A22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 21,1981 BY JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent YORK While mainland China Waybnghl, of Mason-Dixon has some 700,000 small anaerobic farms at Gettysburg, was a waste digesters, and the Indian featured speaker at a seminar on government is building 450,000 saving energy on the farm, held across that Asian country, C S Monday evening at the York 4-H agriculture still views the Center Co-sponsors for the production of biogas from seminar, attended by about two livestock manure with skepticism dozen interested farmers and area ‘We’re way behind, and it’s residents, were the York County unfortunate, considering the Conservation District and the economic pinch, that we’re not Region VI Pennsylvania Energy taking advantage of this potential Center. to save money,” asserts Adams One of the principal partners in Richard Waybright, of Mason-Dixon Farms in Gettysburg, says American agriculture is way behind much of the rest of the world in recognizing the value of energy from livestock manure. FREE with each Fiber dome CALFHUTCH pur chased by January 31, 11061*1101916 me ...madttb&lit 1982 ... a complete PO Box 11 Lake Mills Wl 53551 custom-designed gal- ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ vanized fence, a $27 ■ m value, " Find out more about the hutch with the college ■ ■ degree return the coupon today! 1081 ■ See your dealer for additional ■ accessories to complete your | Name . ■ Fiberdome system including _ bucket holders feeding ■ Address _— | buckets hay racks and ■ cn» stat, _ stakf downs H | _ Phone Zip ___ _ Waybright digester sparks energy meeting County dairyman Richard Waybright. To build the most efficient hutch on the market, we've worked with the best veter inarians and dairy scientists in the country And today, 10 major universities use Fiberdome hutches, testing every inch and giving us straight A's That’s because each design detail is there for a good reason Extra-heavy re inforced fiberglass, for rugged strength One-piece seamless construction, sloped front-to-back, for self-ventilation Univer sity tested to be warmer m winter and cooler in summer Even a special weather resistant coating to control bacteria the family-owned Mason Dixon danying operation, Waybnght is n ( ii known for his innovative and successful development of a self sufficient electncity-from-manuie digester system. Using the manure waste from the 1,200-dairy animals in the milking string, Mason-Dixon has wiped out their annual $J5,000 electricity bill, and is at the point where they could theoretically begin marketing some of the current back to area utilities at peak times Mason-Dixon made national tarm-news headlines two years ago when the initial system went on-line. Now, with that period of experience as a foundation, the biogas production is continually being fine tuned, and has shown considerable gain in efficiency. Manure from the huge free-stall barn is flushed twice daily with a flow of J,OOU gallons of water per minute, for about four minutes in each alleyway. A one-half-inch slope drains the manure-bearing liquid away fairly rapidly, leaving behind clean alleys, and drier, healthier feet on the dairy animals, as a bonus. From the alleyways, the flushed manure-water is diverted to a large settling ba<- •"•♦‘■ide the barn Aftei -miljiJs settle out a six-inch depth of sludge daily, the liquid is drawn off the top, and the sludge scraped into a holding area for feeding into the biogas digester. This past winter, Waybnght added a second giant-plastic-bag digester, each capable of holding up to 15,000 cubic feet of gas. The manure sludge is heated in the digester using waste heat from the self-contained system. A PVC piping system draws the PTO ALTERNATORS ®FOR SALES, SERVICE, PARTS OR RENTAL, CONTACT— Curtis Engine & Equipment, Inc. gas from the digester bag and from diesel motor generators to feeds it into the generators, where Caterpillar LP-operable ones, the it is converted into electricity. type of generator used.m the One recent change was a switch (Turn to Page A 23) A special meter, shown here by Met-Ed’s residential representative Paul Wojciechowski, makes it possible for residential customers to plan their energy usage at a time of day when the rates are extra low. Curtis Engine &■ Equipment, Inc is the exclusive distributor of Onan Generator Sets and Perkins Diesel Engines These respected names offer you, today s farmer, the best possible value Our 37 years of experience allow us to recommend the right equipment, whether Onan Electric Power or Perkins Diesel Engines We offer around the-clock parts and service Our trained servicemen are equipped to handle most repairs and maintenance on location Buy Onan or Perkins—for power performance that lasts—electric or diesel Baltimore Washington, 0 C Norfolk 6120 Holabird Ave 4305 48th St 1114 Ballentme Blvd Balto MD 21224 Bladensburg MD 20710 Norfolk VA 23504 (301) 633 5161 (301) 779 1470 (804) 627 9470
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers