A high-pressure bioreactor system for the cultivation of Methanothermobacter marburgensis on advanced growth media for sustainable energy applications
- Autor(en)
- Marco Orthofer, Walter Hofmann, Simon K-M R Rittmann, Christian Paulik
- Abstrakt
The global transition towards sustainable energy necessitates rapid innovations in renewable technology, with biomethanation emerging as a promising approach. Methanogenic archaea, notably Methanothermobacter marburgensis, play a pivotal role in the biogenesis of biomethane as a renewable energy vector. This research introduces a new second-generation Simultaneous Bioreactor System (SBRS-II), a high-pressure cultivation platform engineered to optimize microbial gas fermentation. A novel sulfate-based growth medium (MM-CF-S) was formulated to substitute conventional chloride salts, thereby minimizing corrosion risks in steel reactors and eliminating the toxic compound NiCl2·6 H2O, which enhances safety during large-scale deployment. Comparative analyses indicate that the new medium markedly boosts methane production rates, attaining a maximum of 285.86 ± 22.94 mmol L-1 h-1, approximately doubling the baseline. Additionally, metrics of biomass accumulation and specific methane productivity observed improvements, with [Formula: see text] reaching 216.85 ± 17.54 mmol g-1 h-1. The sulfate medium also preserved pH stability under high-pressure conditions, ensuring physiological viability essential for M. marburgensis proliferation. Integration of the SBRS-II platform with the MM-CF-S medium signifies a significant advancement toward scalable, efficient biomethanation technologies, highlighting the potential of methanogenic archaea in renewable energy applications and establishing a foundation for further process optimization to meet industrial-scale demands.
- Organisation(en)
- Department für Funktionelle und Evolutionäre Ökologie
- Externe Organisation(en)
- Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Band
- 15
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-19544-z
- Publikationsdatum
- 10-2025
- Peer-reviewed
- Ja
- ÖFOS 2012
- 209005 Fermentation
- Schlagwörter
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 7 – Bezahlbare und saubere Energie
- Link zum Portal
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/61c63091-f8c5-4573-91cf-cbb867c3bea6