As part of the ORBIT II research project, the Research Center for Energy Networks and Energy Storage (FENES) at OTH Regensburg is working with other research partners on the further development of a power-to-gas plant. The name ORBIT stands for “Optimization of a trickle bed bioreactor for the dynamic microbial biosynthesis of methane with archaea in power-to-gas plants”. The predecessor project ORBIT I already dealt with biological methanation. In the course of ORBIT II, the bioreactor was expanded to include an electrolyzer and integrated into a transportable container.
From electricity to gas: how biological methanation works
Biological methanation is based on natural processes. Carbon dioxide, which comes from industrial processes, biogas plants or the air, for example, is combined with hydrogen. This is produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity. Microorganisms, known as methanogenic archaea, convert the gases into methane and water. The resulting methane molecules can be used as a climate-neutral energy source.
From university to practice: field test demonstrates feasibility
The plant has recently been installed on the grounds of the Pfaffenhofen municipal utility's sewage treatment plant. Together with the municipal utilities, the citizens' energy cooperative and the electrolysis manufacturer Ostermeier H2ydrogen Solutions GmbH, OTH Regensburg intends to test the technology in an industrial environment and carry out various trials. Instead of carbon dioxide, the research team will use sewage gas to produce purer methane. To do this, the methanation plant will be connected to the sewage treatment plant.
“We are proving that the technology not only works in an academic environment, but also in practice,” says Prof. Dr. Michael Sterner, Professor of Energy Storage, OTH Regensburg. "In this way, we are showing that the technologies for a 100 percent renewable energy supply work and are available for local implementation by citizens. Pfaffenhofen is the ideal location and has been successfully working towards this goal for decades. The plant is another milestone on this path."
The ORBIT II plant in Pfaffenhofen will be in operation until the end of the project in August 2025.
The ORBIT II research project is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) to the tune of 1.8 million euros.
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