Oslip, 4 October 2024 - On Thursday evening, the 30th Innovation Award was presented by the Burgenland Business Agency at the Cselley Mill in Oslip. From a total of 26 submissions, the jury of experts selected the Forschung Burgenland project ‘Waste2Material’ as the winner among the research institutions.
As part of the ERDF-funded Waste2Material project, a plant for the thermochemical pre-treatment of residual materials was developed using a currently non-recyclable fraction from the mechanical-biological treatment of household waste. A team of researchers at the Pinkafeld site has been working on this special type of process for converting residual materials for five years now. The purpose-built test facility for thermochemical waste pre-treatment was put into operation this summer.
This process heats the material to around 600°C and the organic components are decomposed. The resulting pyrolysis gas is incinerated and the resulting energy is recovered. The solid residue can be recycled. The forward-looking result: both landfill volumes and CO2 emissions are reduced.
Customised production made by FH and Research Burgenland
The research project was launched in 2019 and since then Christian Wartha and Michael Peinsipp have been working with their team to develop a prototype for the thermochemical conversion of waste materials. ‘The Waste2Material project involves employees from Forschung Burgenland and FH Burgenland as well as students from the university. We are working on the development of the system on the one hand and on the topic of the circular economy on the other,’ explains Christian Wartha. He is in charge of the research project and is also head of the Energy & Environment degree programme at FH Burgenland.
Construction of the pilot plant began in December 2022 using a container solution. The research team organised and built everything themselves. ‘The acquisition of the individual parts, the assembly of the components and even the programming was carried out by our scientific staff. That's what makes this construction so unique in Austria. We have adapted the system to our preliminary investigations and can work with it in a very customised way,’ reports Michael Peinsipp.
Marcus Keding, Managing Director of Forschung Burgenland, also emphasises that projects like these are forward-looking and trend-setting: ‘The global interdependence of our economy also requires us to analyse waste streams in a comprehensive context and find joint and sustainable solutions. In general, the demand for research co-operation with regional companies has risen sharply. Companies want to find, investigate and scrutinise solutions,’ explains Keding.
Nomination for TA-Concept
Among the 26 projects submitted, there was another nomination for Forschung Burgenland: the research project TA-Concept (Concepts for thermoacoustic components for heating and cooling applications in buildings) from the research field of building technology. ‘The aim of the TA-Concept project is to develop an energetically and geometrically optimised thermoacoustic core, which will later be used for sustainable heating and cooling in buildings in the low power range,’ explains project manager Kathrin Schuller.
Query note:
Marlene Hamedl BA
Marketing & Communication
Forschung Burgenland GmbH
Tel: 0664 - 88134518
E-Mail: marlene.hamedl@forschung-burgenland.at
