Re: New Technologies for a new century

[CAVM@aol.com]

This is just the right topic.  I am so excited that we will discuss emerging and potential technologies on a practical level.  I appreciate the backyard and hobby discussions that I get to read here but actually putting a project together for realistic problem solving is more my cup of tea.  Not that I expect to be doing the innovative work, that will be the rest of you.

In the last few months my company has been hired by one of the larger counties in Kentucky to set up an agriculture innovation farm to show small farmers what can be done to substitute for their lost tobacco income.

I plan on having 3-4 permanent displays and many temporary ones rotating in and out depending on the budget.  So far the plan is to build a hydroponics greenhouse and an indoor aquaculture facility with Pacific White shrimp.  The complex will be heated via a small fixed film digester using the on farm hog manure.

I had a hard drive crash last summer and lost the name of the gentleman in the Pacific NW who had the gasifier he wanted to display on the farm.  I hope he writes back to me.  Others of you have gasifiers and stoves for sale but I am especially interested in displays for now so that the farming community can see what is out there.

Maybe we could sponsor a show of several technologies.  

Some of you know of the work we have done in alternative heating of poultry buildings in Kentucky.  We have received permission from Tyson Poultry to modify the insulation and heating of the farmer owned poultry buildings to reduce the cost to heat them.

We cut the heat demand by 50% through very economical insulation.  Changing the open flame brood heaters for hot water radiators we designed to stand the dust and ammonia cut the heating bill another 19%.  So far the hot water is supplied by a high efficiency gas boiler bought just to test the radiators.

Soon we will install combustion units which use green sawdust fuel in a district heating system.  8 poultry buildings cost $100,000 to heat last winter using natural gas or propane.  If they had the sawdust fueled hot water system with insulation in place it would have cost less than $35,000 including the cost of fuel.  Now that is a step forward.

So lets get on with it.

Neal Van Milligen
Kentucky Enrichment Inc.
CAVM@AOL.com