Growing the Margins: Energy Conservation and Generation for Farms and Food Processors

April 11-14, 2007 London Convention Centre, London, Ontario

Assessment of the Production and Land Application of Anaerobically Digested Manure from Medium Sized Livestock Farms
Anna Crolla1, Chris Kinsley1,mie Dsilets2, Elizabeth Pattey3, Ray Desjardins3, Bonnie Ball-Coelho3, Tarlok Sahota4

University of Guelph Campus dAlfred, 2 Dairy Farmers of Canada, 3 Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 4 Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station

Project Objectives
1. 2. Evaluate the production of biogas and electricity from dairy manure. Evaluate enhanced biogas production through the addition of high organic agricultural and nonagricultural feedstocks. Assess the fate of nutrients, GHGs and pathogens from the storage and land application of digested versus undigested manure, and subsequent environmental and agronomic impacts. Conduct Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for anaerobic digestion systems on medium sized dairy farms.

3.

4.

Project Overview
Anaerobic Digesters:
Construction of 2 anaerobic digesters on dairy farms in Eastern Ontario Monitoring of 4 anaerobic digesters Evaluate use of co-substrates for enhanced biogas production (pilot & full scales)

Land Application Trials:

Land application trials for GHG measurements Land application trials for fate of nutrients and pathogens in soil and water

Anaerobic Digesters
1. 2. 3. 4. Fepro Farms (160 dairy cows) Cobden, Ontario EEC Energy Corp. (105 dairy cows) Thunder Bay, Ontario Terryland Farm (150 dairy cows) St. Eugene, Ontario (newly built) Pinehedge Farm (55 dairy cows) St. Eugene, Ontario (newly built)

Monitoring Parameters
Digester System Performance Environmental Impacts

Biogas production & CH4 concentration Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) Electricity & heat production COD Volatile solids pH Temperature E.coli Salmonella C.perfringens Enterococci CH4 emissions

Fepro Farm Digester

Owned by Paul and Fritz Klaesi 160 dairy cows Mesophilic system (40oC) 500 m3 completely mixed reactor 20 m3 day-1 loading rate of raw manure with HRT of 25 days Co-digestion of FOG (2007) 65 kW generator Electricity production to be sold to grid Heat production used to heat digester, 2 homes and part of barn Operating for 3 years

Terryland and Pinehedge Farms

Two digesters owned by George and Josef Heinzle Construction completed and operation to start spring 2007 Mesophilic systems 800 m3 digester Terryland: conventional dairy with 150 cows Pinehedge: organic dairy with 55 cows and yoghurt facility Co-digestion with corn silage 180kW and 100kW generators Electricity to be sold to grid and heat used in yoghurt facility

Electricity and Heat Production

Example: Fepro Farm Digester, Cobden, ON
E lec tric ity B iogas

900 Daily Biogas Volume (m ) and Daily 800 Electricity Production (kWh) 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
08-May -06 27-Jun-06 16-A ug-06 05-Oc t-06 24-Nov -06 13-Jan-07 04-Mar-07 23-A pr-07

D a te

Klaesi Digester
Biogas (m3 day-1) Electricity (kWh day-1) Heat (Btu h-1)

EEC Digester
Biogas (m3 day-1) Heat (Btu h-1)

Mean STDEV

419 43

713 79

300,000

357 23

210,000

Odours
Odours: ammonia (NH3), volatile fatty acids (VFA), phenolic compounds 95 % reduction of VFAs
Example: Fepro Farm Digester, Cobden, ON

Concentration of Volatile Fatty Acids (mg L-1) Raw Manure Acetic Acid
Average STDEV % Red.
5090 1680

Digested Manure

Propionic Acid
1500 542

Butyric TVFA Acetic Propionic Butyric TVFA Acid Acid Acid Acid
951 454

7542 2550

322 179 93.7

81 81 94.6

1 6 99.9

398 228 94.7

Pathogens
70-95% reduction in pathogens (~ 1-2 logs)
Geometric Mean Bacteria Concentrations (CFU 100mL-1) Examples: Digesters at Fepro Farm, Cobden, ON & EEC, Thunder Bay, ON Klaesi Digester EEC Digester Pathogens Raw Digested Log Raw Digested Log Manure E.coli
Log STDEV

Manure
4.46 E+05
0.78

Reduction 2.06 1.32 0.67 1.12

Manure
4.99 E+05
0.48

Manure
3.03 E+04
0.46

Reduction 1.22 1.06 1.37 1.34

5.15 E+07
0.97

Salmonella
Log STDEV

1.25 E+06
0.54

5.95 E+04
0.67

2.12 E+05
0.33

1.84 E+04
0.21

C.perfringens
Log STDEV

1.37 E+07
0.67

2.90 E+06
0.51

6.89 E+05
0.57

2.97 E+04
0.41

Enterococci
Log STDEV

2.16 E+07
0.59

1.66 E+06
0.78

1.32 E+06
0.25

5.97 E+04
0.52

E.coli in raw manure sample

E.coli in digested manure sample

CH4 Emissions at Fepro Farms

Whole Farm Emission Rate (mg CH s-1) 4

3000 Biodigester disabled 2500 2000 Biodigester enabled 1500 1000 500 0 298.2

298.4

298.6

298.8

299

299.2

299.4

299.6

Day of Year (DOY)

