Welcome to ISMET

The interdisciplinary research group Environmental Process Engineering (Prof. Dr. Sven Kerzenmacher) researches the fundamentals, materials and processes of sustainable environmental technology and biotechnology. A large focus lies on the development of microbial electrochemical technologies for energy-efficient wastewater treatment, bioproduction and the recovery of recyclable materials. With respect to fundamental research, we employ techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), and Particle Imaging velocimetry (PIV) to understand the limiting processes in biofilms and optimize the design and operation of corresponding bioreactors. On the more application-oriented side, we develop scale-up strategies for microbial electrochemical technologies, including the experimental identification ...

Background:
Cupriavidus necator is a hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium, that can be used to produce bioplastics from CO2. Growing in membrane biofilm reactors (Fig. 1), reactant gradients occur, limiting overall productivity. Knowledge of biomass density, pH and reactant (H2, O2) gradients as well as mass transfer characteristics inside such biofilms is one of the keys to identify limitation mechanisms and develop design and operation principles for optimized productivity. The project:
Aim of this project is to further develop Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as an in vivo/in situ technique for investigating the spatial distribution of biomass density, mass transfer properties, substrate (O2 and H2) and ...

On the campus of the University of Bremen (Germany), the first “innovate!Center MaTeNa (Materials - Technologies - Sustainability)” of the Joachim Herz Foundation is being created. It aims to bring research results in the field of ‘Materials for Sustainable Technologies’ into application more quickly. For the five-year transfer project “Production of single-cell protein from electricity and CO2 as a sustainable feed for aquaculture” we are now seeking a research assistant (m/f/d) from the field of microbiology or biotechnology (or related).
The use of single cell proteins (SCP) instead of fishmeal as feed in aquaculture is a promising approach to reduce the ...