Grober Green

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.

Hello, my name is Aron Hamm.  I was hired on as the “Biogas Systems Supervisor” at Grober’s Delft Blue Veal Farm in Cambridge, as well as manure management for the farm.  I come from a farming background so the manure management comes naturally to me, but i must admit I was a little green to the renewable energy portion of my job.  Prior to obtaining my position with Delft Blue,  I was in my second year of a three year Industrial Mechanical Millwright apprenticeship.  I was looking a career with a future, that I found interesting, and would allow me to use the skills I’ve obtained as a millwright and through farming both agricultural and livestock.  Creating a renewable energy from farm waste via anaerobic digestion is just that.

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.

photos from November 10th 2009

Click on the play button in middle of display to start slideshow, click again to pause.

photos from September 29th 2009

updates frm Biogas project from September 9th 2009

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