Olives to heat rooms
Ateknea’s experts have visited the facilities of the Vienna University of Technology and Repotec –a leading company specialised in gasification– to see the advancements on the production of thermal energy and electricity from biomass.
Engineers in Austrian capital have been testing the suitability of exhausted olive pomace as fuel for gasification under the Phenolive initiative coordinated by Ateknea. At this stage the research is focused on the gasification of residues from the olive-pressing to be recovered and converted into electricity and heat.
This environmental friendly way to use natural waste has been studied by Dr. Hofbauer from the Vienna University of Technology and his team. The institution has developed a successful gasification process, which has been tested both in the University facilities as well as further improved in the large pilot plants located in Oberwart and Güssing.
Ateknea’s Dr. Montras, added that “eight millions tonnes of pomace by-product are generated every year by the olive oil industry in Europe”. Through Phenolive –a European partnership– academic research and private companies get together again to make the olive sector more competitive through technological innovation.
The Phenolive reseach will be runnig until 2016 with the aim of the fully revalorisation of the olive waste from the oil industry by obtaining high added-value products –antioxidants mainly–, heat and electricity. This will not be possible without the support and involvement of other four participating organisations; Amarante Process, Effitech, Hakki Usta, Laboratoire Phenobio and Mora Industrial.