Pressure is a factor which is often neglected in chemical and biocatalytical reactions but that may have a strong influence. To study this in detail we build reactors for cultivation of bacteria and to monitor biocatalytic reactions at high pressures with diverse inline analytics, e.g. online sensors for oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The two major research areas are:
(i) Biodegradation of mineral oil under deep-sea conditions as they are present at the Deep Water Horizon accident site, where a blowout occurred at 1500 m depth, corresponding to 15 MPa.
(ii) Impact of pressure on kinetics, stability of biocatalysts as well as the respective thermodynamics.
Group Leader: Dr. Paul Bubenheim
Former Research Group of Prof. Dr. Rudolf Müller (Emeritus)
Research Fields:
- Pressure dependency regarding bacterial degradation of oil components
- Changes in bacterial population diversity in deep sea sediments
- New process windows for piezophilic biocatalysts
