The Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-04-02, Page 35Electricity needs supplied
Anerobic digestion to con-
vert agricultural- waste to
methane gas is being looked
upon today as one possible
means of recovering some of
the energy which is typically
lost. to agricultural produc-
tion systems as crop residues
or animal manure.
A methane powered farm
in Pennsylvania is working so
well that the local utility
company wants to buy elec-
tricity from the farmer.
Since last fall, Dick 'Way -
bright has generated his own
electricity. His 700 CQW herd
supplies the fuel to run an
on-farm power plant which
generates 90 kilowatts of
power, more than enough to
-run► •every"-metor--a-nd-lighf-orr--
his farm.
A spokesman for the firm
which designed the system
says it runs equally well with
modications on either cattle
or hog manure. Actually, hog
manure is a more efficient
producer of biogas (65 per
cent methane and 36 per cent
other gases, mostly carbon
dioxide) generating .58 cubic
feet of gas for every pound of
manure, while cow manure
produces only .34 cubic feet
for each pound.
Waybright, an Adams
County dairy farmer, flushes
his barns each morning and
evening, the manure going to
a settling basin. Water
drains off until manure in the
basin contains 12 per cent
solids. Then the manure
enters a 180;000 gallon dig-
ester which produces 30,000
•
cubic feet of biogas daily.
The digester is a covered 92
foot by 20 foot by 15 foot
deep pit in which manure is
digested under anaerobic
conditions (the absence of
air) to produce biogas. Way -
bright pumps 15,000 gallons
of the manure into the
180,000 gallon digester once
a day in a single half-hour
period. The digester is a
plug -flow type which means
that as the 15,000 gallon of
new manure enters the pit at
one end, an equal amount of
digested manure exits at the
opposite end.
The design is relatively
simple. A 30 -mil thick nylon
reinforced rubber bag covers
the rectangular concrete pit.
Gas production expands the
bag like balloon - as high as
10 feet above the pit. Inside
the pit are 3 inch cast iron
pipes that act as heat ex-
changes. The pipes contain
water heated by the power
generation engine The heat
Alcoholcould be farm fuel
Canadian mechanized ag-
griculture has become wholly
dependent on petroleum en-
ergy fuels. Serious concern
for the long term security of
an energy supply for prod-
uction in the food industry..
. has risen from the general
awareness, particularly since
OPEC -1973, that fossil fuels
are non renewable and rapid-
ly diminishing resource.
Commercial farm opera-
tions would face serious dis-
locations if conventional gas-
oline and diesel fuels were to
be suddenly withdrawn. It is
not surprising that farmers
and other non agricultural
businessmen have been ser-
iously motivated to seek the
security of alternate energy
sources.
The need for a continuing
supply of a liquid fuel having
a high density has focused
attention on utilizing bio-
mass sources to produce al-
cohol.
On-farm production con-
sumes only about three per
cent of the national per cultivated land was required
capita energy consumption in to produce feed and fibre for
Canada. This low level of work horses.
energy use represents ap- Self-sufficiency in alcohol
proximately eight per cent of energy fuel could probably
the gasoline and 12 per cent be provided by using 12 to 15
.p- the-diesel-'-fuel-used--in -per-cent of our agricultural
land, says Lapp.
Canada.
According to conclusions
drawn by H. M. Lapp pro-
fessor at the Department of
Agricultural Engineering,
University of Manitoba, the
production of alcohol by fer-
menting
ermenting the carbohydrates of
plant (biomass) material, will
be in completion for food
crops and could not provide
all of society's energy needs.
Agricultural production con-
sumes only three per cent of
Canada's national per capita
energy use and some portion
of agricultural production
acreage may be assigned to
this purpose says Lapp.
In the pre -tractor powered
era of agricultural produc-
tion, approximately one-
quarter to one-third of all
Economics of alcohol prod-
uction from agricultural
crops are not favorable at
present. Nevertheless, char-
ges Lapp, alcohol production
technology should be advan-
ced to meet the challenge of
escalating ,prices for liquid
,and gaseous petroleum fuels
and to provide an alternative
to maintain food production
if and when these fuels are
no longer available.
The technology for produc-
ing and using alcohol for a
motor fuel is known. The
decision to adopt methanol
and ethanol as motor fuels
will be on . a political and
economic base and not on a
technological one, Lapp con-
cludes.
•
The Farm "Edition, Week of Aprll 2, 1980
by methane
exch.angrs transfer heat to
the manure, keeping it at 95
degrees farenheit, the ideal
temperature for the manure-
eating bacteria to produce
biogas. Thermal action with-
in the pit keeps the manure
well mixed. To protect the
digester bag from wind, rain,
and Snow, Waybright has
built a metal shell building
over the unit.
The biogas fuels an engine
that powers a generator and
produces electricity.
Waybright puts the cost of
his system at $80,000 to
$100,00 but his is a demon-
stration unit that the design-
er Scheaffer and Oland
Engineering of Chicago took
no profit on. Waybright did
some of the construction
himself. He believes a farm-
er could expect a similar -
sized turnkey system to run
over $150,000 with a payback
time of about five years.
Farms with fewer animals
can now use simpler systems
that burn biogas in boilers to
generate hot water rather
than electricity.
As energy costs increase
however, biogas generation
of electricity will become
economical on a greater
number of livestock farms.
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