Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Heidelberg.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Berlin.

Techn. University, Diss., 2003--Berlin.

The long-term cattle impact on soil methanotrophs was investigated at cattle overwintering area located at the ecofarm in the South Bohemia. Four sets of soil samples were sampled in spring and fall of 2009 and 2010. Differences in methanotrophic community structure among experimental sites and were investigated by DGGE and MISA. Real-Time PCR was used for estimation of quantity of Type I methanotrophs. The CARD-FISH method was used to estimate the percentage shared and cell counts of Type I and Type II methanotrophs among all prokaryotic cells. Substantial part of the thesis was focused on optimization of methods used.

Much research was performed in order to find alternative energy sources. In the new concept presented in this thesis, methane was produced by a microbial consortium which is fed only by glycolate excreted by photosynthetic algae. It was unknown how the biogas production and the process stability are influenced by certain parameter shifts in glycolate feed, pH of the feed, oxygen input and temperature. Therefore, different parameter changes were applied to the reactor system. Gas formation and composition, pH, FosTac and organic acid content in the media were analyzed. Additionally, the community composition induced by the changes of the process parameters was analyzed. Therefore, the single cell level using flow cytometry and the genetic level using T-RFLP were observed. The R based tool flowCyBar was applied to follow community dynamics and to find key players in the process. Abiotic and biotic parameters were used for correlation analysis (Spearman´s Rho) to determine specific functions of sub-communities and the T-RFs found in the whole community. The cultivation at room temperature indicated that the biogas yield was 30 % lower in comparison to the cultivation at 37°C. The community seemed to be able to sustain pulsating oxygen input in case glycolate as substrate is available. Additionally, the system was able to recover after the oxygen application of one day. A linear correlation between the feed glycolate and the biogas production was observed (R^2 = 0.97). High biogas yields were obtained (up to 90 %) indicating that glycolate is a suitable substrate. The efficiency of the process was high with 41 ± 3 % methane in the biogas under defined conditions. It could be observed that biogas can be produced on glycolate as mono-substrate by a complex microbial community while it remained complex over the complete study (505 days cultivation) although glycolate was used as sole carbon source. Key sub-communities (e.g. cluster 1 and 3) and T-RFs (e.g. T-RF representing Planctomycetaceae or 67 bp) were defined and indicated the status of the bioreactor. The community was able to sustain certain parameter shifts, like changes in the pH of the feed (from 3 to 7), while others led to a complete crash of the system, like high glycolate feeds (3.6 g d^-1 L^-1). All in all, the stability of the process seemed to be susceptible on external influences.

Introduction High starting radioactivity is usually advantageous for producing radiopharmaceuticals with high specific radioactivity. However, the [11C]CH4 yields from N2-H2 gas target fall short from theoretical amounts, as calculated from the cross section for the well-known 14N(p,α)11C nuclear reaction1. The beneficial effect of increased target chamber temperature on [11C]CH4 yields has recently been brought forward by us2 and others3. In addition to the temperature effect, our attention has also been on the hydrogen content factor. This study intends to examine the N2-H2 target performance in a substantially larger target chamber and at higher temperatures than our setup before and compare the results to the existing data. Materials and Methods Aluminium bodied custom design target chamber is used in fixed 17 MeV proton beam irradiations. Target chamber is equipped with heating elements and cooling circuit for temperature control. In addition to the target chamber body temperature, the target gas loading pressure and irradiation current can be varied. The irradiation product is collected into an ad-sorbent trap that was immersed in a liquid argon cooling bath within a dose calibrator. Results and Conclusion Pursued data will show [11C]CH4 saturation yields (Ysat [GBq/µA]) at different irradiation and target parameters.

In kontinuierlichen Gärversuchen für unterschiedliche nachwachsende Rohstoffe in Mono- und Cofermentation wurden die Grenzen der Prozessstabilität ermittelt. Als Kennwert für die Optimierung und den direkten Vergleich der Gärversuche ist nur die Methangasproduktion in m3 Methan/(m3 Fermentervolumen* d) geeignet. In der Cofermentation der nachwachsenden Rohstoffe mit Rindergülle konnten Synergieeffekte nachgewiesen werden, die zu einem verbesserten anaeroben Abbau der Biomasse führten. Die Anwendung des zweistufigen Verfahrens auf die Vergärung von Gerstenkörnern führte zu keiner Verbesserung der Prozessstabilität und der Methangasproduktion. Die Vorausberechnung der Methangasausbeute mit Hilfe des Futterwertes führte nur zu einer qualitativen Vergleichbarkeit unterschiedlicher Substratklassen und gab nicht die tatsächliche Methangasausbeute im Vergärungsversuch wieder.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Methode der Kernmagnetischen Resonanz im Niedrigfeld für poröse Materialien unter hohem statischen Gasdruck entwickelt, getestet und angewendet. Die Entwicklung erstreckte sich von dem Design des NMR-Sensors über der Aufbau mit der Hochdruckapparatur bis hin zur Inbetriebnahme. Mit diesem experimentellen Aufbau wurden zunächst aus der Literatur bekannte Wissenstand zu NMR-Experimenten mit Methan nachvollzogen und die technischen Eigenschaften erprobt. Diese Grundlagen wurden in die Untersuchung von porösen Proben überführt. Es wurden Adsorbtionskapazitäten bestimmt und Modelle für die Adsorbtion und Diffusion in den Poren entwickelt.:1. Einleitung 2. Grundlagen der kernmagnetischen Resonanz NMR 3. Entwicklung und Aufbau des NMR-Experiments für hohe Gasdrücke 4. Experimente zum Einstellen und Testen des Hochdruck-NMR-Sensors 5. Untersuchung von Proben mit Porenfluiden unter hohem statischen Druck mittels NMR 6. Zusammenfassung und Bewertung der Ergebnisse

