Jay Martin, a researcher with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, has developed a modified fixed-dome digester that can make methane from manure, which can either be burned as an alternative to natural gas or propane, or converted to electricity using a generator. The 300-gallon biodigester, installed at Waterman Agriculture and Natural Resources Laboratory in Columbus, is designed specifically to cater to average-sized and smaller livestock farms – around 150 dairy cows on average.

The technology will be demonstrated at Farm Science Review, Sept. 21-23 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, Ohio.

"There are less than 200 digesters working on livestock farms in the United States, and those digesters are designed for large-scale industrial dairy operations in the range of 10,000 or 15,000 head. And they are expensive – around $1 million to implement," says Martin, who is an associate professor with the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering. "Right now, only farms with around 1,000 cows or larger can use digesters. You crunch the numbers and more than 95% of the livestock farmers in the U.S. can't use this technology to create renewable energy."

Recognizing the need for smaller-scale, affordable biodigesters, Martin and his colleagues turned to technologies widely implemented in China, India and South American nations like Costa Rica, and adapted a biodigester for Ohio's climate.

The result is a biodigester that can generate 500 liters of biogas a day – 60% methane and 40% carbon dioxide. For now, 10 gallons of manure is added per day, and the renewable energy generated is enough to cook a few meals.

The biodigester technology being demonstrated at Farm Science Review is a mini version (about 5 gallons) of the Waterman model. The mini biodigester can create enough biogas to roast a few marshmallows.

Martin said that the technology being demonstrated is the first step in determining how successful biodigesters can be on Ohio dairy farms.

"One of the challenges of a biodigester is the air temperature. The microbes that turn the organic matter into biogas are sensitive to colder temperatures," says Martin. "How the biodigester performs in winter will aid in determining if such technology can be successful in Ohio."

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The Waterman biodigester was installed last October and researchers, including graduate students Richard Ciotola and Juan Castano, began monitoring biogas generation this spring. If successful, Martin envisions scaling up the biodigester to 5,000 or 10,000 gallons.

"A thousand-gallon biodigester is probably the minimum right now that a farmer would need to get up and running, and the smaller-scale is much more affordable – about $100 per cow for the system," said Martin. "The key to the design is based on optimum amount of manure that can be collected per day for the greatest amount of biogas produced."

Researchers are still exploring minimum and maximum manure loads that the 300-gallon biodigester can handle. Too little manure, and not enough biogas is created. Too much manure, and the pH drops, killing off the microbes that create the biogas.

Martin envisions farmers using biodigester technology in such applications as heating water for cleaning milk parlors. In addition, through the conversion process of manure to biogas, the displaced liquid – rich in inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus – can be applied to field crops as fertilizer.

The mini biodigester model will be on display at Farm Science Review in front of the Firebaugh Building on Friday Avenue in the exhibitor area. There will be daily demonstrations of how the technology works.

Farm Science Review is sponsored by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. It attracts upwards of 140,000 visitors from all over the country and Canada, who come for three days to peruse 4,000 product lines from 600 commercial exhibitors, and learn the latest in agricultural research, conservation, family and nutrition, and gardening and landscape.

Farm Science Review pre-show tickets are now on sale for $5 at all OSU Extension county offices. Tickets will also be available at local agribusinesses. Tickets are $8 at the gate. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 21-22 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 23.

Like something you saw at the Farm Progress Show or Husker Harvest Days? Didn't get a chance to make it to all the exhibitors? We have compiled into one spot, nearly 200 new products featured at the big shows in this FREE report.