VOC
Project management: Dr. Wolfgang Singer
Process control in Biogas plants is often based on gas yield and/or pH. It is also known that several substrate properties, like the concentration of organic acids (e.g. propionate, butyrate, acetate) and their ratios (e.g. the propionate/acetate ratio) are valuable process indicators. Proton-Transfer-Reaction-Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) will be adapted for online measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A wide range of organic acids, alcohols and aldehydes with masses of up to 180 can be measured simultaneously. Many of these compounds are known intermediary products during methanogenesis. PTR-MS in combination with our other tools, in particular the AnaerobChip, we will be able to identify key compounds that have the potential to serve as process indicators and may later be used for process regulation.
Partners:
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Microbiology
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Ion Physics
