Grober Green

Yesterday, the fifth and final ring of the biodigester tank was poured into the forms.  After the weekend the forms will come off and the tank will be ready for the next step in its construction.  The F.O.G.  pit’s (fats, oils and greases) base was also poured and will be ready to move forward on Monday.  This will eventually be a tank much smaller than the biodigester, and will hold used fats, oils and greases from restaurants and food processing plants, and is added to the manure inside the digester tank.  Another way Grober is helping to recycle and stay green!

 The rearward barn on the Corner Farm is called C Barn, and will be the location for all the controls and the generator.  As of now, the barn is in process of being converted from an open housing calf barn into something a little more suitable for this project.   That is where I come in.  My focus at this point is to work inside C Barn, cleaning out all unnecessary clutter and strip it down for a renovation.  It is to be a showcase room to display the system when it becomes operational.  At this point, there is still manure inside the barn and calf housing that must be removed, as well, the inner walls need to be stripped down and removed so that the barn can be properly renovated.  In the coming week I will be removing the old manure, the flooring and cleaning up the debris from tearing down the walls.  The inner walls were damaged by exposure to the calves and broke down over time.  They are going to be rebuilt and dividing walls will be built to separate the generator room from the holding room. 

And for your viewing pleasure, I found 2 video’s that are rather interesting and explain the biodigestion process in an easy to understand and simplified version.

 The first is a very basic overview that explains how the gas is generated and how the process is entirely renewable, as well as a simple description of how the biodigestor fits into the carbon cycle and what the products can be used for.  Although informational, the narration is a bit hard to take.

The second is a study done by University students on the waste products of a food vender on the school campus.   They describe the collection process, preparation, and the extraction of the methane from the food waste.

Enjoy!