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"Green" Research Projects Distinguished at International Conferences |
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Once again, the excellent and high-quality research output of the Montanuniversitaet Leoben in the field of sustainability has been affirmed and distinguished at two international conferences. At the "World Renewable Energy Congress" (WREC) in Sweden and the "European Metallurgical Conference 2011" (EMC) in Düsseldorf, presentations by the scientific staff of the Montanuniversitaet received awards.
Renewable Energies
At the WREC, which takes place every other year, energy experts, political consultants, engineers and industry professionals gathered in order to present and discuss the current state and future developments in the field of renewable energies. In Linköping, Sweden, participants from more than 80 countries attended over 550 presentations in mid-May.
Dipl.-Ing. Markus Ellersdorfer from the Institute of Process Technology and Industrial Environmental Protection presented a research project that deals with the combination of biogas and cement plants. The project is based on an idea by Prof. Werner Kepplinger, and has been patented by the Montanuniversitaet. The project shows that the use of untreated biogas as fuel results in a higher efficiency of the plant. Furthermore, synergy effects such as waste heat recovery, and the production of ammoniac from fermentation for nitrate removal applications promote higher CO2 savings in comparison to conventional biogas plants. In terms of price policies, biogas could then compete with natural gas even without state subsidies, and hence promoting sustainable energy systems.
The quality of the project and its presentation were assessed by an international committee. The project was executed in cooperation with Prof. Christian Weiß, and submitted and presented with the title "Integration of biogas plants in the building materials industry". It was awarded with the Best Paper Award in the category “Industrial Energy Efficiency”.
Battery Recycling
At the EMC, which is also organised every other year, more than 400 participants from over 40 countries met at the end of June. The engineering and scientific focus of the conference included 170 presentations in the field of non-ferrous metallurgy. The conference was complemented with an excellent poster exhibition, displaying current metallurgical research activities in industry and at universities. At the event, Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Kaindl from the Chair of Non-ferrous Metallurgy received the Poster Award for his scientific achievements.
The poster "Recycling of NiMH-batteries" introduces a hydrometallurgical recycling process, which promotes the recovery of metals from rare earths which are essential for a variety of applications, for example wind turbines and hybrid vehicles. In future, the recycling of these metals will become more vital in order to prevent supply difficulties. Moreover, as the prices are rising, the recovery of rare earths from secondary mineral resources is expedient.
Further information:
Dipl.-Ing. Markus Ellersdorfer
Institut für Verfahrenstechnik des industriellen Umweltschutzes der Montanuniversität Leoben
Tel.: +43/(0)3842/402-5006
E-Mail: markus.ellersdorfer[at]unileoben.ac.at
Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Kaindl
Lehrstuhl für Nichteisenmetallurgie der Montanuniversität Leoben
Tel.: +43/(0)3842/402-5216, -5217
E-Mail: matthias.kaindl[at]unileoben.ac.at
Dipl.-Ing. Markus Ellersdorfer
Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Kaindl (left, withDr. Karl Hermann Bruch) at the award ceremony
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