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DEAR READERS | ||
| The PFI Biotechnology Online Newsletter Makes Its Debut | ||
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Welcome to the PFI Biotechnology online Newsletter! From now on, this new service will keep you abreast of our current activities in three to four issues per year. Perhaps you would also like to recommend us to your colleagues? Interested persons are invited to subscribe to the English or German versions. And the online Newsletter will also serve as your hot line to us: We look forward to receiving your feedback or your comments. Please address them to newsletter@pfi-biotechnology.de.
In addition to the online Newsletter, at the close of the year we also shall publish the familiar print edition as the PFI Magazine containing an end-of-year review and the final reports of our research projects. We wish you an enjoyable read Dr. Stefan Dröge and Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Benjamin Pacan
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CONTENTS Save the Date: Workshop on 19 August Symposium "From Waste Heat to Process Heat" on 22 May Groundbreaking Ceremony for Power-to-Gas Pilot Plant Bio-EOL: Foundation Laid for a Fermentable Shoe? | |
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NEWS | ||
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PFI Biotechnology will hold a Workshop on 19 August: Topics addressed will be the use of heat pumps in CHP plants and the results obtained in the CORNET Project “From Waste Heat to Process Heat”. The main focus will be on High-Temperature Heat Pumps (HTHP), their capabilities and shortcomings, and their applications in biogas plants and in the paper industry. Manufacturers of heat pumps will also be on hand to answer questions. | ||
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Waste heat need not be released into the
environment: | ||
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Symposium "From Waste Heat to Process Heat" on 22 May Related to the project W2PHeat, which has only recently been successfully completed, and the new project HP4Drying (see RESEARCH), which has just started, a symposium entitled "From waste heat to process heat" will be held on 22 May in Kortrijk / Belgium. It is organised by the project coordinator, the University of Ghent. Details on www.wasteheat.eu.
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Together with Rhineland-Palatinate’s Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Uwe Hüser and the Mayor of Pirmasens Dr. Bernhard Matheis, PFI Director Dr. Kerstin Schulte and PFI Chairman Ralph Rieker laid the foundation stone for a power-to-gas plant at a groundbreaking ceremony held on 17 January. Breakthrough technology: The plant will store surplus solar and wind energy in the form of biomethane, which can then be fed into the natural gas grid. The plant will provide the basis for a planned biorefinery. | ||
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Groundbreaking ceremony for the PFI
power-to-gas pilot plant, | ||
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23rd BIOGAS Annual Convention and Trade Fair held from the 14th to the 16th of January was a meeting place for biogas plant operators, manufacturers, planners, associations, farmers, as well as researchers and scientists. Despite the somewhat cautious outlook for the German biogas sector, the world’s largest trade fair devoted to the topic of biogas attracted 406 exhibitors and over 8,000 attendees. PFI Biotechnology was also present with its own stand. | ||
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RESEARCH | ||
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PFI has successfully taken a first step on the way to a fermentable shoe: Funding for the transnational research project entitled “End-of-Life Possibilities of Biopolymer-based Consumer Products” was approved at the close of 2013. The two-year project began on 1 January 2014. Together with the Belgian textile research institute Centexbel, PFI is examining how bio-based biodegradable plastics can be recycled with the goal of attaining maximum added value. | ||
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Chemical-biotechnological recycling
processes bode well for | ||
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Microorganism-induced corrosion poses a problem in biogas plants. Corrosion of piping and components means expenditure of considerable effort in servicing and maintenance work. PFI Biotechnology therefore investigated the underlying
mechanisms responsible for biocorrosion in an AiF-funded project in order
to develop recommendations for reduction or total elimination of
biocorrosion. | ||
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Logos of the "BioKorrMin" project partners | ||
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Utilisation of Waste Heat for Drying: HP4Drying
The research activities of PFI Biotechnology are continuing along the chosen path: The latest proposal relating to CORNET Project “HP4Drying” has been approved. PFI Biotechnology is one of the partners in the research consortium. Goal of the project: The concepts for utilisation of the waste heat from industrial processes developed in the preceding project “W2PHeat” are now to be used in the design of more efficient drying processes. The two-year project started on 1 March 2014. | ||
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The HP4Drying project consortium consists of eight partners | ||
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MASTHEAD | ||
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PFI Biotechnology Phone.: +49 6331 2490 0 Chairman: Ralph Rieker Managing Director PFI: Dr. Kerstin
Schulte Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Benjamin Pacan | Technical Development, Research Facilities, Project Management Dr. rer. nat. Stefan Dröge | Biotechnology and Microbiology, Project Management Authors: Dr. Stefan Dröge, Dr. Michael Müller, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Benjamin Pacan, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Israel Schmitt Editor: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Elisabeth Rouiller | Translation: Anthony J. Rackstraw B.Sc. (Hons) Please send comments and questions to: newsletter@pfi-biotechnology.de. | ||
