Bioreactor uses primordial bacteria and extreme pressure to transform CO2 to natural gas

January 26, 2020 |

In Austria, a new kind of bioreactor for the biological production of methane has enabled the use of extremely high pressure levels for the first time – and set new efficiency standards for the conversion of CO2 and H2 into methane. This significant improvement compared with conventional bioreactors is down to billions of microorganisms that only truly come to life under extreme pressure, as well as Austrian company Krajete GmbH, which designed the bioreactor and has now built the first pilot plant for testing the technology.

The key to this success is what are called archaea – microorganisms that lived in prehistoric times and are used to extreme pressure conditions. And helpfully they can also transform CO2 into “green” natural gas.

“Our plant has achieved previously unattainable conversion rates, because higher pressure speeds up chemical transformation processes,” explained Alexander Krajete, CEO of Krajete GmbH. “In addition, the archaea fermentation process uses hydrogen. This means that CO2 normally produced during biological fermentation is also converted into methane, and does not represent a contaminant anymore as with biomass fermentation. So with this higher yield the plant produces virtually pure methane instead of impure biogas. Based on this principle, almost all CO2 containing emission gases can be directly upgraded.”

Category: Fuels

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