AQVION
Engineering
for living
systems.
Photobioreactors, RAS recirculation systems and industrial aquaponics — designed, built and operated with German precision. From prototype to giga-scale. For sites worldwide.
§ 01 — Position
We don't build plants. We build production. From the first water parameter to the fully automated giga-scale hall.
Six fields of expertise.
One integrated engineering mindset.
From reactor design to 24/7 operation. Every plant is born from the biological target parameters, the site and the market logic — not from a catalogue.
Photo-bioreactors
Individually designed geometries, light architecture and gas management. For reproducible microalgae yields at industrial scale — column, flat-panel, tubular.
Discuss your project 02 — Microalgae technologyMicroalgaetechnology
Strain selection, nutrient media, cultivation strategy, downstream. Spirulina, Chlorella, Haematococcus, Nannochloropsis — for astaxanthin, phycocyanin, omega-3, protein.
Discuss your project 03 — RAS · Indoor fish farmingRAS & indoorfish farming
Recirculation systems with precise biofilter design, oxygen management and energy-efficient control. Catfish, tilapia, gourami, shrimp — species-open, market-driven.
View in detail 04 — AquaponicsAquaponics
Coupled and decoupled aquaponics architectures at industrial scale. Stable fish and plant production in one system — with precise nutrient and water logic.
View in detail 05 — Sensors & monitoringSensors & monitoring
High-precision sensor stacks for all critical parameters — O₂, pH, ORP, EC, NH₄, NO₂, NO₃, CO₂, turbidity. 24/7 data acquisition with anomaly detection.
Discuss your project 06 — Operational supportOperationalsupport
24/7 monitoring, performance reporting, anomaly response, continuous optimisation. We deliver engineering and stay part of the performance — open-ended.
Discuss your project
From prototype to giga-scale.
Plant size is not an exclusion criterion.
We build the entire spectrum of biological production. What matters is not square metres — what matters is biology, site and engineering depth.
Prototype & lab
Research reactors, modular setups, highly instrumented — reproducible conditions for later scaling.
Pilotplant
Transition from lab to commercial application. Validate at low risk, consolidate data, test the economics.
Productionplant
Small and medium production plants with full industrial maturity — from tonnes of biomass to premium animal production.
Giga-plant
Large-scale sites, modular replication, fully automated process control across multiple parallel lines.
A startup pilot is just as welcome to us as an institutional giga roadmap — as long as the venture is biologically serious.
Discuss project sizeThe core medium
Everything we build begins with the moving energy of water.
§ 04 — Core competence
Three disciplines.
One core medium.
Whether microalgae grow in the photobioreactor, fish are produced in the RAS plant, or aquaponics couples both — at the core it is always about the same thing: precisely controlled water. Chemistry, flow, gas balance, microflora, reproducibility. Whoever masters water at industrial scale masters all three applications.
Chemistry and microflora
pH, buffering, trace elements, biological activity. Water is never just H₂O — it is an ecosystem that carries every plant differently.
Oxygen and CO₂ balance
Input, stripping, turnover — the gas logic separates a productive plant from a loss-making one.
Flow and hydraulics
Residence times, layer thicknesses, dead zones. Flow design determines light penetration, oxygen supply and stability.
Reproducibility
One day, one plant, one strain — and again tomorrow. Reproducibility is true industrial maturity. It comes from precise water control.
§ 05 — RAS · Indoor fish farming
Fish farming in a closed loop.
RAS — Recirculating Aquaculture System. 95–99 % of the water stays in the loop, biology is fully controlled, production runs year-round — independent of site, season and weather.
Mechanical filtration
The drum filter removes solids before they burden the water chemistry — the first stage of every stable loop.
Biofilter & nitrification
The MBBR moving bed converts toxic ammonium (NH₄) via nitrite into harmless nitrate — the biological lifeline.
Oxygen & CO₂
Oxygenation keeps the O₂ level high, degassing strips CO₂ from the water — precisely controlled via the sensors.
Energy & redundancy
Heat recovery, backup power and dual O₂ supply. With living stock, failure is not an option.
RAS · Recirculation plant · Line 10
Aquaponics · Vertical system
§ 06 — Aquaponics
Two harvests from one water loop.
Aquaponics couples fish and plant production. What the fish excrete becomes, via nitrification, fertiliser for the plants — which in turn clean the water. Coupled or decoupled, at industrial scale.
Nitrogen cycle
NH₄ → NO₂ → NO₃: fish excretions become a high-quality plant nutrient via bacteria.
Coupled vs. decoupled
One loop for maximum efficiency — or separate loops to optimise fish and plant independently.
