September 13, 2024. Anaergia Inc., through its subsidiary, Anaergia Technologies, LLC, has entered into agreements to upgrade the South Campus Anaerobic Digester (SCAD) located at the South Campus Anaerobic Digester and Compost Facility at Michigan State University (MSU).
The SCAD project at MSU, located in East Lansing, Michigan, is one of the largest operating anaerobic digesters (AD) on a university campus in the United States. On April 12, 2024, MSU began construction of the new MSU Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center. Construction is to be completed by 2026. The new facility will host 680 dairy cows. Correspondingly, the MSU SCAD needs upgrading to handle the increased amount of animal waste from the new facility. Anaergia recently completed Phase 1 of the SCAD upgrade project which involved replacing components on their plug flow digester. Anaergia is now engaged as a technology supplier in Phase 2 of the upgrade for the complete-mix digester tank.
The SCAD project at MSU plays a critical role in effective manure management and eliminates the need for open-air storage of manure, significantly reducing the odors and methane emissions associated with land-applied liquid manure, while also enhancing the value derived from both manure and food waste. It recoups value from the waste streams by utilizing a series of technologically advanced solutions. These include Anaergia’s high throughput Omnivore™ AD system that Anaergia delivered under a design-build contract completed in 2014.
This facility converts food waste from campus dining halls, manure from MSU’s dairy farm and food processing waste from the local community into 380 kW of electricity which is used to power a number of the buildings on MSU’s campus. In recognition of this facility, MSU received the Institutional Biogas Project of the Year Award from the American Biogas Council for excelling in innovation, technology, collaboration and managing complex systems.
“MSU’s anaerobic digestion facility reflects the University’s dedication to developing programs and projects to research the use of organic residues and wastewater and create win-win-win solutions for rural communities, renewable energy production, and the environment,” said Dr. Wei Liao, Professor and Director Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center, at MSU. “We are pleased to continue utilizing the advanced solutions provided by Anaergia to meet these objectives,” added Dr. Liao.
“This follow-up project at MSU highlights how Anaergia’s industry-leading technologies are being used by those who are dedicated to finding better solutions to environmental challenges,” said Assaf Onn, CEO of Anaergia. “We are very pleased to be helping MSU continue to advance its research activities in the dairy farming sector as we pursue our mission to accelerate the world’s clean energy transition by transforming a wide range of organic waste streams into valued resources,” added Mr. Onn.