One of the biggest challenges for for most dairy farmers in the Magic Valley is to chill the fresh milk in the holding tank as quickly and as gently as possible. Doing so maximizes the milk-fat percent in the saleable milk. This is hopefully accomplished with an energy-efficient chiller which then captures the heat offset using free heaters to pre-heat the water for process clean-up. The next opportunity is heating the rest of the process water which needs to be 180 degrees for clean-ups.
Renewable Energy NorthWest, LLC (RENW) of Star, Idaho and Progressive Dairy Service (PDS) of Jerome, Idaho recently partnered together to tackle these issues in a collaborative method at the Dairy Farm of William Bokma in Twin Falls, Idaho.. PDS is in the process of installing new Mueller chillers and compressors at the Bokma Dairy and are expected to save the operation $2,500 per year in energy costs over the current system. The big gain on the new chilling system comes in the improvement in the milk-fat percentage in the milk. The project expects to improve the milk-fat percentage by 15%. A new free heater is also being installed to capture the heat that is generated in the chilling process.
Renewable Energy NorthWest just completed their portion of this project by installing 20 – 30 tube evacuated panels. The new panels are expected to generate 1,000 gallons of 180 degree water on a daily basis. During the commissioning period and after some modifications on the current water flow process, the milk tank wash down hit 158 degrees. The usual tank washes were 140 degrees. The 158 degree wash was accomplished with free energy from the sun. Each solar thermal panel offsets approximately three tons of carbon each year of production. The expected life of the system is twenty years or offsetting 1,200 tons of carbon.
This Renewable Energy Solution project is funded in part by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The expected payback on the project including all the equipment discussed in this article – is less than six months after grants and incentives. The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) in Twin Falls, Idaho was represented in the project with three students and two faculty members from the Renewable Energy Program. The students and faculty members were able to see, assist and learn that this program provides the best return value on investment for available renewable energy products. One of the students commented, “It’s good to get some hands-on experience with this product.”
The chillers were just installed and initially we are seeing great results. Prior to the project the milk would enter the holding tanks at 84 degrees. The milk is now entering at 37 degrees. We are all excited to see the improvement gains for this project.
