Biogas project of the year

Clean energy plant nets huge savings

Monogram Snacks makes beef jerky and pickled products, producing leftover oils and fats that need to be disposed of. To avoid incurring high monthly surcharges for processing wastewater they elected to start construction of an in-house wastewater pre-treatment facility. When the new clean energy plant began operating, they began funneling the waste stream downhill to an anaerobic digester.

The waste is broken down in the digester and converted to methane gas, which is used to fuel a Cat® CG132-08 gas generator set that is capable of producing 400 kW of electric power. The genset, running at half its designated power rating, produces 200 kW of electric power to power the waste treatment facility.

 

 

The CG132-08 is designed to run on biogas. Thanks to built-in gas mixer technology and the Cat total electronic management system, the engine can still run effectively on a lower concentration of methane.

“It’s a huge cost savings for us, because we’re not paying nearly as much as we otherwise would for our electric utility bill to operate the clean energy plant,” says Brian Neal, manager of environmental health and safety for Monogram Snacks.

Carolina Cat worked on the Monogram plant due to its planning and expertise on multiple biogas projects across the U.S. Carolina Cat Power Systems provides technical support and periodic maintenance and provided classroom training for Monogram. Trained technicians are available to support Monogram at any time.

Monogram’s clean energy plant reduces net carbon emissions by reducing the use of fossil fuel-derived electric and natural gas for heating. The environmentally safe digestate from the pre-treatment process is applied to agricultural lands in the Shenandoah Valley to fortify the nutrient content.

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