infrastructure concepts for the water supply of Jordan and Palestine are to be planned across borders and include desalination plants, conveyance plants and pipe networks for the distribution of treated water in supply areas. In addition, hydropower plants can be included in such integrated water infrastructure projects. This paper presents a techno-economic analysis for a very early planning stage. 

01.08.2022 SALAM project completion

The Middle East is one of the driest areas in the world. The scarce freshwater resources cannot meet the growing demand and are heavily overused. Political tensions in the region make community-based water management difficult. To avoid a widening of the regional water crisis, the SALAM initiative is developing transboundary water transfer strategies with partners from Germany, Israel, Jordan and Palestine. 

SALAM is a continuation of work in the region that has been ongoing for more than 25 years. Close cooperation has developed in the water sector, bringing together partners in the Middle East to find a common solution to the water deficit. SALAM is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (ger. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung - BMBF) with 2.3 million euros as part of the Integrated Water Resources Management (ger. Integriertes Wasserressourcen-Management - IWRM) funding measure under the "Research for Sustainability" (ger. Forschung und Nachhaltigkeit - FONA) strategy. 

The project results of the second project phase are summarised in the SALAM Brochure (external link). In this project, the Chair of ABWL and Production Management was responsible for a multi-criteria evaluation of water production and management variants and a techno-economic analysis of water infrastructure projects. In addition, the chair was involved in the creation of a regional macro model for transboundary water resource planning. 

03.03.2022 State Secretary Dr. Dirk Günnewig hands over the funding decision for the project Operations Research (OR) for Sustainability: Energy, Mobility, Industry

In scientific discourse and in research-based teaching, overcoming the climate crisis and increasing sustainability are central topics that are addressed, for example, in the courses of industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, environmental engineering, sales engineering and product management, business administration and economics. For the evaluation and design of our energy, mobility and industrial systems, decision-oriented, methods (e.g. linear programming, multi-criteria decision support) are required, as provided in particular by Operations Research (OR). The aim of the project is the development, implementation and dissemination of a digital, model- and application-oriented teaching/learning offer in the subject area "Operations Research for Sustainability". Current problems and solutions from the research projects of the University of Duisburg-Essen (coordination), Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB) and RWTH Aachen on the design of sustainable energy and mobility systems as well as industrial value chains will be didactically prepared and made available on the state portal ORCA.nrw.

Further information can be found on the page of the press office of the UDE.

New Publication: Environmental impacts of carbon capture and utilization by mineral carbonation: A systematic literature review and meta life cycle assessment

Environmental impacts of carbon capture and utilization by mineral carbonation: A systematic literature review and meta life cycle assessment

Thonemann, Nils; Zacharopoulos, Leon; Fromme, Felix; Nühlen, Jochen

Mineral carbonation technologies are associated with the concept of Carbon (dioxide) capture, utilization, and storage and rely on the mineralization reaction, which can be observed in nature. In order to overcome the slow natural reaction rates, diverse pathways are studied to sequester carbon dioxide into mineral products. However, studies that perform a life cycle assessment (LCA) on mineral carbonation are poorly comparable due to differences in the assessment methodology. A two-step approach is applied to report on and overcome this issue. First, a qualitative analysis based on a systematic literature review of 29 relevant articles was conducted. Second, a meta analysis with harmonized methodological assumptions was applied to assess which of the proposed ex-situ carbonation routes in literature has the lowest environmental impacts (16 different impact categories assessed). The qualitative literature review demonstrates that the most critical difference of the published LCAs on mineral carbonation technologies is handling multifunctional processes, as this parameter influences the result of an LCA. Since none of the assessed studies evaluated the technology readiness level (TRL) of the investigated technology, a TRL estimation based on the studies' descriptive information, ranging from 2 to 6, was provided. This is reflected in the predominant usage of laboratory or simulated data as the primary data source. The main finding of the meta analysis in terms of global warming and the impact category minerals and metals is that direct aqueous carbonation, carbonation mixing, and carbonation curing show negative values in those impact categories despite the deployed scenario. Hence, these three mineral carbonation technologies seem to be most promising. However, it could be demonstrated that other impact categories show positive results. In the case of indirect aqueous carbonation, it depends on the substitution credit assumed whether this pathway acts as a climate mitigation pathway.

13.10.2020 New Publication

The chair is included with the following contributions in the Operations Research Proceedings 2019 of the Society for Operations Research:

Pohl E., Scharpenberg C., Geldermann J. (2020) Assessment of Energy and Emission Reduction Measures in Container Terminals using PROMETHEE for Portfolio Selection. In: Neufeld J.S., Buscher U., Lasch R., Möst D., Schönberger J. (eds) Operations Research Proceedings 2019. Operations Research Proceedings (GOR (Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V.)). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48439-2_17

Maassen K., Perez-Gonzalez P. (2020) Diversity of Processing Times in Permutation Flow Shop Scheduling Problems. In: Neufeld J.S., Buscher U., Lasch R., Möst D., Schönberger J. (eds) Operations Research Proceedings 2019. Operations Research Proceedings (GOR (Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V.)). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48439-2_67

