Wollschläger, Tim

Hybrid models for the anaerobic digestion process

The conversion of biogenic residues to biogas as sustainable energy source is one major challenge in the context of the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources. In that context, this research project aims in general at the understanding, prediction and control of biomass conversion dynamics to biogas by a combination of process engineering, microbiological analyses, mathematical modelling and machine learning. To reach this goal, an in-depth knowledge of the influence of feedstock composition and quality on product quantity and quality based on physical, chemical and microbiological process parameters, and the formulation of respective process models is required. 

Those mechanistic models are then combined with sophisticated machine learning methods to create hybrid models. It is also considered to incorporate knowledge about the impact of microbial diversity dynamics in anaerobic digestion.

Research interests

• Informed machine learning
• Mechanistic modeling

Project team: Tim Wollschläger (Ph.D. Student), Prof. Dr. Andreas Focks (UOS), Prof. Dr. Tim Römer (UOS), Dr. Susanne Theuerl (ATB), Dr. Christiane Herrmann (ATB)