Crop cultivation
Leafy greens, herbs and fruiting vegetables — in hydroponic beds or space-saving vertical systems.
Water balance
Only evaporation and uptake into the harvest are replaced — fresh-water demand drops drastically.
Engineering.
No templates.
Six qualities that set us apart from classic plant builders, generic aquaponics providers and standard bioreactor suppliers.
Depth, not templates.
Every plant is individually designed — for biology, site, energy and market. No catalogue, no “one size fits all”.
Data, not guesswork.
High-precision sensors, continuous analysis, documented performance — verifiable and reproducible.
Automation with clarity.
Semi- and fully automatic control that relieves operators — without taking them out of control.
Any size — no exclusions.
Prototype, pilot, production, giga-scale. One engineering team, one consistent methodology, all scaling stages.
Global site approach.
Climate, water, energy and logistics are factored into the engineering — from the first sketch. Realised worldwide.
Operation as standard.
24/7 monitoring, performance reporting and optimisation are part of the package. We don't disappear after commissioning.
This is what AQVION engineering looks like.
Documentary shots from ongoing projects — photobioreactors, process engineering, sensors, plant architecture.
Process engineering · I&C · Line 10
Lab · Sampling
Value compound · Biomass
Microalgae active · Lines 20 · 21
From the first water parameter
to the fully automated plant.
Five stages — scientific, documented, reproducible. Independent of plant size and site.
Site & biology
Site audit, biological target parameters, market, energy, water, climate — the solid basis of every design.
Conception
Reactor or loop design, load logic, sensor stack, business case, permitting strategy.
Detailed design
Hydraulics, control logic, measurement and control plan, control cabinet design, ISA diagrams, bill of materials.
Commissioning
Assembly, calibration, microbiological start-up, training, documented handover and performance validation.
Optimisation
24/7 monitoring, performance reporting, continuous optimisation and service levels — open-ended.
§ 10 — Scale
From pilot to giga-scale — no exclusion criteria.
Sensor layer with anomaly detection and response.
PHYOX · Obermühle Fisch · Garnelenhof Altenstadt.
Engineering from Munich, delivered to every continent.
Plants that produce.
Three real projects in industrial plant, warm-water aquaculture and indoor shrimp farming. No renderings. No visions. Delivered plants in operation.
PHYOX
Photobioreactor stack for industrial microalgae production. Tubular geometry with 12 parallel lines, fully automatic control, continuous harvest and downstream connection.
Obermühle Fisch
Indoor RAS plant with warm-water aquaculture — African catfish, tilapia, giant gourami in parallel in the loop. Highly instrumented biofilters, precise oxygen management.
Garnelenhof Altenstadt
Indoor recirculation plant for shrimp production. Salinity management, thermal stability and microbiological reproducibility in the premium segment.
§ 12 — Reach
From Munich.
For sites worldwide.
Climate, water quality, energy profile and logistics flow into every plant. We deliver engineering to Germany, the EU and every continent — with German engineering methodology, documented in German or English.
Every plant is designed for its target site — from the first sketch to on-site commissioning. We coordinate planning, manufacturing and assembly across borders and factor in local energy, water and permitting conditions from the very start.
Knowledge that makes plants productive.
Technical articles and field notes from everyday engineering — for decision-makers who want substance over marketing.
Flat-panel, tubular, column — which PBR geometry for which goal?
Light path, layer thickness and gas exchange determine yield. A technical breakdown of the three main photobioreactor types — with design logic and real comparative figures.
Read articleBiofilter design in RAS plants: MBBR, moving bed, trickle.
The right biofilter strategy depends on TAN load, temperature profile and oxygen regime. A practical guide with concrete design examples.
Read articleFrom lab to giga-scale: 5 engineering principles for clean scaling.
Why not every pilot plant is giga-capable — and which design decisions must be made early so that scaling does not become a full-cost trap.
Read article§ 14 — Frequent questions
Answers before the conversation begins.
The questions most often asked in first conversations — answered briefly and clearly.
§ 15 — Contact
Let's talk
about your project.
30-minute first consultation — confidential, technically sound, no sales pressure. We clarify feasibility, scale and timeframe.
Location
AQVION GmbH
Burgstraße 12
80331 Munich, Germany
Languages
German · English
§ 16 — Company
AQVION — Engineering from Munich.
We are a German engineering house for biological production systems. Our competence lies at the intersection of biology, process engineering, sensors and automation. We develop and operate plants that produce reliably at every scale — from prototype to giga-scale, conceived in Munich and realised worldwide.