Alternative Energy Sources – Biogas Production

Posted in: Energy, Pork Insight Articles by admin on April 3, 2007 | No Comments

Alternative energy sources continue to be of interest in agriculture, and one option is the use of anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion produces a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, called a biogas, which can be used for energy. Anaerobic digestion needs organic matter- manure and/or plant waste – bacteria, an anaerobic environment, and heat. Along with producing energy, biogas also reduces odor, pathogens, and harmful gases in manure, and provides an alternative disposal system for food waste. A group of 32 people interested in anaerobic digestion toured 16 biogas plants in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. There they saw a variety of biogas plants including different orientations, different feedstock, farm or community based, and various uses for the heat and electricity produced. The success seen with biogas plants in Europe indicates this is an option for alternative energy in Canada, as well. However, before that happens there would need to be government support and access to an electricity grid.

Energy use efficiency of specialised dairy, arable and pig farms in Flanders

Posted in: Energy by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments

Potential of Biogas Production from Sustainable Biorefinery Concepts

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“Confidence vs. Fear” – Key in Biofuels Debate

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The biofuels boom will pose an important challenge for livestock producers by driving up the cost of feed grains. But the long-term implications of this ethanol emphasis are far from certain and how livestock producers fare will depend heavily on the mindset they adopt. That was the perspective of Larry Martin, CEO of the George Morris Centre, and Brian Knudson, brand manager with Cargill, in a feed competitiveness session at the 2007 Banff Pork Seminar. Many important questions are unanswered, including whether ethanol production from corn and other feedgrains will be sustainable. Unknown breakthroughs could also shake-up the dynamics says Martin. He also states that byproducts from ethanol production have been touted as an alternative feed source, but that potential is limited. Also Martin says that many factors point to a sustained increase in biofuel production, including US government policies aimed at reducing reliance on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Cargill’s Brian Knudson says that the emergence of biofuels is a dramatic paradigm shift for agriculture. Biofuels will have a huge impact on pork category and mindset will be critical for producers to recognize and prosper in the new environment. Focusing on nutrients has helped Cargill teams make better and faster decisions by having a clearer understanding of value, says Knudson. “Tomorrow there will be a new value base and the opportunities once again will lie in recognizing that.”

Visual Management and Energy Consumption on Hog Farms

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Hog producers have traditionally focused on managing feed consumption while usually ignoring electrical, fuel and water consumption. The main reason has been the lower cost of these resources. However, in today’s hog market, each penny saved is precious. It is therefore very important to examine these resources and ask whether it is possible to reduce their costs. The answer to this question is not only a profound yes, but reduced costs are easily achievable. This is possible because there is strong evidence that wasted energy exists in any hog operation, regardless of the farm size, management skills and whether such waste is small or big. Lower costs are easily achievable if one understands the relationship between pig’s performance on one hand and energy consumption on the other, as reflected in managing farm operations such as heating, ventilation, lighting, washing or manure disposal. Although such understanding may exist for the majority of farm managers through training and experience, it is not very effective unless there is a continuous reminder that workers are aware of all the time. Once a reminder system becomes available, it is easy to manage farm energy consumption. In this paper, you will see that using visual management tools can save up to $0.80/pig. On the other hand the $0.80/pig annual saving is translated into 0.075 GJ/pig of energy saving or 4 kg/pig of CO2 emitted from the farm. Targeting energy consumption saving is important for both survival in the current economy as well as for the environment. Puratone has developed a resource consumption management tool called BarnMax. The tool is based on the powerful “visual management” concept where people worked in or managed a hog farm are continually and visually exposed to the status of resource consumption. The tool was tried in a rudimentary form in 15 finisher farms at Puratone during 03/04. Results showed significant reduction in annual cost of energy. Farm workers’ skills in managing some of the essential operations such as heating, ventilation, lighting and manure disposal also improved. To capitalize on this opportunity, Puratone began improving the rudimentary system used earlier by automating the measuring, monitoring and reporting mechanisms of the tool. The improvements included: adding feed and water consumption management, development of user-friendly software and inexpensive measuring/monitoring process. The tool is currently in the final testing and debugging before application to all Puratone farms. Benefits gained in finisher farms were $200,000 in annual savings in energy consumption cost. Projected annual savings of $1,800,000 are expected from extending use of the system to nursery and sow farms. Resource consumption is a major cost control centre for pork production. The Puratone experience has shown that very considerable savings are possible in energy consumption by implementing an improved process control system. This system is based upon using optimum consumption as the benchmark, rather than historical consumption. Successful application of the system is a result of active monitoring and involvement by the farm staff.

