DemoEthAc - Demonstration plant
The food and chemical industries produce large quantities of wastewater containing sugar, which has hardly been put to good use to date - mainly due to low sugar concentrations and growth-inhibiting accompanying substances such as salts. Conventional treatment processes are usually too energy-intensive or not economically viable.
Our team has developed a novel microbial process to efficiently utilize these waste streams. The sugars contained are converted into ethyl acetate using the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus - a solvent that evaporates easily and can be separated directly from the waste gas stream. Production is non-sterile, energy-efficient and has already shown high yields and productivity on a laboratory scale.
The aim of the current project is to build a mobile demonstration plant to test the entire process under real conditions. The aim is also to investigate how fluctuating wastewater compositions or different microbial environments in companies affect the process. The mobile plant allows flexible testing directly on site in industrial companies
Project duration
01.06.2025-30.11.2026
Project manager
© Ritz
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Walther
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Project staff
Project Researcher
NameMr Aaron Georgi Dipl.-Ing.
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Project contact