About the project
In-situ CO2 biomethanisation, integrating CO2 biomethanisation with anaerobic digestion of biomass, supports the green energy transition and maximises the value of CO2 for renewable bio-products. This project will tackle some of its critical scale-up challenges by taking into consideration of its full-scale operation, metabolic pathway changes and real-time control strategies.
In-situ CO2 biomethanisation, integrating CO2 biomethanisation with anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic materials, offers the potential to store excess renewable electricity as biomethane in the gas grid at interseasonal scale, particularly beneficial when electricity generation is dominated by wind and solar sources. It not only supports the green energy transition, but also offers long-term solutions to maximise the value of CO2 for renewable bio-products. Recent work at Southampton (e.g. Biomethanisation of CO2 in Anaerobic Digestion Plants and CO2 capture and utilisation in hybrid anaerobic digesters) has led to significant advances in our understanding of and ability to control the in-situ biomethanisation of CO2 process, however questions remain regarding scale-up and operational factors, which must be addressed for industry to adopt this Industrial Biotechnology with confidence.
This project aims to optimise bioreactor configurations and operating conditions based on laboratory and site-specific testing results, by exploring the metabolic pathways being stimulated after H2 injection and the complex interactions between gas-liquid-biomass phases.
The project will effectively utilise both laboratory-based small-scale reactors for in-depth, discovery-based investigations and site-specific testing rigs for short-term upscaling trials.
By optimising and enhancing real-time process control, the project will support engineering design in demonstration units and assist the industrial collaborator Hydrostar Europe Ltd in development and decision-making. This will facilitate investment, adoption and commercialisation of in-situ biomethanisation of CO2. The expected impacts include building investment confidence in the commercial deployment of the technology and enabling better AD plant performance through innovation.
Besides standard University and lab-based trainings, project-specific training for onsite testing and rig setup will be provided by the industrial collaborator, along with a six-session Continuing Professional Development programme designed by them.
The desk and laboratory-based research work will be primarily conducted at Southampton University Science Park.
Placements at the industrial collaborator Hydrostar Europe Ltd centre in Exeter, totalling four months (one month per year), will also be arranged.
External site visits to customer sites will also be provided throughout the studentship.
