With a broad range of measurement techniques at its disposal, the "Institute for Chemistry and Environmental Engineering" enables the investigation of organic and inorganic substances in liquid, solid and gaseous matrices.
Research activities focus on aerosol research, in particular, the chemical and physical characterization of air pollutants and climate-relevant compounds, as well as on the measurement of exhaust gases in combustion processes. One focal point of current and future research lies in examining the exhaust gases of ships, aircraft engines, and road traffic together with testing modern exhaust gas after-treatment systems. CVS tunnel, various light-duty engine test benches, an aircraft combustion chamber simulator, and a helicopter gas turbine test bench can be used.
Another main emphasis is the research on transport-related emissions from non-combustion processes. These include the abrasion of brakes, tires, drive components, and road surfaces. Another field of activity lies in investigating aging processes in the atmosphere and their influence on the composition of urban, rural, and Alpine ambient air. The goal here is to provide an indication of potential health hazards for humans.
For this purpose, the institute has a modern mobile measurement laboratory for immission and emission analyses. One of the institute's specialties is the real-time measurement of gaseous organic pollutants in combustion processes. This is a method that makes it possible to simultaneously detect a large number of hydrocarbons that are harmful to health in the trace range.
The procedure enables online process controls on combustion engines, residential heating, power plants, and industrial plants. The institute uses the technique of time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with soft photoionization processes, i.
