Brownfield Network Interviews Avatar Energy's Nick Dubois

At the 2008 World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin.

Listen to the audio stream or read the transcript below.
Brownfield Network.

Tell us about Avatar Energy.

Nick Dubois.

Avatar Energy is an anaerobic digester company that provides a scalable modular plug flow design. It's above ground tubular architecture and it's composed of a series of 8 foot by 20 foot wide digester hulls and you put together 4 hulls to compose about a 100 cow unit. We have a through put of a about 1500 gallons per day and as the manure comes in it has about a 20 day retention time it's preheated to about 105 degrees and a pre-heating injection tank and after about a 3 hour process of pre-heating it gets up to it's ideal temperature we inject with hydraulic based piston pumps very slow moving gradual process low energy intensive and that all contributes to the over all efficiency of this system. As manure enters it travels at a slow plug flow rate, 20 days later it is discharged out of the tail sections and it goes through a separator.

The separator outputs about a 60% to 62% moisture content separated solids which is ready to go underneath the cows as bedding. Throughout the digestion process we harvest the bio gas coming out which is about 60% methane content. the bio gas is put through a co-generation unit which also has a combined heat and power capability off of an average 100 cow system you will generate about 20 to 25 kiloWatts worth of continuous electric output and you will also have hot water coming off the unit as that's the combined heat and power effect of the unit. The heat coming off is utilized in the digester it can also be utilized on the farm. and the electricity is net metered in a system typical that will net meter the digester the farm and any residual homes surrounding the farm that we can put on the net metering package to offset the costs of operating both the farm and your home.

As the separated solids come out they are used as bedding and the separated liquids are concentrated nutrients that can be spread on the fields with a typical application we also have additional treatment processes that will allow us to basically further break down the liquids into a separated phosphorus content and a separated nitrogen rich liquid that is safe to spread on the field throughout the growing season. An average system will anticipate a generated revenue stream within the first 3 months that will offset your monthly payments resulting in a positive cash flow for the farm and in the long term payback roughly between 5 and 7 years on average farm as mentioned Avatar's digesters are completely scalable and we can range from the 100 to 1000 cow and above range simply by adding different modules, or additional modules to the over all set up.

Brownfield Network.

So in theory if you were looking in to expanding the cow herd down the road somewhere this could be a system that could be expanded?

Nick Dubois.

Exactly, this system allows the farmer maximum flexibility and completely easy integration into their system. It's a completely automated turn-key system with minimal maintenance. Avatar has great experience with all facets of installation of the digester including general contracting, really seeing the process from start to finish, everything from financing grant acquisition through to the completion, start-up, and service management of the entire process.

Brownfield Network.

Easy expandability is obviously one sell-able item. What are some of the other advantages of this system compared to the traditional in ground type?

Nick Dubois.

Well the fact that you are above ground and the fact that you have the modularity, one of the key features that we have designed into the setup is the fact that the Avatar digester can be easily cleaned out. A lot of digesters out there on the market over time are going to do what they call channelization where you have a buildup of sediments internally within the digester. As it builds up you reduce capacity, reduce overall capability to produce biogas therefore reducing efficiency of the system. But Avatar's system, because it's above ground and because it's modular, you simply bolt apart the hulls and you have the entire system cleaned out in under 3 to 4 days and back up and running within the week. This gives the Avatar system a lot of flexibility and a lot of management capability and in turn you know this process will only happen only every 7 to 10 years but it extends the life term of the overall system to the 25 to 30 year lifespan that the system is rated for.

Brownfield Network.

What if someone decided to sell biogas off the digester rather than generate electricity? Is that a capability of this digester?

Nick Dubois.

Yes it's a perfect capability of the system. We typically, because of the small scale, we utilize the grid as essentially our method of storing the gas for a longer period of time. If you generate continuous electricity you can put it on the grid and utilize it on your farm and your house and as the digester may need. Any type of further integration into the system is definitely promoted and we are willing to work with whatever possibilities the farmers have in mind.

Brownfield Network.

What about pathogen and odor?

Nick Dubois.

On the path through the system you remove about 99% of the pathogens. Being that it is a plug flow system with mesophilic operating temperature at about 105 degrees throughout a 20 day retention time you kill about 99% of the odors, 99% of the pathogens and 90% of odors are removed due to the destruction of the volatile fatty acids throughout the system.

Brownfield Network.

Now if people would like more information where do they find out more about it?

Nick Dubois.

They can find out more information at www.avatarenergy.com or you can reach us at our branch in Vermont at 802-651-4775 just ask for Nick Dubois or you can reach us at 877-910-9070 at our California corporate office.