Question

Application of biological process in technology

Answer 1

The sustainable use of biomass makes a valuable contribution to climate protection and resource conservation. The research of our department comprises therefore the entire value added chain from the biological treatment of biogenous residues for the efficient energy production to the ecological recycling of digestate, taking into account technical, environmental, economic and social aspects.

Besides the production of feasibility and economic analyses the focus of our work is the preparation of concepts for the recovery of nutrient from biogenous residues. The development and optimization of processes on a pilot scale for biogas production and processing complete our portfolio.

Biogas, Wastewater, Phosphorus

We develop biological processes for the efficient production of energy from wastewater and from previously unusable biogenous residues. Therein, we focus on the crucial aspects of process optimisation, emissions reduction and recycling of digestate from biogas plants. We offer hand-in-hand development of strategies and also novel in-house process solutions for the recovery of nutrients from biogenous residues and sewage sludge.

Biochar

The energetic usage of biochar for the substitution of fossil carbon carriers as well as the material usage depends largely on the physical and chemical properties of the biochar. In the
in-house technical area we can purposefully adjust material- and also process-specific parameters with the thermo-catalytical reforming (TCR) and investigate the biochar to identify possible application fields.

System Analysis

In order to cope with the energy transition it is essential to grasp its complexity. In addition to the process technology aspects, analysis of the individual value-added steps of a regenerative energy generation system is vital. We summarize the different influencing factors such as enhanced raw materials management, dynamic socio-political milieu and interdependencies with the environment in our system analysis approach. We investigate the synergies between different systems and from these produce recommendations for policy-makers and industry.