Hipp A., Geldermann J. (2020) Constructive Heuristics in Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling with Unrelated Machines and Setup Times. In: Neufeld J.S., Buscher U., Lasch R., Möst D., Schönberger J. (eds) Operations Research Proceedings 2019. Operations Research Proceedings (GOR (Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V.)). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48439-2_69

04.10.2020 New Publication: Life Cycle Assessment of Synthetic Natural Gas Production from Different CO2 Sources: A Cradle-to-Gate Study

Life Cycle Assessment of Synthetic Natural Gas Production from Different CO2 Sources: A Cradle-to-Gate Study
Eleonora Bargiacchi, Nils Thonemann, Jutta Geldermann, Marco Antonelli und Umberto Desideri

Fuel production from hydrogen and carbon dioxide is considered an attractive solution as long-term storage of electric energy and as temporary storage of carbon dioxide. A large variety of CO2 sources are suitable for Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU), and the process energy intensity depends on the separation technology and, ultimately, on the CO2 concentration in the flue gas. Since the carbon capture process emits more CO2 than the expected demand for CO2 utilization, the most sustainable CO2 sources must be selected. This work aimed at modeling a Power-to-Gas (PtG) plant and assessing the most suitable carbon sources from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective. The PtG plant was supplied by electricity from a 2030 scenario for Italian electricity generation. The plant impacts were assessed using data from the ecoinvent database version 3.5, for different CO2 sources (e.g., air, cement, iron, and steel plants). A detailed discussion on how to handle multi-functionality was also carried out. The results showed that capturing CO2 from hydrogen production plants and integrated pulp and paper mills led to the lowest impacts concerning all investigated indicators. The choice of how to handle multi-functional activities had a crucial impact on the assessment.

25.06.2020 Heraeus seminar on ‘Thermal and Chemical Energy Storage: Scientific Challenges and Technological Relevance‘

From 22.03 - 25.03.2021 the 743rd WE-Heraeus seminar will take place. Prof. Geldermann will participate in the seminar as invited speaker. 
Topic of the seminar: Process Integration, Chemical and Thermal Energy Storage for the Energy Transformation

Further Information

20.04.2020 82nd Annual Conference of the Association of University Professors of Business Administration (VHB)

In March 2020, Prof. Jutta Geldermann was elected to the Executive Board of the Verband der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. at its (digitised) 82nd annual conference. The VHB has more than 2,600 members. The goal of the VHB as the professional association of business administration professors in the German-speaking countires is the promotion and further development of business administration as a socially relevant, internationally connectable and forward-looking academic discipline. Prof. Geldermann is the deputy chairwoman of the board of directors and responsible for research and publications from January 2021 to December 2022. In addition, she is designated Chairperson of the VHB from 2023 - 2024. Prof. Geldermann is very pleased about the trust placed in her by her colleagues. This honorary position also contributes to the visibility of our university as well as to the reputation of business administration at our faculty in Duisburg.

New research project: SALAM2

08.01.2020 Project completion and final report of the project NEDS - Sustainable Energy Supply Lower Saxony

04.12.2019 New publication

05.11.2019 New publication

20.10.2019 DAAD - Project-Related Exchange with CityU Hong Kong

Members of the chair participated in the DAAD Exchange Service at City University in Hong Kong. The aim of the project is the scientific exchange between the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management of the CityU Hong Kong and the Chair of Business Administration and Production Management.

04.10.2019 James Watt Medal

The paper „Optimising power grids using batteries and fuzzy control of photovoltaic generation”, written by Dr. Tobias Lühn and Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann,  won the “James Watt Medal” as a ICE Publishing Award 2019  of the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/page/authors/awards-2019

20.09.2019 OR2019 – Annual International Conference of the German Operations Research Society

The chair held five talks at the conference:

1. Constructive heuristics in hybrid flow shop scheduling with unrelated machines and setup time (Andreas Hipp)
2. Diversity of processing times in permutation flowshop scheduling problems (Kathrin Maassen)
3. Decision support for sustainable regional food distribution (Christina Scharpenberg)
4. Assessment of energy and emission reducing measures in container terminals using PROMETHE (Erik Pohl)
5. Combining scenario planning, energy system analysis, and multi-criteria analysis to develop and evaluate energy scenarios (Jutta Geldermann)

17.05.2019 New Perspectives in Multiple Criteria Decision Making

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research findings in multi-criteria decision analysis and related areas. The articles have been written by leading scientists in this field and provide an outlook on future developments in the field.

The chapter "Perspectives on Multi-criteria Decision Analysis and Life-Cycle Assessment" was written by Luis Dias, Fausto Freire and Jutta Geldermann and deals with the combined use of multi-criteria decision analysis and life cycle analysis.

Announcement

 From now on replies to student’s enquiries will only be sent to the student’s university email address (forename.surname@stud.uni-duisburg-essen.de / forename.surname@stud.uni-due.de) by the Chair of Business Administration and Operations Management.

Announcement

For general contact with the chair please contact: pom@uni-due.de

Please use your university mailing address in form of: forename.lastname@stud.uni-due.de.

Mails that do not have this ending will not be answered!

Address:

University of Duisburg-Essen
Faculty of Engineering Sciences
- Industrial Engineering -
Chair of Business Administration and Production Management

Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann
Bismarckstr. 90
47057 Duisburg, Germany
Phone +49 (0)203 379-2624
Fax. +49 (0)203 379-2922