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From manure to methane: Discovering how two-stage digestion improves biogas yield

Beschreibung

The anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process used to generate clean energy through the degradation of residual organic matter, generating a gas mixture of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The most used substrate in AD is manure, and yet, only ⅓ of the manure produced in Germany is currently being used for this purpose, due to its high water content, which demands a lot of substrate for a smaller amount of energy. To untap manure's potential, two-stage AD comes to light, offering a higher level of optimization of the process and a higher degradation of the substrate, increasing the gas production and quality.

This project aims to evaluate the co-digestion of manure with different substrates under two temperature conditions in a two-stage AD system. Through daily and weekly analyses, gas quantity and composition, as well as degradation rates will be assessed, providing insights into process optimization and enhanced biogas production.

The working plan is divided into three main tasks:

1) What is two-stage AD? In this task, you will research the concept of two-stage anaerobic digestion, understanding how splitting the digestion process into two stages can enhance biogas production.

2) How to analyze the AD process? You will perform sampling of the reactors twice per week and analyze the material. In this task, you will get hands-on experience in the laboratory and characterization techniques.

3) What are the optimal conditions in AD? You will analyze the collected data to determine which substrate combinations and temperature conditions lead to the best gas quality and quantity, helping to identify the most efficient parameters for optimal biogas production.

Projektzeitraum
Sommersemester 2025
Bewerbungszeitraum
01. bis 13.04.2025
Durchführung
semesterbegleitend
Details zu Projektzeitraum und Durchführung
  • The report/abstract/presentation can be done in German. 
  • The spoken language between the supervisor and the students would be English.
  • The project schedule and implementation will be adapted according to the student's availability. 
Studienfach
offen für alle Studienfächer
Betreuende
Maria Isabella Lima Garcao, PD Dr. Andreas Lemmer
Institut
Institut für Agrartechnik (440) (Landesanstalt für Agrartechnik und Bioenergie)
Sprache
englisch
Teilnehmendenanzahl
min. 1, max. 2
(1 Kleingruppen mit max. 2 Teilnehmenden )
Arbeitsaufwand
ca. 120 Stunden pro Teilnehmende:r | 4 ECTS-Punkte

Arbeitsaufwand (Stunden und ggf. ECTS) sind ungefähre Angaben. Die tatsächlich vergebenen ECTS-Punkte ergeben sich aus der tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeit.

 
Für dieses Projekt ist kein Motivationsschreiben des Studierenden erforderlich
Projektart
experimentell
Lernziele

Die Teilnehmende lernen in diesem Projekt:

In this project, the participants will learn to:

  • Perform literature research and obtain knowledge of a scientific area
  • Perform laboratory analyses
  • Anaerobic digestion performance and principles
  • Obtaining and analyzing self-obtained data
  • Presentation of obtained results
Anmerkungen für Studierende
Schlagworte
Biogas, bioenergy, Two-stage anaerobic digestion, Process optimization, Lab-work