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Rock Creek Digester

Aerial view of storage tanks at Rock Creek Digester site in Boise, Idaho, showing nearby buildings, vehicles, and dirt roads.

Project Summary

The Rock Creek Dairy Digesters is an anaerobic digester system and power generation facility designed to process cow manure from a 12,000 head milking cow operation near Filer, Idaho owned by Bettencourt Dairies. The system utilizes 6 one million gallon concrete vessels that are 80 feet in diameter and approximately 30 feet tall. Other process components include solids separation equipment, a genset building, reception tanks, and associated process mechanical and electrical distribution systems. The project also serves to mitigate odor issues and reduces methane gas emissions by 40,000 tons annually. Two Cat® 3520C bio-gas generator sets convert the methane rich gas to steadily provide over 2 MW of power which is sold to Idaho Power Company for distribution to the main grid. Rated at 1600 ekW at 1200 rpm, each 3520C generator set is specifically designed to operate on biogas, eliminating the need for fuel pretreatment. One of the generators runs continuously while the other unit runs variable hours following biogas production. Both feed power to an electrical transformer located outside the building. Exhaust heat from the engines is used to heat the six digesters. The controls system design included a PLC based system with remote I/O panels communicating over Ethernet to the PLC. A local server was installed with HMI software configured to display a graphical representation of the system both locally and remotely, as well as historian software with trending and data analysis tools.

Project Details

Rock Creek Digester

Location

Filer, Idaho

Service Areas

Electrical Installation, UL 508A Shop, Instrumentation & Controls

General Contractor

McAlvain Group

Project Gallery

  • Large yellow Caterpillar generator with engine parts exposed, CAT logo right side, in use by a Boise Idaho electrical contractor.
  • Rock Creek Digester in Boise, ID: tan building with red roof, outdoor pipes, yellow safety posts, and open sky over surrounding fields.
  • Two yellow Caterpillar generators linked by thick cables inside Rock Creek Digester; “Northern Biogas” and piping also shown.
  • Caterpillar generator at Rock Creek Digester, Boise, ID; surrounded by pipes, ducts, and machinery in a lit, concrete room.
  • Engineering site plan showing tanks, buildings, contours, and piping routes for Rock Creek Digester plant in Boise, Idaho.
  • Aerial view of Rock Creek Digester: six green tanks, gabled-roof building, utility lines, and structures on light green land in Boise.
  • Three green-roofed storage tanks at Rock Creek Digester on a dirt lot, with red-roofed building and equipment, Boise, Idaho.
  • A beige metal building with a red roof houses the Rock Creek Digester, site prepped for electrical work in Boise, Idaho.
  • Industrial space with Rock Creek Digester tanks, pipes, pumps, and controls; workbench with tools for Boise electrical contractors.
  • Aerial view of six concrete digesters near a beige and red-roofed building, shed, and straw bales at Boise electrical site.
  • A Caterpillar generator inside Rock Creek Digester in Boise, ID, with pipes, ducts, and concrete floor, wired to facility systems.
  • Rock Creek Digester site with circular concrete forms, steel rebar, scaffolding, crane, and utilities work for Boise electrical contractor.
  • Aerial view of Rock Creek Digester in Boise, ID, showing green-roofed tanks, red-roofed buildings, and contractor vehicles onsite.
  • Two large Rock Creek Digester tanks with corrugated metal siding and pipe connection, accessed by staircases, under Idaho sky.

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  • One of the best electricals in all of Idaho. We've worked there with them on several projects and they can't be beat. I'd recommend them on commercial project you might have.

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  • Lea Electric is my go-to Electrical contractor in the Treasure Valley.  They are extremely competent no matter how big or small the job is.  What I really appreciate is how quickly they move to get me an estimate and they never over promise.  I’ve been using Lea for over 10 years and have received A+ service.

    Steve Haynie

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