Bioenergy / Bioressourcemanagement
Fossil fuels are finite, release environmentally harmful gases and exacerbate the greenhouse effect. That is why it is important to increase the share of renewable energy.
At NOWUM-Energy, research is being carried out into the potential of biomass and biogas.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers is tackling the complex field of biogas production from both biological and process engineering perspectives. The Institute has two laboratories dedicated to biogas research. There, it operates pilot biogas plants of various sizes.
Areas of research at NOWUM-Energy include, for example, biological methanisation, the investigation of alternative substrates, the use of waste materials for biogas production, and the use of biogas plants as energy storage facilities.
In addition, the NOWUM Energy Institute is conducting research into the ‘sewage treatment plant of the future’, with a focus on nutrient recovery.
NOWUM-Energy runs its laboratories in close cooperation with the Faculty of Chemistry and Biotechnology at FH Aachen, in particular the research group led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nils Tippkötter.
This collaboration extends the Institute’s research fields to include microbiology.
Current projects
CELLULAR
: Circular, pulp-based products made from paper industry waste | Find out more about the project
PHOENIX
Launch Space Power-to-X, Sub-project A: Technology Development and Transfer
– From a lignite mining region to a region of the future for climate-neutral and self-sufficient industrial processes | Find out more about the project
EVOClean
Evolutionarily adapted microalgae for wastewater treatment | Find out more about the project
Paper-Rest-Cycle
Closing the nutrient and water cycle during the digestion of industrial paper waste | Find out more about the project
Closing
the Water Cycle Closing the water cycle in the paper industry by treating the liquid phase of digestate dewatering following biogas production from waste paper residues | More about the project
Completed projects
PLAntCycle
: Integrated microbiological conversion of plant-based raw materials into bioplastics | Find out more about the project
OptiFlexMethan
Optimisation of a modular tubular reactor for the flexible biological production of methane from
carbon dioxide and surplus electricity | Find out more about the project
eBioH2
Electrically enhanced microbial hydrogen production | Find out more about the project
NFF
Non-Fossil Fertiliser – Nitrogen recovery to industrial fertiliser quality | More about the NFF project
SmartBioFlex
Meandering tubular reactor for biological methanisation | More about the SmartBioFlex project
Plus RE-Papier
Resource and energy recovery from organic waste from the paper industry | More about the Plus RE-Papier
project The Plus RE-Papier project is the successor to the successful RE-Papier pilot project | More about the RE-Papier project
PyroVC
Creating value from previously non-recyclable polyvinyl chloride waste | More about the PyroVC project
ReWaMem
: Treatment of industrial digestion products for the reuse of water content using membrane filtration | More about the ReWaMem project
Gärri
: Treatment of digestate using microalgae in a tubular reactor | Find out more about the Gärri project
NuGem
Nutrient recovery from various digestion substrates using membrane contactors | More about the NuGem project
LabDEA
Laboratory trials to test main-stream deammonification | More about the LabDEA project
Dea-Hs
Use of deammonification for nitrogen removal in the main stream of municipal sewage treatment works. | More about the Dea-Hs project
BiohyreP
Phosphorus recovery from wastewater using microalgae and microorganism consortia on a biofilm matrix, and biogas production from phosphate-containing algal biomass
| More about the BiohyreP project
RE-Papier
Resource and energy recovery from organic waste materials from the paper industry | More about the RE-Papier project
ProBioSyn
Provision of biogas for synthesis gas production via anaerobic digestion of Energy Cane | More about the ProBioSyn project
WBast
Development of a co-fermentation process using green waste and high-calorific residues to produce biogas and natural fibres | More about the WBast project
ACidestion
: Modified FFA (fatty acid) ensiling to control demand-driven biogas production | More about the ACidestion project
MiProBa – Microbial process analysis of biogas formation using batch experiments on a wide variety of substrates
Investigation of the biogas formation process with regard to microbial composition as a function of the substrate used. | More about the MiProBa project
Integration of the CROWN system into biogas production
The CROWN disintegration system is used in sewage treatment works to support operations involving anaerobic sludge stabilisation. | More about the CROWN project
Development of a filamentous fixed-bed fermenter
Design of a filamentous fixed bed to increase and stabilise the population of microorganisms in a fermenter. | More about the Filamentous Fixed-Bed Fermenter project
