A Ravenna dairy farm will be home to a new biodigester to turn animal waste into electricity. The construction of the dairy farm biomass conversion plant was announced in a press conference on Friday, October 20 by the Michigan Public Service Commission, Grand Valley State University, and farmer Tim den Dulk.
This will be a commercial demonstration of an advanced biodigester technology that converts renewable dairy biomass waste into valuable methane gas and subsequently to electricity. This biomass plant also produces pathogen-free fertilizer byproducts and an additional critical benefit to the state's environmental protection by the removal of sulfur and odor compounds and methane emissions from such naturally decaying biomass materials.
The development of renewable energy biomass digesters will also demonstrate that these technologies will create a new job market in the farming communities of this state as they have so successfully done in Europe. This biomass plant will be built on the den Dulk dairy farm in Ravenna, Michigan in Muskegon County.
There was a press conference at the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center. Speakers included GVSU President Thomas J. Haas, MAREC Executive Director Imad Mahawili, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, State Sen. Jerry Van Woerkom, State Rep. Dave Farhat and a representative of the den Dulk Farm.
The project is being conducted with MAREC. It is being funded with a $1 million grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission. The den Dulk farm will contribute $1.2 million for the site preparation required to host the biodigester.
The biodigester itself will be 48 feet in diameter and 47 feet tall. The manure from the cows will be will be kept in the digester tank for an average of 21 days. While in the tank, it will be kept at around 98.6 degrees. The waste mixed by a giant mixer in the tank and will be broken down by microbes. The main product of the process is biogas, which is comprised of 60 percent methane. That gas will have the hydrogen sulfide removed to eliminate its sour smell before transferred to a holding tank. Then it will be available to be used in microturbines or boilers to create electricity and heat.
Not only will the project create energy using a plentiful and locally produced fuel, but it will cut down on pollution. The other product of the process is a material called "digestate," which is nutrient-rich and can be used as a fertilizer. That product has a 95 percent reduction of odor and a 99 percent reduction of pathogens compared to unprocessed manure.
