Grober Green

Archive for the ‘BioGas Blog’ Category

PlanET Biogas Solutions and are building the anaerobic digester for Grober and Delft Blue Veal.

This project is the first biogas plant that I have been deeply involved with and I am learning something new every day. There are many new concepts and technologies to learn as well as the new things to learn about the biogas market both in Ontario and around the world.

Although this will be my first blog post, I am hoping to continue to blog as the project nears completion! 

• The most recent development in the building of the biogas plant has been the installation of the biogas piping.
• The biogas is produced in the digester and is burned in a reciprocating, gas engine.
• To transport the gas from the top of the digester to the gas engine, the gas is moved through 6” PVC pipes underground. The gas is piped underground to cool the gas and remove any moisture that is contained in the gas.
• Because of the amount of gas produced in the digester at Delft Blue Veal, 2 gas lines have been used to transfer the gas.
• A spare gas line has also been put in place for future use. Please see pictures for a more detailed view of the biogas lines.

Matt Lensink – Application Manager -  PlanET Biogas Solutions Inc.

First off everybody was given a chance to introduce themselves and give a little background information. I found that you don’t only learn from the different presenters but all the different people attending share their knowledge as well.

The first presentation from O.M.A.F.R.A. is an introduction to biogas. It states some of the reasons for wanting to put up a biogas facility. They include: odour reduction, pathogen reduction, reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, produce renewable energy, manage society’s waste, utilize food byproducts, improve fertilizer value of manure and new revenue on farm.

They also explain the new Green Energy and Green Economy Act, which was set in place to streamline approvals for renewable energy projects among other things. The reason behind this being, the easier and faster it is to gain approval for a renewable energy project, the more likely you are to boost the economy through the number new jobs created in building and maintaining these facilities. The new Feed-In Tariff (FIT) contract that the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and Ontario Power Authority (OPA) created to replace the old Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) was explained. More info:

http://fit.powerauthority.on.ca/

They also gave a brief history on biogas generation in Ontario and North America. Information was given on a program set in place by OMAFRA called Ontario Biogas Financial Assistance Program. The purpose of this program was to grant money in 2 phases to the people building biogas facilities, because biogas facilities are costly to build, people were not pursuing the idea. Conducting a costly yet necessary feasibility study is the first phase in building a biogas plant. This Program offered to pay 70% of the cost with a maximum of $35,000.00. If you project was `feasible` you move on to phase 2: Biogas System Construction and Implementation. Phase 2 offered to pay 40% of construction costs to maximum of $400,000.00. All these funds have been spent but we were lucky enough to take part in this government funded assistance program. More info:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/biogas/proj_list.htm

Micheal Kottner gave a presentation of the technology behind biogas. He explains there are 2 main types of digester systems: wet fermentation (max 13% VS) and dry fermentation (max 50% VS) VS= volatile solids (biodegradable material). There are many different ways to build wet fermenters or `liquid digesters`, and they`re still coming up with new better designs. We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the 10 most popular styles. As for Dry fermenters, there are 2 main types: horizontal digester and garage style digesters.

Horizontal Digesters

Garage Style Digesters

Liquid Digesters

I am currently attending the Ontario Biogas Systems’ Operators Course in St. Cathrines.  This course is put together by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (O.M.A.F.R.A) and a small group of biogas experts from Germany. 

The participants from O.M.A.F.R.A are: Andrew Barrie, Don Hilborn, Jake Debruyn, Ben Hawkins and Terrence Sauve.  The guest speakers include: Micheal Kottner from IBBK (International Biogas and Bioenergy Center of Competence),  Erwin Koberle of  BIOGASKONTOR koberle, and Birgit Pfeifer of Novatech.

This is a four day course that covers just about everything you need to know before you start to build or operate a biogas facility. It covers topics such as: Safety Rules and Regulations, Principles of Biogas, Monitoring and Record Keeping, Operation, Selling your Electricity and Digestate Management to name a few.  The course wraps up with a tour of a working biogas facility.

