Steffi Theurich (family name by birth: Matthischke) studied process engineering at the Technical University in Dresden.
She worked in the field of bioenergy during her practical semester at SunCoal Industries and her research internship at the Queen’s University in Belfast. Before her PhD scholarship from the Reiner Lemoine Stiftung started, she worked as a research assistant at the Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ). In her PhD research, she investigated the unsteady-state operation of catalytic reactors for the methanation. The PhD project will elaborate in cooperation with the DBFZ and under the supervision of Prof. Robert Güttel, TU Clausthal.
The probability of overloading the electricity nets rises with the further integration of fluctuating renewable energy, especially photovoltaic and wind power. These loading problems could be managed by electricity storage, grid expansion or flexibilisation of electricity production. Electricity can be stored by the Power-to-gas (PtG) or the Power-to-heat (PtH) process as well as by battery storage devices. Particularly the PtG process offers the possibility of long time storage. In the PtG process, electricity is used in water electrolysis for hydrogen production. In the following the hydrogen is mixed with carbon oxides to obtain synthesis gas, which is subsequently converted to methane. The conditioned product gas can be stored in the natural gas grid.
Due to the unsteady availability of excess electricity, either the storage of electricity or hydrogen or the unsteady-state operation of the methanation reactor has to be taken into account for implementing PtG concepts. The latter is the most challenging option from reaction engineering point of view and thus subject of the PhD project.
