The lab team in Germany and the design team in Norway are working closer to cooperate with customers’ needs and demands. From left: Senior Bioprocess Engineer Leonardo Torres (D), Microbiologist Max Strick (D), Senior Designer and System Manager Øyvind Kvalsund (N), Senior Designer and Production Manager Per Knut Dimmen (N), Senior Designer & Automation Manager Ole Andrè Rusten (N), Senior Project Manager Arve Magne Fjørtoft (N), CEO at Hyperthermics Regensburg GmbH Stefan Miller..

The laboratory has long held a leading position in research on the utilization of hyperthermophilic bacteria. Hyperthermics now works with commercial customer agreements, and the laboratory becomes essential to the individual customer, with adaptation and optimization of biology.

- The expansion will be significant for our competitiveness, says Dr. Stefan Miller, CEO at Hyperthermics Regensburg GmbH. When a customer registers interest in a new plant, we can pre-test bacteria on the raw material (substrate) that our bacteria will degrade. There are many different biomasses, and we aim to find the most optimal bacteria for the biomass in every case.

The laboratory test allows us to select a bacterial strain and "train" the bacteria to degrade the relevant substrate. In practice, this means that the customer gets a shorter run-in time and reaches full capacity utilization more quickly.

With the extended facility, up to four parallel small scale test stations, a 50l reactor for experiments with larger volumes, and our new colleague, microbiologist Max Strick, - well trained at the Insitute for Microbiology and Archea center of the University of Regensburg on the team, we are well prepared for increasing activity, says Dr. Stefan Miller proudly.

Closer collaboration between design and laboratory

Hyperthermics AS has signed agreements for several test facilities within different segments and expects several contracts for larger installations. This situation required that the laboratory in Regensburg and the project department in Norway work closely together in project teams.

- The starting shot has sounded, says CEO of Hyperthermics AS, Erlend Haugsbø. There are new employees in both places, and they must get to know each other and work together seamlessly across national borders. It is an entirely natural challenge when moving from a development phase to commercial project-organized operations. We recently sent our entire engineering team on a visit to Germany, and everyone is looking forward to closer cooperation and high goals and ambitions.

We are now embarking on an exciting journey that everyone wants to be part of, Haugsbø smiles.