OUR HISTORY

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Our first "Learning Factory" team of Penn State Engineering students helped to build the system and apply for our patent.
The Penergy Solutions concept was born in Spring 2011 by Ron Arnoldsen and further developed that Fall with the help of a team of six senior students from Penn State's Agriculture Engineering Program when we supported a program for students in the PSU Learning Factory. These engineering students were crucial in refining the idea, adding special additional components, and helping to constructing the original prototype. Four senior honors students from the Smeal Honors College created the business plan and web site in the Fall 2011 semester. A second semester of support was provided by Penergy Solutions to yet another Learning Factory team of engineering students in the Spring 2014 semester.  This student team helped to refine the prototype operations, including adding drums for containment and separation. Our gratitude is extended to our “student teams” and to Penn State's Learning Factory for this great opportunity. The name "PENERGY Solutions" pays homage to their involvement and help.
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Finance team from Smeal College of Business at Penn State helped us to develop our first business plan and business card.
PictureJessica Ruppert (PSU Bio Eng 2016) on right. Helped with patent amendments and digester research for her internship summer 2015.




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Our first logo was a combination of ideas - the flames represent the methane produced and the blue flower is a symbol of accomplishing the impossible.

Our Patented Digester System

The PENERGY system is our patented segmented "anaerobic digester".  Basically, this means that we can produce methane while we "digest" or decompose carbon-based materials in sections within our device - a clean and compact way to address recycling of food and farm wastes.

It is unique in its design in that small batches of decomposing materials are separated independently in drums, but housed collectively in a long unit. The technology can be used by small farms to process individual batches of recycled materials at a time.  These are hooked together by strapping and pulled through a 40-ft tube one at a time.  It is reminiscent of the train sets we had as kids where you hooked one car to the next and pulled it around on the floor.  Here, we allow each batch to remain in the chain until it reaches the end and there are 7 to 8 "cars" (drums) inside the device at any one point in time (exact number depends on length of the cabling between drums.  Built-in access ports along the methane/gas collection pipe allows our biologists to withdraw samples for monitoring biological parameters such as pH, nitrates, EC, and temperature. It also permits inspection of color and odor.

This system is efficient at processing recycled food wastes when coupled with farm manures (particularly good with swine). Odors from the degradation process and input products (manures and green wastes) are minimized by the decomposing bacteria and a nutrient-packed digestate product is created at the end. We call it our "digester tea". 

Our Fertili-Tea Fertilizer
Our digester tea is a nutrient-rich liquid byproduct that makes a wonderful fertilizer supplement as it is packed with micronutrients not typically found in organic fertilizers. We call this digester tea "Fertili-Tea".  The product is made from 100% recycled inputs and contains elements that are beneficial for plants:  While the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) levels are present in our fertilizer, these are minimal in quantity. This is an expected result of the digestion of food scraps.  But we have found that most plants tested seem to use available nutrients better when this tea is added.  They have longer and heavier roots and greater plant leaf matter overall. Also diseases and viruses seem to be less on fruits and foliage with its use.  It is recommended to be used in conjunction with your N-P-K program and only a few applications is required for good effects.  Differences are noticed within a week. 

Pasteurization.  After the digester liquid is decanted off, it is filtered and then treated with heat to boiling for 20 minutes in order to pasteurize and kill any potentially harmful pathogens or bacteria.  In this manner, it can be used as a pathogen-free option for nutrients for hydroponics and gardens. This product was recently made available on the market in July of 2018.

Physical Attributes of our System. PENERGY Solutions segmented digester is housed inside a greenhouse where it can be kept warm from early spring till mid winter.  It is 40 ft in length and about 4 ft wide.  The drums hold 110 gallons of liquid/solid materials. About 15 gallons of food waste is recycled in each unit. It holds 7-8 drums.

Additional thoughts: This system has outstanding applications for green waste recycling programs and may be useful for municipalities, restaurant and food service establishments, waste management businesses, hospitals, and other industries where carbon-based wastes can be recycled for energy generation and green waste reduction. We are currently working on developing a module for the market so that others may benefit from our technology.  We hope to unveil this product in 2020.