Energy Savings with Heat Pads and Lighting

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Heat Pads
The results from three R&D projects show that there is no statistical difference in weight gain and mortality between piglets raised with heat lamps and piglets raised with energy efficient heat pads. The heat pads provide a comfortable heated zone for the newborn piglets and piglets tend not to seek warmth from the mother sow, which reduces crushing losses. Heat pads offer a large comfort area that minimizes piglet piling. Research conducted at the Glenlea Research Station of University of Manitoba, in comparing heat pads vs. the combination of heat pads and 100 watt heat lamps for the first 4 to 24 hours, revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in weight gain and mortality, however, the heat lamps helped dry off the birth fluid. Heat lamps typically consume 1279 kWh per crate while energy efficient heat pads consume 383 kWh, thus a saving of 896 kWh per crate per annum in typical commercial farrowing operations. At 5¢/kWh, this is equivalent to $45/annum. There is an additional saving of 1.5 heat lamps per farrowing crate per annum. At $10/lamp, this translates to a saving of $15/annum.

Lighting
In-barn research shows that gilts benefit from exposure to 14-16 hours of light each day. Gilts reach puberty sooner, have prolonged estrus and farrow more pigs per litter than gilts raised in reduced light conditions or in the dark. Studies also show that differences between incandescent, fluorescent and metal halide lighting do not appear to have any effect on hog performance. However, common T12 fluorescent lamps should be replaced with T8 lamps because of their 20-30% lower operating cost, longer lifespan and compatibility with existing fixtures. Incentives available, in some locations, for the necessary replacement of the T12 magnetic ballast with the T8 electronic ballasts significantly reduce the costs of conversion.

Impact of single versus multiple policy options on the economic feasibility of biogas energy production: Swine and dairy operations in Nova Scotia

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A rotational hot gas heating system for bioreactors

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A rotating arm made from Teflons pipe perforated with slots for distributing hot gas in a
bioreactor was developed. The rotating movement helps spread the
hot gas to the slurry, which assists in mixing the suspended solids in the reactor. It was found that using Teflons parts and a low oxygen flue gas burner, the
system has the potential to lower the cost of heating bioreactors, aerobic or anaerobic.

Process performance of biogas digesters incorporating pre-separated manure

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Solid–liquid separation as a pre-treatment before
anaerobic digestion was tested in a pilot-scale digester,
in which part of the liquid manure was substituted with
the solids from separation (high-solids digester) and
compared with anaerobic digestion using liquid manure
alone (reference digester).
The ratio of CH4 in the biogas averaged 71% in the
reference digester and 65% in the high-solids digester.
Substitution of slurry with up to 60% solid manure
resulted in a higher gas production per digester volume at
52 °C than can be achieved by liquid manure alone, thus
the CH4 yield in terms of digester volume was almost
twice that in the reference digester during the period with
60% substitution.
However, this high ratio of solid matter also increased
the NH4–N level beyond the normal inhibitory level, to
more than 5 g L− 1, giving rise to VFA levels higher than
normally associated with a stable process, and to a reduced
yield in terms of VS; the yield in the high-solids digester in
terms ofVSwas on average slightly above 200 LCH4 kg− 1 VS, compared to the level of 320 L CH4 kg− 1 VS in the
reference digester, which indicated an inhibition of the
process in the high-solids digester. When the high-solids
digester was coupled with an efficient post-digestion,
the total yield in terms of VS was comparable for both
digesters, indicating that the reduced yield caused by
inhibition can be compensated for by coupling an efficient
post-digestion to the nitrogen-inhibited process.

Restaurant oil, corn silage and vegetable waste all grist for the Ridgetown digester

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Until now, researchers making biogas from the
anaerobic digester at the University of Guelph’s
Ridgetown Campus have been using liquid manure to
feed the operation. Their next step is to add other materials,
such as used oil or grease from fast-food restaurants or
food processing activities. In Ontario, there is currently only one operating anaerobic
digester on a farm, while in Germany there are almost 4,000. In
several European countries, farmers are allowed to add other
materials to the manure in their anaerobic digesters. For example,
some farmers are permitted to put up to 20 per cent of
organic materials obtained outside the farm into their digesters.
Adding this amount of these materials might lead to a doubling
in the output of methane, Fleming notes.
Products like spent oil from restaurants can’t be digested on
their own. However, blending the oil with pig manure should
result in a boost in gas production. This small addition of product
could result in double or triple the gas output, depending
on the material being added.
Along with mixing the pig manure with fats and oils,
researchers will try using corn silage or vegetable waste from
crops high in sugar, such as sugar beets or sweet potatoes