Content:

The aim of this project is to investigate in detail the causes of excessive foaming in the biogas process caused by fermentation of easily degradable substrates, to build understanding and to develop countermeasures. Thereby, the role of the hydrolysis stage will be in the foreground. In order to address the research topic as comprehensively as possible, expertise from different fields will be brought together – the expertise on foam formation in biotechnological processes (UFZ), on two-phase fermentation (University of Hohenheim), on molecular biological aspects of process disturbances in biogas fermenters (UFZ), and on economic analysis and acceptance research in the field of renewable energies (HfWU).

In the project, the ISR is implementing sub-project 3 "Determining the status quo as well as the economic efficiency and acceptance of countermeasures": In a comprehensive analysis, we will first survey the status quo of foam events in biogas plants, estimating in particular the frequency of different foam scenarios and prioritizing the important scenarios. In a model, the economic viability of different counterstrategies will be calculated in order to determine the economic effects of the developed countermeasures based on different foam scenarios. Finally, the measures developed in the project will be analyzed with regard to their acceptance by plant operators, so that prerequisites and barriers for individual foam scenarios are worked out and translated into recommendations for the training of operators.

Based on the results of the project, it will be possible to design stable process control by optimal composition of the substrate mix and by targeted dosing of additives on an enzymatic or microbial basis.

Project Members

Prof. Dr. Carsten Herbes, Dr. Dorothee Apfel

Cooperation Partners:

Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ (project lead)

Universität Hohenheim - Landesanstalt für Agrartechnik und Bioenergie

Duration:

01.02.2023 - 31.01.2026

Public Funding:

This research receives funding from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) [grant number 2220NR310A]. Funding management is carried out by the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (FNR). Further Information is available on the following websites https://www.fnr.de/index.php?id=11150&fkz=2220NR310A and https://www.ufz.de/hydrofoam.