Biogas lab

The biogas laboratory is designed and equipped to simulate large-scale technical processes on a laboratory and semi-technical scale, complete with the corresponding analytics. Its aims are to optimise processes and to improve basic understanding of the individual subprocesses involved in methane formation. It operates extensive (continuous and discontinuous) pilot plants with reaction volumes between 0.25 and 500 litres, as well as the biogas pilot plant. It investigates a wide variety of substrate mixes from agriculture, the waste management sector and industry on behalf of various research and industrial partners. Alongside in-process analytics, the laboratory’s trace analytics function is one of its key areas of activity. Resources available to the scientists include high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as well as gas chromatographs (GCs) for analysis of intermediate products.

The cooperation agreement with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ means microbiological analyses are also possible. As well as laboratory simulation and the associated stationary systems, resources also include various instruments for conducting field measurements. In combination, these resources enable plant efficiency and emissions from large-scale plants to be assessed.