BCWG Vermont - Nova Scotia Exchange (May 2019)

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The first BCWG Laboratory Exchange took place between Monday May 27 – Thursday May 30, 2019 as four people from Vermont visited Professor Dave Risk’s FluxLab at StFX in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

 

Three UVM faculty (Carol Adair and Gillian Galford from the Rubenstein School, and Britt Holmén from Civil & Environmental Engineering) together with PhD student Lindsay Barbieri (Rubenstein) spent two full days exchanging information on biogas field sampling, instrumentation and data analysis techniques.  In addition, Dave Risk arranged visits to the incubator space, Volta, in Halifax NS and to Eosense in Dartmouth NS to talk with personnel about measuring biogas from diverse sources, biogas instrumentation and measurement challenges.  At Eosense, the team was able to see the company’s products under test and calibration conditions and learn about the company’s designs for measuring CO2 in water.

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Some highlights:

• StFX Projects include oil and gas field monitoring with mobile truck system.UVM team enjoyed a run around Antigonish in the mobile sampling unit where we could see the CH4 and CO2 concentrations from ambient air inlet (in front grill of truck) in real-time.When passing a natural gas delivery truck, the CH4 concentration spiked!

 

• UVM researchers introduced StFX students and faculty to their research on quantifying biogas from agricultural systems.

 

• Field trip!The entire group from StFX and UVM visited a small (500 acre, 100 cows + 60 yearlings) farm anaerobic digester facility located about 30 minutes from the campus.The farmer and his son toured us around all the different components of the 633kW facility .Interestingly, given the Nova Scotia location,a majority of the feedstock to this digester was fisheries waste (crab and lobster shell waste and fish oil).The farmer described the fish waste as “rocket fuel” for the digester.The single tank digester used 500 kg of solids per hour and residence time of 50 days.An underground concrete manure storage tank held 200,000 liters and the lined effluent pond was located adjacent to the digester tank, with entire system gravity-fed underground piping.AD headspace composition 46% CO2 and 64% CH4.An upgrade system was present upstream of the generator to remove hydrogen sulfide.Dave Risk brought along his Infrared camera (FLIR GF32) and we took turns visualizing temperature differences across the facility.

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BCWG holds first networking event (Nov 2, 2018)

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On November 2, 2018 the Biogas Collaborative Working Group met for its kick-off networking event at the University of Vermont. Twenty-four participants from two countries, three government agencies, three universities and colleges, and four industry representatives joined together to learn about advanced biogas sensing technologies and discuss local monitoring needs and research opportunities.   Participants identified local biogas emissions processes, assessed field monitoring capabilities, and brainstormed gaps in training and technology. 

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Biogas sensing needs identified

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Several participants highlighted the need for on-farm agricultural measurements. For example, it would be useful to be able to compare biogas emissions from different types manure management systems. Measuring emissions from composting operations and anaerobic digesters in the Vermont context were also hot topics. Participants considered whether reliable systems to monitor GHG emissions could reduce barriers to receiving credits for mitigation efforts in Vermont’s working landscape. 

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Ecological monitoring applications were also highlighted. In particular, some group members are already studying emissions from aquatic systems, such as lakes and wetlands.  Better sensing technologies could enhance understanding of seasonal emissions from natural systems in the context of climate change.

 

Next steps                          

The following actions were prioritized by the group:

• Create an equipment list on the BCWG website

• Create a listserv to facilitate conversation among participants

• Develop topic-focused sub-groups, such as those interested in agricultural applications

• Narrow options for pilot projects

• Reach out to additional potential partners

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