I would recommend this course to any farmers (not just livestock) or anyone who produces organic waste. If you wish  to release, capture and consume the hidden energy locked in your organic waste, anaerobic digestion is the key.  I would also recommend this course to any retailers of waste and waste water treatment equipment.  Biogas technology is very new to Canada, and as far as i know there aren’t really any retailers of this type of equipment advertising their products to this new growing market. As in our project, the majority of equipment was shipped in from overseas, equipment that can probably also be obtained here in North America. In taking this course you could better understand how to market your products to this new biogas facility construction trend. You could take the lead!  Just a thought.

Next Ontario Biogas Operators`Course in Belleville January 26, 2010.

Here`s the link:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/biogas/prod_course.htm

The shipping container from Germany arrived with the dry feeder, custom made double membrane roof, mixers and various other supplies.   The pasteurizer/controls container from Germany arrived Friday and was set into place. 

The genset room is starting to take shape.  The Sonotubes have been filled with concrete and re-bar cage.  The gensets will each sit on 4 Sonotubes that are 36″ in the ground.  This will ensure that the vibration of the genset is isolated and brought down into the ground instead of vibrating the whole floor.  The sound block wall has been installed and is looking good.

I’ve had the opportunity to work side by side with the various different contractors since the beginning of construction of the digester project.  I was able to learn a great deal about the different types of materials used, and their purpose in the construction of the anaerobic digester.

I lent a helping hand when needed to Midwest Silo as they set up re-bar, heat tubes and poured concrete for the digester and input tank.  I was able to ask a lot of questions, and gained some knowledge on their unique process and forms.  As you can see in the pictures we have on our site, the digester was poured in 5 separate rings, each 4′ high.  Rather than pouring  the whole wall all at once like most manure storage tanks.  This process makes the walls stronger. Which is necessary for the digester because it has 3 large mixers constantly stirring the contents of the digester.

Cronin Poured Concrete built  the digestate storage tank, and they use the single pour forms which is sufficient for a storage tank for couple of reasons: the walls are not as high as the digester, the outside of the tank walls will be backfilled for support, the digestate is not being constantly mixed.

I have a lot  more information to share about the project but that`s all for now.

Work on the ceiling and roof of the digester tank has been under way for the past few days and progress is showing.  The tank has also been wrapped with the bentafix liner, and is now being wrapped with insulation.  The liner is to keep a seal around the perimeter of the tank to ensure that there is no water getting in or digestate getting out during operation.

The holding tank went up in a flash.  The concrete trucks came in quick one after the other yesterday and filled the forms up.  Today, the forms have already been taken off and the tank has been marked “CRONIN 2009″.

Cleaning up in the Genset room of C Barn is almost complete.  All concrete, wood and insulation debris has been swept up.

Here’s another video of a Biogas plant that uses plant matter from a herb farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYntOAAQZZ4&feature=related

And to give an inside look at the building of a biogas plant, I found this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCebM7a5XBQ&feature=related

It was a beautiful day today, as the supporting beams for the ceiling on the digester tank were installed.  The sun was shining and not a cloud in sight for the better part of the day.  The supporting beams are solid pine pillars, and the ceiling is going to be made up of many planks of pine as well.  The ceiling is made out of wood because it will naturally absorb the unwanted sulfur byproduct of the digestion process.

Also in the past few days, the forms for the first ring of the new holding tank have been put up, as well as the structural re-bar for the walls.  Inside the digestion tank, tar was sprayed onto the uppermost ring.  This ring will be the only ring in contact with the gases, and so the tar will protect the wall from any wear and tear that would occur there.  The sand and rocks that washed into the trenchs around the digestion tank and F.O.G. tank were shoveled out and cleaned up to allow us to pick up the bentonite carpet and nail it to the walls of the tanks.  This allows for the future rain water to run away from the base of the tank rather than stay around the walls and foundation.

