Research centres

Centre Energy Units for Utilization of Non-Traditional Energy Sources

One of the research centres developing the future of non-traditional energy sources in Ostrava, as well as on international level, is the Centre Energy Units for Utilization of Non-Traditional Energy Sources (ENET), established in Ostrava by the Technical university of Ostrava in cooperation with the Ministry for education (responsible for R&D) and other partners.

ENET is involved in the research and development of technologies for fuel transformation, especially of waste products and alternative fuels, into heat energy and electric power and their further effective use. The objective is the research and development of technology and energy units for treatment of both waste and other alternative fuels, intensification of transformation into heat energy and electric power with parallel ensuring of purity of combustion products, monitoring of quality and quantity of final products and monitoring of possibility of energy accumulation and parallel or serial cooperation of various resources.

The ENVICRACK  cluster

The ENVICRACK cluster was established in 2006 for the purpose of supporting innovation and improving the competitiveness of its members.

Since its inception, ENVICRACK has been focused primarily on activities connected with the liquidation of waste and the resulting gases and substances. Based on the needs of its members, the scope of the cluster’s activities was expanded from the area of waste-processing to include the area of innovation activities in the use of renewable and alternative sources of energy.

The cluster’s main activities are science and research activities in the preparation of waste for further utilisation with the use of pyrolysis technology and in the area of using renewable and alternative sources of energy.

Department of Power Engineering, VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava

Wood Construction Research Centre

Wooden structures have been enjoying great popularity in recent years both here in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the world. Wooden family houses and public buildings contribute to permanent sustainable development, as they have a number of outstanding properties in the areas of energy and economy. Modern technologies are used in their construction. Both curtain-wall and skeleton construction systems are employed and a development trend in the construction industry consists in multi-storey wood-based buildings.

Therefore, it is necessary to look more closely at the properties of wood and wooden structures. In order to learn as much as possible about the specific properties of this construction material, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava  with the specialists from the Moravian Woodworking Cluster and company RD Rýmařov, s.r.o., built the Wood Construction Research Centre. Their scientific facility examines the potential of wood for use in construction and how it is affected by the widest variety of ambient influences. The research itself is conducted so that a wooden structure is subjected to various fluctuations in temperature, humidity and wind currents. Sensors and probes in the walls inside the structure and even deep underground constantly record the material’s reaction to changes in the ambient conditions and provide us with much useful data. These data are then analysed and the results of the measurements are gradually introduced into practice. Thanks to these findings, they can improve the design of wooden structures in terms of ventilation, thermal insulation, ecology and health safety.

Unique in the Czech Republic, this project has drawn admiration and recognition from other Czech universities and will make life a little better for everyone who is planning to construct a wooden building.