Operation and evaluation of a 50,000 gallon anaerobic digester at the State Honor Farm Dairy, Monroe, Washington. Final report, 1977-1978

Technical Report · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5901862· OSTI ID:5901862

Coppinger, E.; Baylon, D.; Smith, K.

A 50,000 gallon anaerobic digester operated at the State Honor Farm Dairy, Monroe, Washington, is described. Its operation is explained and its performance is evaluated. The farm has a milking herd of 200 Holstein cattle. Currently only one reactor tank is in use producing 200 to 260 m/sup 3/ of bio-gas per day at an average of about 61% methane gas. The heat value is about 5.3 Giga Joules (5mm Btu) per day. Operator time has been reduced to 1 to 2 hours per day. The biological performance of the Monroe digester has been remarketably stable even under erratic conditions. In economic terms, the rate of return on invested capital for these systems is not favorable when used in the Pacific Northwest where cheap hydro power exists. Farms with a use for the gas directly on-site are at an obvious economic advantage. It was suggested that this technology should be applied to larger dairies (over 200 cows).

• Research Organization: Ecotope Group, Seattle, WA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5901862
• Report Number(s): TID-29439
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122* -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
140504 -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
AGRICULTURAL WASTES
ALKANES
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
ANIMALS
BIOCONVERSION
BIOMASS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CATTLE
COST
COWS
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DIGESTION
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
EVALUATION
FARMS
FLUIDS
HYDROCARBONS
MAMMALS
MANAGEMENT
MANURES
METHANE
NORTH AMERICA
OPERATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
PERFORMANCE
PROCESSING
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RUMINANTS
SOLID WASTES
SYNTHESIS
USA
VERTEBRATES
WASHINGTON
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES