UIT and Vertus Work Together in the Field of R&D

UIT and Vertus Work Together in the Field of R&D for Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) Testbed Facility

By Umwelt- und Ingenieurtechnik GmbH Dresden (UIT)

Umwelt- und Ingenieurtechnik GmbH Dresden (UIT) offers standardized and customer-specific biogas pilot plants and bioreactor systems. Thanks to their modular design, they enable tests from laboratory to pilot to container scale and allow the simulation and analysis of complex biogas processes.

Our customers are research institutes, universities and companies that want to test various substrates and process parameters. They confirm the excellent transferability of their results into practice. Vertus believes in a world where all resources are used to achieve 100 % renewable energy, including our waste. They are developing the Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) and the BRIO reactor.

BRIO enables advanced control of anaerobic bacteria. Born from extensive R&D, it addresses critical inefficiencies in the biomethane production process with unparalleled efficacy. Please see the following on how our customer Vertus benefits from the BTP2 biogas test plant that we designed, built and delivered to them.

The BTP2 from UIT is used as a Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) Testbed Facility, serving as a dedicated facility for evaluating early-stage prototypes under controlled conditions. This versatile pilot plant accommodates multiple test stations, each equipped with precise monitoring and control systems for temperature, pH, electrical potential, and substrate flow rates. Our facility features modular testing bays that can simultaneously evaluate different MEC configurations, allowing for rapid iteration and comparative analysis.

Each station is fitted with high-precision data acquisition systems that continuously monitor both typical anaerobic digestion and bioelectrochemical parameters, gas production rates, and microbial activity.

The testbed’s infrastructure supports various operational scales, from bench-top units up to 60 L-scale reactors, providing crucial scalability insights. This setup allows our R&D team to systematically evaluate design modifications, electrode materials, and operational parameters while maintaining strict quality control standards. The facility’s flexible design accommodates future modifications, ensuring adaptability as our MEC technology evolves through various development stages.

Should you see the potential for an application in your company, UIT adds that the modular system offers numerous options for operating reactors individually or in several lines.

They vary in size from 5 to 1,000 litres. Installation and maintenance are effortless. The included SENSOcontrol data acquisition and control system with software enables automatic data transfer/real-time monitoring and improves operational efficiency.

For more information, read our Canadian Biogas Magazine.