Brunch of the Energy-Cluster

14.10.2025

On October 14, 2025, the Energy Cluster brunch was held at our university. The aim was to enable researchers working in various fields of energy research at our university to get to know each other and network. 

The event was opened by Vice Rector Helmut Antrekowitsch, while Thomas Kienberger and Andreas Hammer explained the functions and objectives of the Energy Cluster. This was followed by several sessions of short presentations on selected topics relating to areas of work and specific research projects. Between sessions, more than 50 participants had the opportunity to see the posters and network while enjoying sandwiches, coffee, and cake.

Pitch 1

Gregor Mori (AAC): Activities and Possibilities in Green Energy @ Chair fo General and Analytical Chemistry

Kerstin Pfleger-Schopf (EVT): NEFI New energy for industry

Christoph Markowitsch (VTiU): Sustainable Aviation Fuels - SAF Research and Plant Activities at TU Leoben

Thomas Ruh (PC): Chemical Energy Conversion an Storage at the Chair of Physical Chemistry

Pitch 2

Christoph Spijker (TPT): Modelling energy-intensive processes on different levels

David Holec (Physic. Metallurgy): CD Lab an Advanced Computational Design of Crystal Growth

Andreas Krammer (VTiU): Catalytic methanation - from research to industrial application

Stefan Wallner (EVT): ÖNIP - Scenario Modelling and Infrastructure Planning for Austria

Pitch 3

Daniel Ernst (Ferr. Metallurgy):  Next generation of arc-based steel production - Investigations on a laboratory scale

David Banasiak (EVT): Industrial Processes Transformation to meet Sustainable Goals

Christian Weiß VTiU): Projekt "PtMHtP" - Metalhydride based H2-storage as key component in a reversible oxide fuel cell (rSOC) environment

Florian Samm (EVT):  Encouraging Grid-friendly Battery Storage Operation With Different Time-of-Use and Market-based Tariffs

Poster:

Edith Bucher: Solid oxide fuel and electrolyzer cells for highly efficient and sustainable electrochemical energy conversion and storage

Christoph Rameshan: CO₂ Conversion Reactions can be used to Store Energy as Molecules

Severin Sendlhofer, Christoph Markowitsch: Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)

Enzo Komatz, Christoph Markowitsch: Modelling a reverse water-gas shift reactor with an artificial neural network

Marion Andritz, Christoph Markowitsch, Markus Lehner​: Investigation of an innovative perovskite-based catalyst for process optimization in the Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction

Philipp Wolf-Zoellner, Markus Lehner: Catalytic methanation of real CO₂ from integrated steelworks under dynamic operating conditions: Demonstration and upscaling of a 20 kW pilot plant 

Sarah Reiter: CO₂-Sequestration of Secondary Materials via Mineral Carbonation

Marija Jeremic: Project "Reallabor Holzgas" - Biomass syngass methanation from a 10 kW prototype to the planned 5 MW pilot plant

Elias Vigl, Christian Weiß, Jan Eisbacher-Lubensky: Magnesium-hydride storage materials for thermal integration in energy conversion systems

Sabine Bodner: Probing materials in Action - High-Energy X-ray diffraction for the Energy Sector at Synchrotrons

Matthias Eichinger, Dino Zwittnig, Gregor Mori: Determining of the critical stress intensity factor KiH of API 5CT steel grades L80 and P110 in high-pressure H2 gas using DCP specimens

Ahmed Hamed, Gregor Mori: Repurposing an existing natural gas pipeline for hydrogen

J. Winkler, J. Eisbacher-Lubensky:  Electric smelting furnace (ESF) development for potential CO2-reduced iron and steel production

J. Eisbacher-Lubensky, C. Weiß: Optimization of sinter gas composition to reduce coke breeze consumption during iron ore sintering

Sandyha Kumari, David Siebenhofer, Thomas Vouk, Thomas Kienberger: Regionalization of charging demand in Austria - Driving Sustainable Mobility: Future of electric cars and trucks

David Siebenhofer: Modelling Europe: First steps to calculate hourly imports to and exports from Austria to the rest of Europe

Andreas Gruber: Flexibilizing Electric Steelmaking - Demand Side Management for an Electric Arc Furnace

Ramin Ghiami Sardroud: DirectCCE Direct Carbon Capture and Electrolysis

Ahmad Fayyaz Bakhsh: Investigating the influence of a booking system based on dynamic forecasting and pricing on power flow reliability

Lukas Wechner: Techno-Economic Assessment of Hydrogen-Supply for an Industrial Site

Christoph Spijker: Burner test facility

Klaus Doschek-Held: ReMFra - Recovering of Metals and Mineral Fractions of Steel Making Residues

Matthias Pferschy: Mechanical characterisation of electrode materials for simulation purposes

David Holec: Harvesting and storing hydrogen: in silico approach