CH4 emissions from storage with digestion = 56 kg CH4 head-1 year -1 CH4 emissions from storage without digestion = 245 kg CH4 head-1 year -1
Source: Drs. Ray Desjardins & Matthew McBain (AAFC Ottawa)

Land Application Trials

University of Guelph at Alfred Monitoring of soil and water after land application of raw manure, digested manure and inorganic fertilizer. AAFC at Ottawa Monitoring of soil and air after land application of raw manure, digested manure and inorganic fertilizer. Thunder Bay Research Station Monitoring of soil after land application of raw manure, digested manure and inorganic fertilizer.

Monitoring Parameters
Water and Soil Samples Nutrients : NH4+, NO3-, o-PO43-, TP, Organic-N E.coli Salmonella C.perfringens Enterococci Air Measurements NH3 & N2O Plant Samples Nutrients: Yield, Total-N, Total-P

Gas Measurements from Land Application Trials

CFIA plots Three 8 ha plots Tunable Diode Laser (TDL) used to measure N2O gradients at 1.5m and 2.5m above the displacement height at east and west bounds TDL takes continuous measurements during manure application and field work Crop rotation wheat/corn/corn Fall 2005 application of raw and digested manure Spring 2006 application of urea Spring 2007 application of raw and digested manure

Land Application Trials at CFIA Plots

Spray broadcast of manure with incorporation within 24 hours

Location: CFIA Plots in Ottawa October 2005

Gas Emissions from Land Application Trials Fall 2005 Raw & Digested Manure Applications
Harvested spring Wheat Field (CFIA, Ottawa)) 25 Rain 20 Snow (cm) FN2O-N raw + sterilized 15 FN2O Biodigested Total Emissions: -1 Biodigested =2.4 kg N ha -1 Raw + Sterilized =1.5 kg N ha 85 80 75 70 65 60 FN2O (mg N2O-N m-2 d-1) Rain (mm d-1); Snow (cm) 10 55 50 5 45 40 0 35 30 -5 25 20 -10 15 10 -15 5 0 -20 1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 Calendar Days (2006) 81 91 101 111 -5

Raw Manure Application Digested Manure Application

56.0 kg inorganic N ha-1 40.4 m3 ha-1 40.4 m3 ha-1 75.0 kg total N ha-1 86.5 kg total N ha-1
(53.0 kg NH4+ -N ha-1, 3.0 kg NO3- -N ha-1)

76.9 kg inorganic N ha-1

(74.6 kg NH4+ -N ha-1, 2.3 kg NO3- -N ha-1)

Source: Dr. Elizabeth Pattey (AAFC Ottawa)

Gas Emissions from Land Application Trials Spring 2006 Application of Urea
CFIA Field 14
300 100

Corn Field 14 (CFIA, Ottawa)

Precipitation Ammonia Fluxes
90
15 20 Precipitation N2O Fluxes 70 80

200 80

1.9 kg N2O-N ha

-1

N H 3 F lu x (m g N H 3 -N m -2 d -1 )

70

10

60

P re c ip ita tio n (m m d -1 )

100

N2O Flux (mg N2O-N m-2 d-1)

Total emissions: 2.98 kg NH3-N ha-1

0

60

50

50

40

Urea application: CD 130

40

-100 30

-5

30

-10

20

20 -200 10
-15 10

-300 130 132 134 136 138 140 142 144 146 148 150

-20 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230

Calendar Day (2006)

Calendar Day (2006)

NH3 Flux Urea application: 136 kg N ha-1

N2O Flux

Source: Dr. Elizabeth Pattey (AAFC Ottawa)

Precipitation (mm d-1)

Plot Trials at Alfred Campus

Sandy soil plots Clay soil plots with surface and subsurface drains Twelve 0.15 ha plots (15 m x 100 m) Plots hydraulically isolated with liner between plots to a depth of 2 m Surface drains at 15 cm depth and subsurface drains at 1 m depth 3 m wells around plot perimeter Application of raw and digested manure and inorganic fertilizer in both spring and fall (spray broadcast and incorporated within 24 hrs) Low N loading: 75 kg N ha-1 (L) High N loading: 140 kg N ha-1 (H) Crop rotation barley/corn/corn

Plot #1 - Control Plot #2 Raw Manure Plot #3 Dig. Manure Plot #4 - Fertilizer Field Station

Plot #5 Raw Manure Plot #6 Dig. Manure Plot #7 - Fertilizer Plot #8 - Control Plot #9 Raw Manure Plot #10 Dig. Manure Plot #11 - Fertilizer Plot #12 - Control

Both surface and subsurface water drainage are collected

Alfred Plots Layout of Clay Soil Plots

Alfred Field Station

All 24 drains run into basement of cabin Flow measured using tipping buckets (datalogged) Flow proportional composite samples are taken (tipping buckets control sampling pumps)

