Anaerobic Digestion at New Hope View Farm

Abstract

New Hope View Farm is an 850-cow dairy operation located in the town of Homer, Cortland County, New York The farm changed hands in February of 2007; it was formerly owned by DeLaval and known as Dairy Development International (DDI) The construction of DDI broke ground on December 4, 2000 and the first cow was milked on August 7, 2001 Farmstead odor reduction, due to community concern, was the primary reason the farm incorporated an anaerobic digester into the original design plans Biogas cleanup consists of an iron media scrubber to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) Biogas is used to fire a 70-kW Ingersoll-Rand microturbine and to fuel a boiler The biogas boiler maintains the temperature of the digester and warms the barn floors Excess biogas is flared using a power flare Digested effluent is directly pumped into an above-ground slurry tank A screw-press separator and housing are located next to the digester, should the decision be made in the future to separate effluent solids and liquids. Markets for separated solids are currently being sought, as the demand for compost rises. The stored digested effluent is recycled to the land base of 2,000 acres of owned and rented cropland