In September 2020, the “Josef Ressel Center for Production of Activated Charcoal from Municipal Residues” was set up for a period of five years at the MCI Department for Environmental, Process and Energy Technology. This research center is supported by the company partners SynCraft Engineering, Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe, Stadtwerke Schwaz and Gemeindewerke Telfs and is funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs, the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development and the Christian Doppler Research Association.
In the frame of the „Forum Technology & Life Sciences“, held on November 11 2021, the results of the first year of research were presented to a broad audience with representatives from politics, business and science. Starting with a ceremony to mark the “first birthday” of the Josef Ressel Center, where Ingrid Felipe (Deputy Governor of Tyrol) and Anton Mattle (Member of the Tyrolean Government) emphasized the importance of measures to increase regional added value and reduce the ecological footprint in the municipal infrastructure. The chairman of the Josef Ressel Senate in the Christian Doppler Research Association, Frederic Fredersdorf, pointed out the great importance of a Josef Ressel Center in the international scientific community.
After the general presentation of the center by Angela Hofmann (Head of the Center), the lectures were presented in two thematic sessions. The focus was, on the one hand, on the usability of municipal residues, predominantly untreated scrap and scrap wood. In the lectures, the procedural challenges and the ecological advantages of such a cascade of use were discussed. The second thematic session dealt with the possibilities of refining the by-product “powdered carbon” from the thermochemical gasification process into activated carbon using chemical and thermal methods and then using this in the field of wastewater treatment. The importance of this application was clearly illustrated by the lecture by Steffen Metzger, co-founder and former head of the “Competence Center for Trace Substances” at the University of Stuttgart and the University of Biberach.
The detailled program can be dowloaded here.
The “Forum Technology & Life Sciences” aims to address current issues and present possible solutions. The exchange with representatives from business, science and politics enabled a deepening of the already successful cooperation. We look forward to the exciting results that will continue to be generated by the Josef Ressel Center.
For further information, please visit our website or get in touch with:
Angela Hofmann Professor, Head of Josef Ressel Centre for Production of activated charcoal out of communal residues +43 512 2070 – 3228 angela.hofmann@mci.edu
Representatives from the Tyrolean Government and the Christian Doppler Research Association participated in the Forum (left to right: LR Anton Mattle, JRZ-Head Angela Hofmann, CDG-Representative Frederic Fredersdorf, LH-Stv.in Ingrid Felipe, MCI Rector Andreas Altmann) © MCI-Kiechl.
The Forum T&LS enables exchange with representatives from business, science and politics. © MCI-Kiechl.
Angela Hofmann presents findings from the first year of research at the Josef Ressel Center. © MCI-Kiechl.
