The first biogas plant at Danosha

According to Danosha’s policy about protection the environment it has now become possible to build the first biogas plant, based on the slurry from the pig farms.

The biogas production produce electricity and heat by utilizing the slurry, and thus saves the environment for using fossil fuel, but also minimizing the evaporation of ammonia to the atmosphere. Besides this the rest product of the slurry, after being process for biogas, is much better utilized by the fields, and the smell of it is almost non-existing.

The first biogas plant is being build at Kopanki, where we the 5^th of September 2011 had a ceremony for breaking the ground. The expectation is to have the plant operation in the autum 2012.

The biogas plants are build with supervision from our sister company Poldanor SA in Polen, who has many years of experience in building and operation biogas plants.

(The picture is from the sister company Poldanor)

Why Biogas?

Advantages of the biogas production (Biomethane production; 4 380 000 m³/year)

• Improving the environment by reducing evaporation of green house gasses (Methane and CO²)
• Minimizing the smell of manure to almost nothing.
• Optimizing the utilization of the pig manure as a valuable fertilizer for the plant production (as N-NH4 is easier for the field to access when the manure is degassed)
• Less risk of spreading pathogens.
• Destroying seeds of weeds, and thus minimizing the usage of crop protection chemicals.
• Keeps the balance of organic matter in the soil
• Minimizing energy loss, by utilizing a part of the organic material to biogas, and less use of fossil fuel.

The biogas production and the related electricity and heat production, are properly the very best way to limit the evaporation of greenhouse gasses, and also an efficient tool to protect the environment with long term and broad results.

We reduce the emissions in many ways. If the manure from the pigs is laying uncovered and without collection the natural produced methane, CO2 and ammonia it will evaporate and damage the environment in the atmosphere. By having a biogas plant we collect and utilize methane and CO² for fuel, and by combining the plant with hermetic closed degassing lagoon, we also prevent the ammonia in evaporating. So we prevent all 3 gasses to evaporate, and at the mean time creating useful energy, and thus using less fossil fuel.

How does it work?

The biogas plants purpose is to produce biogas, consisting of approximately 55% bio methane and 45% CO₂. The raw material for the plant is manure from the pig production, approximately 90.000 t/year together with some grass and corn silage (10.000 t/year).

The raw manure is pumped via the pre tank to the mixing tank. Here it will be mixed with silage, and then pumped to the main digester tank, and then afterwards being degassed in the post digester tank, and thus extracting the last 10-20% gas.

After the degassing the degassed biomass and manure will be pumped through a mechanic separation system, thus the last organic dry material will be filtered from the liquid and after that pumped to the covered lagoons. In the beginning of the arable growth period this natural fertilizer will be delivered on the fields as organic fertilizer.

We expect to produce approx. 13.000 m³/day biogas on the plant, which will be converted by an gas engine to 1063 kWh electricity and 1086kWh heat.

Our policy for fertilization with Slurry

• Fertilizers have to be used in a way which do not put peoples and animals health, and the environment at risk
• Natural fertilizer dose per year cannot exceed 170 kg total nitrogen per ha!

How we safely keep the Slurry

100% sealed lagoons

= No soaking into the ground water

= No evaporation

Danosha slurry handling - short facts

• We use the most environmentally safe technology possible - the machinery is equipped with a special computer control dozing system to insure the exact amount of the organic fertilizer for each hectare.

• Two underground slurry pipe lines (6 and 7,8 km long) are used to transport the slurry closer to the fields to decrease the amount of organic fertilizer transported by trucks.

• Before slurry distribution season samples of the slurry are sent to the Ivano-Frankivsk centre for soil fertility protection and product quality, veterinary laboratory to be examined for the content of different elements, and if it is specific pathogen free.

• According to Danosha's good-neighbor policy we inform local communities before the start of the slurry distribution season and they can send us an information about some public events to be held during that season, so we can avoid distributing during celebration days.