Fermentation test system

In times of the energy transition, both the improvement of technology and the development of new usable substrates (such as waste materials) are essential for increasing the efficiency of biogas plants.
Conventional measuring systems are maintenance-intensive and require a great deal of material, personnel and time.

With “GärOnA”, a fully automated monitoring of the development of the biogas composition with regard to carbon dioxide and methane during the fermentation process is possible for the first time.

The GärOnA system is housed in an incubator and can be operated in a temperature range of 4-65 °C. Once the fermentation tests have been prepared and started, all processes are fully automated. 15 individual measuring cells can be used in parallel and configured independently. A special feature is the controlled pressure release via valve units. This allows the pressure range in the fermenters to be kept small. A key feature of the GärOnA system is the connection of an online gas chromatograph developed in cooperation with ECH GmbH to record the biogas composition. This makes it possible for the first time to track the biogas composition in terms of CO2 and CH4 as well as various trace gases completely automatically.
In addition to standardized fermentation tests to determine the biogas formation potential of different substrates, GärOnA is also suitable for investigating inhibiting and activating influences on the process biology.

Project partner: Individual project
Duration: 01.04.2012 – 30.06.2014
Funding body: EURONORM GmbH on behalf of the BMWi