TUV: Institute of Chemical Engineering - Vienna University of Technology - Austria

The Institute of Chemical Engineering is one department of the Faculty of Natural Science at the Vienna University of Technology. Due to the broad field of activities the institute is divided into seven research divisions: Mechanical Process Engineering, Thermal Process Engineering, Bio-Process Engineering, Fluidised Bed and Reaction Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Chemistry of Food and Natural Materials, and Environmental Engineering.
Fundamental as well as applied research is carried out in these research areas. Some of the projects are more of experimental nature others more theoretical. In addition process simulation (e.g. Aspen, IPSEpro) and feasibility studies are performed. The number of scientific employees varies between 80 and 100. The institute has got a long experience and tradition in the field of fluidised bed technology. During the last two decades a lot of research projects in the fields of solid fuel conversion (gasification), FCC, chemical processes, iron ore reduction, and flue gas desulphurisation have been carried out.
Since about twenty years research is focussed on fluidised bed gasification processes. Fundamental research has been carried out to study steam gasification of biomass. In co-operation with industry a new gasification process has been developed. This process is based on a fast internally circulation fluidised bed (FICFB) and is able to produce a gas with calorific values between 10 - 12 MJ/m³ and a hydrogen content of about 40 vol%. A pilot plant with a thermal capacity of about 100 kW is available at the institute together with the necessary measurement and analytical equipment. The Institute does also the main research at a demonstration plant of this process with a fuel input of 8 MWth in Guessing, Austria. This plant is in operation since spring 2002 and achieved so far more than 25000 hours of CHP (combined heat and power) operation.


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