SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Eggnite Agricultural Solutions will unveil a series of new technologies that break down poultry litter and food waste into usable products ready for agricultural after-markets. The natural process also successfully treats dairy, cattle and swine waste.
Poultry wastes with high ammonia and phosphorus concentrations have been a problem with conventional digestion. However, newly patented technology, developed by DVO Inc. with Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., now positively provides a much-needed solution to that problem.
Eggnite, the agricultural technology startup company based in Springdale, will present the location and startup timeline of this new agricultural project at the vendor fair of the regional Poultry Federation Symposium for Production and Processing on Oct. 8, 2024, at the Rogers (Ark.) Convention Center.
Agriculture producers worldwide have come under fire for water pollution and emissions that contribute to greenhouse gases, which scientists have linked to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates agriculture accounted for 10.6 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.
“Eggnite offers positive solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Flo Sanchez, president of Eggnite. “Eggnite offers a positive alternative to land application of litter and sludges from dissolved air flotation.”
Northwest Arkansas is home to one of the nation’s top poultry producing regions, with Tyson Foods, George’s Inc., Simmons Foods, Cargill and others’ headquarters and/or major operations here.
The area also is home of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and the school’s Division of Agriculture will assist in the project.
“We’re out to change the world,” said Joe Brooks, Chairman of the Board for Eggnite. “This system will bring positive change and commercially transform agriculture and food processing waste proteins into biogas and organic fertilizers. We also will provide a consistent year-round market for farmers’ chicken litter.”
Eggnite will utilize anaerobic digesters from DVO in Chilton, Wisc., to treat the materials. The firm’s founder, Steve Dvorak, said he has studied anaerobic digestion for many years. In addition to his firm’s recently patented technology, Dvorak received the first patent for anaerobic digestion in 2001.
DVO is the world leader in agricultural digesters.
Brooks said Eggnite soon will break ground in McDonald County, Mo., for its initial digester. The digester - about the size of a football field - will be buried 18 feet underground, eliminating noxious emissions from the process, Brooks said.
“We will capture and convert the gases and sell the smell,” Sanchez said. “And all you will see at the site are a pumphouse and some utility sheds.”
Eggnite has an agreement with Energy Transfer of Houston to transfer the biogas through its nationwide pipeline network.
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium make up most of the nutrients in farm and agricultural waste – especially poultry, Dvorak said.
The phosphorus in the runoff of over-application of litter, DAF sludges and/or traditional fertilizers continue to be a major contributor to water pollution, Dvorak continued.
Phosphorus and other nutrients washed into water supplies can feed algae blooms that deplete dissolved oxygen in the water, harming species living in there.
In 2005, the state of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit against Arkansas poultry processors to greatly reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in litter
growers apply to fields as fertilizer and in effluent released from their plants into the Illinois River watershed. The river runs from Arkansas and through eastern Oklahoma. Many people enjoy recreation on the river, designated a scenic river by the state of Oklahoma. And the river fills Lake Tenkiller, which serves as the water supply for several Oklahoma communities.
In addition, the state of Missouri recently has taken action to control the land application of animal waste and food processing waste. Enforcement actions have been ramping up in Missouri, Maryland and other states where the practice of land application has been the only way to manage that material until now.
Dvorak explained the waste digestion system will heat and mix waste materials in a buried, airtight vessel, keeping emissions and odors underground.
Microscopic organisms will do their work breaking down the waste without oxygen. After digestion, the processed water will be removed of solids and reused for further digestion, Dvorak said.
“The liquid is not potable, but it’s close to it,” he said. “It can also be utilized as farm irrigation.”
The solids with greatly reduced phosphorus levels can be utilized as fertilizer again, Dvorak continued.
The gas released by the process contains about 60 percent methane, the main component of compressed natural gas, Dvorak said.
Compressed natural gas is used primarily as an alternative fuel to gasoline and diesel in vehicles - particularly in buses, trucks and other heavy-duty transportation - due to its cleaner-burning properties and potential environmental benefits compared to traditional fossil fuels.
Cummins Inc. has created an engine using compressed natural gas instead of diesel. The Series X15N engine is a drop-in replacement for diesel engines with many cost and environmental benefits over diesel.
Walmart Stores in Bentonville has ordered 100 trucks with these Cummins engines. The company’s recent pilot program with 10 trucks using these engines was successful, according to May 2023 article in Clean Trucking, the alternative power resource site of CCJ, Overdrive and Trucks, Parts, Service.
Brooks explained Eggnite’s agreement with Energy Transfer includes the transfer company building a receiver and compression station at the McDonald County digester site to receive the methane into the company’s system. The transmission company will distribute the methane to customers and filling stations requiring compressed natural gas throughout North America.
“The gas will be cleaned here like that in the Texas oil fields, so it will be accepted in a pipeline here and into their system,” Dvorak said.
Dvorak said 145 of his company’s digesters are in use around the world, with 125 of those in the United States. Many of the facilities are in use in Dvorak’s home state of Wisconsin, which has a large concentration of dairy operations.
Brooks calls the digester process “the circle of life,” with agriculture products and byproducts cleaned and returned to agricultural operations as biofuel for equipment and hygienic, organic fertilizer for fields.
***
About Eggnite Agricultural Solutions
Eggnite Agricultural Solutions, LLC, is a renewable energy company that uses state-of-the-art technologies and offers a large-scale commercial, economical solution to animal or food waste disposal by repurposing it into useable, safe and bio-friendly products using patented 99 percent operational efficiency. The company is based in Springdale, Ark. For more information:
Media contact
Laurinda Joenks at