Oakey's green energy orb opens the way to profitable performance

At Oakey Beef Exports, located on Queensland’s Darling Downs, an orb-shaped green energy storage facility is helping to demonstrate how industry can profit from environmental initiatives. The 6000 m³ capacity PVC-coated polyester fibre flexible storage tank collects biogas produced by the Global Water Engineering COHRAL covered high-rate anaerobic lagoon being installed by CST Wastewater Solutions.

To be commissioned next year, the plant will extract green energy biogas (methane) from its wastewater streams to replace the millions of dollars worth of natural gas currently consumed at the abattoir. By re-using the biogas in its boilers, Oakey Beef Exports is initially expected to replace usage of about 50,000 GJ of natural gas a year.

The 26 m-high flexible storage tank features resilient flexible double membrane storage so that gas produced by the plant can be safely stored separately from the gas generator. Use of the separate flexible tank for gas storage provides security against leakage, with gas securely contained in the tank instead of being more loosely contained under lagoon covers. The Sattler biogas storage design has been engineered to be permanently gas-tight, with high operational reliability and optimum safety.

“The safe, durable and environmentally harmonious COHRAL technology deployed at Oakey Beef can be widely applied worldwide to food, beverage and agricultural and primary processing plants,” said CST Wastewater Solutions Managing Director Michael Bambridge, whose company represents the GWE COHRAL technology in Australia and New Zealand.

The plant is expected to repay its cost of construction inside five years through gas purchase savings amounting to many millions of dollars - then continue to deliver benefits and profitability virtually in perpetuity, according to Oakey Beef Exports General Manager Pat Gleeson. The technology uses concentrated anaerobic bacteria to digest 70% of the organic matter (chemical oxygen demand) in Oakey Beef Exports’ wastewater to produce effluent of higher quality than typical open lagoons.

Bambridge believes Oakey’s initiative sets an outstanding precedent for agribusiness in Australia because the technology can turn an environmental problem into profit by simultaneously enhancing water quality and lowering fuel bills. He said, “Oakey Beef Processing and its owners, Nippon Meat Packers, have taken a far-sighted initiative that opens the way to cleaner, greener and more profitable industry performance.”