The forecast is showing more sun over the week, which means progress will not be delayed by pumping water out of the pits, and hopefully it stays that way.

The Genset Room in C Barn is coming along in its final phases of deconstruction, with the interior walls removed and the floor washed, just a small tidy up effort needed until that section is ready to be rebuilt.

Outside of the barn, the lid was poured onto the F.O.G. tank and near that, the foundation has been poured for the pasteurizer container. Photos of the progress can be in the Biogas Project tab, under Biogas 8. In these photos, Barry Bender Excavation Company is digging in preparation to pour the foundation for a 100 foot digestate tank. The re-bar for the foundation is being put in this morning by the company Cronin. Cronin is the company specializing in concrete pouring of large manure storage tanks, and are working on building this new digestate tank, and they were the company that built the existing manure storage tank nearby.

The results of last Thursdays thunder storm and rain left us with hours of water pumping on Friday, and a very muddy job.

This video on YouTube shows how the Stahlbush Island Farms became self sufficient in their energy needs to run the entire farm. They are using vegetable and plant waste that normally goes unused, to generate their own heat for water and seed drying, steam for plant care, and energy to power the farm. The video shows the digestate tank and how it looks when full of digestate, as well a generalview of the Genset and the electrical setup.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOw_gpUcaEk

Another thunder storm come and gone, leaving us with inches of water in the tanks and pits to pump out bright and early in the morning, with another thunder storm in the forecast.

As for a progress report on the tanks, the construction crew began building a wooden platform inside the F.O.G. tank today, and Aron is off to another anaerobic digester project around the St. Cathrines area.  This project is further along in the production than the one on Corner Farm, and is going to be used as a learning experience so we have an idea of what is in store for this project.

Aside from that, I did some straightening up in D Barn’s garage area, making sure tools and other things are put in their proper places, so they can be found when needed.  I also made sure I would have the pump tank on the tractor in lieu of another intense rain/thunder storm, so that the water can be pumped out of the pits straight away in the morning.

Again, the rain came down yesterday in a hurry and took a good part of my morning to pump it all out of the pits around the tanks.  I spent the rest of my day working on the aesthetics around the middle court of the Corner Farm barns, clearing out weeds.  As for my other project of cleaning up C Barn, we have removed all the flooring that was used for the calves and we are down to the bare concrete.  A few more loads of manure remain but now at least more work can be done to further C Barn’s preparation.  The construction crew placed the heating pipes onto the rebar in the F.O.G. tank.  These pipes are also being used in the digestion tank to keep the digestate at a constant temperature throughout the seasons, to keep the bacteria at their optimal digesting environment.

Today is going to be ‘Interesting Facts about Anaerobic Digestion’ day.

1. The first is about the inner ceiling of the digester tank, which is constructed out of wood.  When I first read this, it struck me as odd, considering the operation is to be around for some time, and wood rots.  The wood acts as an absorbing agent for the unusable byproduct of digestion, sulfur.  The sulfur binds to the wood and is removed from the tank.
2. The process of breaking the manure into methane and carbon dioxide is a 4 step process
   1. Bacteria break down large particles into smaller ones, more manageable for the next step’s bacteria to continue digestion. (Hydrolysis)
   2. Stage 2 involves Acidogenic bacteria to break down the smaller particles into carbon dioxide, hydrogen, ammonia and organic acids. (Acidogenesis)
   3. Stage 3 utilizes acetogenic bacteria to convert the organic acids into acetic acid, ammonia, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide.  (Acedogenesis)
   4. In stage 4, methanogens convert all the previous into methane and carbon dioxide. (Methanogenesis)
3. The first anaerobic biodigester was built in Bombay, India in 1859, adn in 1895, the gases released from septic tanks was used to fuel street lamps in Exeter, England.  A great resource in those times for street lamp fuel.

To read more about the various types of anaerobic process and all its applications, visit the following site (where some of this information came from)… click here

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Anaerobic_digestion#encyclopedia