Fair Oaks Farms
Vincent arrived in Indiana on Sunday and we checked into the Fairfield Inn at Fair Oaks Farms! We are here for a work trip, I am working on a new gas digester installation at one of the local dairy farms, and some gas upgrading equipment at another nearby farm. The plan is to be here for the rest of this week, then head out sometime next week to Alabama, where we anticipate warm and humid temperatures. As we don't have AC, only a fan to move air, it could be a very sticky situation, but we will have fun, persevere, and see some family!
Fair Oaks Farms is a dairy farm located in Fair Oaks, IN that is about more than just the raising and milking of cows. There are tours of the farm, the robotic milking system, and a high ropes course (among other things). There is also a hotel with a pool and hot tub, and a restaurant which we are planning to eat at tonight! (Hopefully they will have some vegan options, although a restaurant at a dairy farm may not have too many, but we'll see!) They also have weekly evening outdoor music during the summer! If you are in NW Indiana and want to see what this whole farming situation is about you can learn more here: https://fofarms.com/
The job I have been working on during the day is the commissioning of a digester system. A dairy generates large amounts of manure, which is very high in complex hydrocarbons. Those complex hydrocarbons can be chewed on by bacteria, the result of which is methane gas and a bunch of other stuff (see, technical descriptions.) The manure is diluted with water into a slurry which is stored in large tanks called digesters. The digesters are kept warm but not hot to encourage bacterial life in the tanks, and gas pressure builds inside. Once there is sufficient pressure the gas is drawn out and either burned in a flare (think a 20' tall bunson burner) or it is sent to a gas upgrading system to have all the "other stuff" mentioned above removed and the high quality methane extracted to sell to a local natural gas utility to be inserted into the pipeline for delivery to the customer.
The portion I am working on is the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) that manages the various systems involved in the digester process (often called the "Balance of Plant" or BOP PLC). The BOP PLC is responsible for communicating with each of the systems in the digester facility and sending start or stop signals as needed. It also collects information from sensors in the facility like flow meters, pressure sensors, and temperature sensors to make sure the system is acting as it should, and to make the information available to the operators. The BOP PLC is also responsible for the safety systems at the site including emergency stop buttons, fire sensors, methane sensors, and hydrogen sulfide sensors. When a safety issue arises the BOP PLC will take action to do everything possible to remove the safety situation and also turn on horns and strobe lights to alert operators to the safety hazards.
While I have been busy on site Julie has been busy at the hotel doing work and working on sewing more things for Vincent, as well as re-organizing the kitchen to make it work more smoothly, and getting other various and sundry things done that needed to be updated after the first drive. And taking long hot showers! Gotta get those showers in where we can! Who knows where the next one will come. If you are interested in finding out, stay tuned for the next post to find out Where will Vincent Van Go next!
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