Brendle’s Egg Farm
| Location |
Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| Project Type |
Farm Scale |
| Animal Type |
Caged layer |
| Population Feeding Digester |
72,000 |
| Baseline System |
Storage Lagoon |
| Digester Type |
Modified Plug Flow |
| System Designer |
Bert and Dick Waybright |
| Biogas Generation |
28000 ft3/day |
| Biogas Use |
Cogeneration |
| Generating Capacity |
65 kW |
Chicken droppings at Brendle Farm fall from conveyor belts into a trench. The manure is moved from the trench into a pit where water is added. Once the manure is brought to the proper consistency, it is pumped into a concrete preheating tank for two purposes. First, the preheating tank heats the waste to avoid shocking the reactor in cold weather. Secondly, the tank separates limestone grit and feathers from digester influent. Waste then flows into a 145,000 gallon digester tank.
The digester is a below ground concrete tank with a flexible cover. The design is a heated, slurry loop with an internal dividing wall that stores the heating pipes. It is maintained at a temperature around 95ºF and has a hydraulic retention time of 27 days.
Generated biogas is sent to a 65 kW engine-generator set. Electricity is used on the farm during the day and sold to the utility at night. Recovered heat from the engine is used to preheat wash water for egg processing and heat the office and egg processing area.
Digested manure flows by gravity from the digester into a storage pond. Liquid effluent is pumped to irrigation equipment and used to fertilize the cropland. Limestone grit from the pre-heating tank and the storage pond is dried and also used for land application.
Brendle Farm’s digester includes the following benefits:
- Electricity savings
- Reduction in odor and flies
- Revenue from sale of electricity
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