Die Effizienz von Biogasreaktoren hängt im wesentlichen Maße von der Substratverwertung durch die beteiligte Mikroflora ab. Die genaue Zusammensetzung der mikrobiellen Gemeinschaft ist jedoch bislang nur oberflächlich charakterisiert. In dieser Studie wird daher eine Übersicht über die mikrobielle Diversität in verschiedenen Biogasreaktorentypen (Rührkesselreaktor, Leach-bed-Reaktor, Festbett-Anaerobfilter) während der Fermentation verschiedener pflanzlicher Substrate (Mais-, Rüben-, Triticum-Ganzpflanzensilage, teilweise in Kofermentation mit Rindergülle) gegeben. Die Charakterisierung der Mikrobiologie erfolgte mittels der Entwicklung und nachfolgenden bioinformatischen Analyse von 16S rDNA Bibliotheken. Es wurden insgesamt sechs 16S rDNA Bibliotheken konstruiert. Insgesamt umfassten diese sechs 16S rDNA Bibliotheken 627 Klone. Mittels der zugehörigen fingerprint-Muster (amplified rDNA restriction analysis, ARDRA) wurden innerhalb der sechs 16S rDNA Bibliotheken 223 taxonomische Gruppen (operational taxonomic units, OTU) detektiert. Zur Erfassung der Archaea wurden 402 Klone analysiert. Für die Erfassung der Bacteria wurden 283 Klone untersucht. Damit wurden 114 Archaea OTU sowie 109 Bacteria OTU detektiert. Die Dominanz von hydrogenotrophen Methanbildnern in den Archaeaspezifischen 16S rDNA Bibliotheken sowie deren große Diversität sind Indizien für eine verstärkte Bildung von Methan durch Oxidation von CO2. In diesem Falle würde die Verwertung des Acetats überwiegend durch syntrophe Bacteria erfolgen. Die Analyse der Diversität innerhalb der Domäne Bacteria ergab für den Rührkesselreaktor bei der Kofermentation von Maissilage und Gülle im Normalzustand eine hohe Diversität unter den Vertretern der Phyla Firmicutes mit dem Genus Clostridium. / The efficiency of biogas reactors depends on the substrate utilisation by the involved microbial community. However, the exact composition of the microbial biocoenosis was rudimental characterized. In this study an overview of the microbial diversity in different anaerobic biogas reactor types (completly stirred tank reactor, leach bed reactor, fixed bed anaerobic filter) is given for the fermentation of different substrates (corn-, carrots-, triticale whole crop silage as renewable raw materials, partly in co-fermentation with cattle liquid manure). The characterisation of the microbial community was conducted via the construction of 16S rDNA libraries for both, methanogenic Archaea and fermentative Bacteria. Individual taxonomic groups within the 16S rDNA libraries were determined by means of amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). The taxonomic classification of these groups was performed via a phylogenetic analysis of representative 16S rDNA sequences. In total six 16S rDNA libraries with 627 clones were developed. Together 223 taxonomic groups were detected; from these 114 was assigned to the domain Archaea and further 109 was assigned to the domain Bacteria. Within the examined biogas reactors a high diversity was found within the hydrogenotrophic methane producing Archaea, acetotrophic methane producing Archaea appears only with a comparatively small diversity. From the domain Bacteria fermentative species of phylum Firmicutes especially of the genus Clostridium were found to be dominant in the microbial community.

The catalytic oxidation activity of platinum particles in automobile catalysts is thought to originate from the presence of highly reactive superficial oxide phases which form under oxygen-rich reaction conditions. The thermodynamic stability of platinum oxide surfaces and thin films was studied, as well as their reactivities towards oxidation of carbon compounds by means of first-principles atomistic thermodynamics calculations and molecular dynamics simulations based on density functional theory. On the Pt(111) surface the most stable superficial oxide phase is found to be a thin layer of alpha-PtO2, which appears not to be reactive towards either methane dissociation or carbon monoxide oxidation. A PtO-like structure is most stable on the Pt(100) surface at oxygen coverages of one monolayer, while the formation of a coherent and stress-free Pt3O4 film is favoured at higher coverages. Bulk Pt3O4 is found to be thermodynamically stable in a region around 900 K at atmospheric pressure. The computed net driving force for the dissociation of methane on the Pt3O4(100) surface is much larger than on all other metallic and oxide surfaces investigated. Moreover, the enthalpy barrier for the adsorption of CO molecules on oxygen atoms of this surface is as low as 0.34 eV, and desorption of CO2 is observed to occur without any appreciable energy barrier in molecular dynamics simulations. These results, combined, indicate a high catalytic oxidation activity of Pt3O4 phases that can be relevant in the contexts of Pt-based automobile catalysts and gas sensors.