ANAEROBIC DIGESTER CASE STUDIES & PROJECTS

Challenge:

Darling Downs Fresh Eggs (DDFE) – Queenstown, Australia

DDFE was planning to double its expansion by 2016 while maintaining a high level of environmental and animal welfare standards. DDFE was faced with the challenge of strengthening their already comprehensive food safety program with a more advanced compost and waste processing solution, to accommodate growth and sustainability.

Solution:

MCR Heated, Mixed, Covered Lagoon System.
The project decreases solids in storage lagoons, makes electricity, and mitigates odors. Additional secondary hot-water pipes were run to the farm’s egg wash facility and rearing sheds as pre-heat water. DDFE is successfully decreasing the use of fossil fuels while using renewable energy for heat.

MCR continues its commitment to sustainable practices by converting manure into environmentally friendly energy. This digester generates renewable energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions while supporting the Australian waste management policy.

Queensland, Australia

Challenge:

Cameron Pastoral Piggeries – Goondiwindi, QLD, Australia
Operating two hog farms on propane and diesel was becoming cost-prohibitive for Ken Cameron. Diesel fuel is trading at over $1.50/liter and propane costs are 25% of the farm’s expenses, with the challenges being both energy cost and price volatility.

Solution:

MCR Complete Mix, Digester System, MCR Hybrid H2S Gas Scrubber.

The MCR digester eliminates propane and mitigates odours.

MCR continues its commitment to sustainable practices by converting manure into environmentally friendly energy. This digester generates renewable energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions while supporting livestock farming in the Outback.

Situation:

The Remley Farm, Roaring Branch, PA
The 180-kilowatt engine-generator at Remley Family Farm went online with Penelec on Feb. 15, 2018. The farm’s anaerobic digester system takes animal manure and food waste (that would otherwise have been buried in a landfill) and converts it into fuel and fertilizer.

Benefits:

The digester makes the farm more sustainable by:

• Producing renewable green electricity for the farm and selling excess to the utility
• Recycling manure nutrients in a plant-friendly form to improve the local watershed
• Reclaiming nutrients from food waste to grow more food
• Improving air quality by eliminating odors and greenhouse gas emissions

The project was funded in part with grants from USDA Rural Development, NRCS, and the Commonwealth Finance Authority of Pennsylvania. Renewable Energy funding programs such as these have historically helped many family-owned farms to become owner-operators of renewable energy systems without the need for outside investor-developers.

The Remley Digester is Martin Construction Resource’s 19th on-farm anaerobic digester installation in Pennsylvania since the first one was built in Lancaster, PA at Rocky Knoll Pig farm in 2000.