Nitrates in Drainage Waters

Raw Manure
Raw Dairy Manure Fall Application
Flow-weighted Mean NO 3-N 14.00 Concentrations, mg/L
Concentrations, mg/L

Digested Manure
Subsurface Drains
25.00 Flow-weighted Mean NO 3-N

Surface Drains

Digested Dairy Manure Fall Application

Surface Drains

Subsurface Drains

12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00

6

Manure

20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00

Manure

Ja n07

Se p06

De c06

De c06

Se p06

O ct -0 6

O ct -0 6

Ja n07

06

06

09 -N ov -0

24 -N ov -0

-0

-0

-0

-0

-0

-0

07

ep -

ep -

ov

ov

ec

ec

ct

ct

-J a

n-

-N

-N

-D

08 -

10 -

10 -

25 -

25 -

09 -

24 -

23 -

10

25

-D

-S

-S

08

09

10

25

24

09

Date
Precipitation, mm

Date
30 25 20 15 10 5 0
-0 6 -0 6 -0 6 ov -0 ec -0 ct -0 ct -0 -0 6 -0 7 -S ep -S ep -J an 23 ov ec Ja n -0 7 6 6 6 6

10 -S ep -0 6

25 -S ep -0 6

24 -N

24 -D

8Ja n07

25 -

10 -

23 -

9-

9-

Ja n07

ov -0 6

ov -0 6

ec -0 6

ct -0 6

ct -0 6

ec -0 6

Precipitation, mm

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

-O

-O

-N

24

-D

10

25

9-

24

9-

10

Date

25

Date

Flow-weighted Mean Concentrations in Drains (mg L-1)

Application of 75 kg total N ha-1 Spring 2006 Surface Drains Subsurface Drains Fall 2006 Surface Drains Subsurface Drains

Raw Manure (56.0 kg NH4+ -N ha-1,

3.6 kg NO3 -N ha )
-1

4.75 8.55 7.61

5.97 7.95 4.92

3.99 5.72 3.82

24

3.78 4.26 2.81

Digested Manure (63.7 kg NH4+ -N

ha , 3.1 kg NO3 -N ha )
-1 -1

Inorganic Fertilizer (68 kg NH4+ -N

ha-1)

8-

23

-J a

-O

-O

n-

07

E.coli in Drainage Waters during Fall

Raw Manure
Raw Dairy Manure Fall Application
6.00 E.coli Concentration (Log10cts/100mL) 5.50 5.00 4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Days

Digested Manure
Digested Dairy Manure Fall Application
Subsurface Drains
E.coli Concentrations (Log cts/100 mL) 10

Surface Drains

5.50 5.00 4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00

-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Surface Drains

Subsurface Drains

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Days

25 Precipitation, mm

25 Precipitation, mm 20 15 10 5 0
/2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 /2 00 6 14 /1 2 28 /1 1 02 /1 2 08 /1 2 12 /1 2 24 /1 1 26 /1 1 30 /1 1 04 /1 2 06 /1 2 10 /1 2 18 /1 2 16 /1 2

20 15 10 5 0
/2 00 6 22 /1 1

Date

Flow-weighted Mean Concentrations - 25 day Period After Application (CFU 100 mL-1)
E.coli Raw Manure - Surface Drains Raw Manure - Subsurface Drains Digested Manure - Surface Drains Digested Manure - Subsurface Drains 7.22 E+03 4.66 E+03 4.50 E+03 4.93 E+03 Salmonella 4.66 E+03 3.40 E+03 3.79 E+03 2.91 E+03 C.perfringens 1.23 E+03 2.02 E+03 1.84 E+03 2.13 E+03 Enterococci <500 <500 < 500 < 500

22 /1 1/ 20 06 24 /1 1/ 20 06 26 /1 1/ 20 06 28 /1 1/ 20 06 30 /1 1/ 20 06 02 /1 2/ 20 06 04 /1 2/ 20 06 06 /1 2/ 20 06 08 /1 2/ 20 06 10 /1 2/ 20 06 12 /1 2/ 20 06 14 /1 2/ 20 06 16 /1 2/ 20 06 18 /1 2/ 20 06

Date

On-going Work
Digesters: - Continue monitoring digesters for reactor performance and environmental impacts - Monitor increased biogas production at Klaesi and Heinzle digesters using co-substrates - Continue monitoring CH4 emissions Land Application Trials: - Monitor NH3 and N2O emissions from spring application of raw and digested manures - Monitor nutrients and pathogens in drainage water and soils with higher manure application rate - Determine transport of nutrients and pathogens through soil to drainage waters

Project Partners
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Dr. Elizabeth Pattey, Dr. Ray Desjardins & Dr. Bonnie Ball-Coelho

Dairy Farmers of Canada

mie Dsilets

University of Guelph
Anna Crolla & Chris Kinsley

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Don Hilborn, Jake DeBruyn, Pamela Joosse & Duff MacKinnon University of Ottawa Dr. Kevin Kennedy Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Centre Dr. Tarlok Sahota Fepro Farms Klaesi Family Terryland Farms Heinzle Family Pinehedge Farms Heinzle Family EEC Energy Corporation Jeff Stubbings