Análise de sistemas para o resfriamento de leite em fazendas leiteiras com o uso do biogás gerado em projetos MDL.

Abstract

The Brazilian dairy sector is characterized by a great number of producers, presenting low productivity and product quality. Concerning to quality, it is necessary the implantation of cooling systems for milk and conservation on farm. However, a low milk production level and the electric power availability on rural areas sometimes make unfeasible investments on these types of coolers. In this context, the goal of this work is to determine the best configuration of a milk cooling system for small and medium-scale dairy farms to be included in an anaerobic digestion project based on the Clean Development Mechanism of the Protocol of Kyoto. Such project is to be implemented by a company interested in commercialize the carbon credits generated. Once the project will provide to the farmer a renewable and low-cost energy resource (the biogas resulting of the anaerobic digestion), it was considered two possible sceneries: a producer that does not count on a cooling system, and a producer that may want to replace purchased electricity by a generation system based on a biogas-fueled engine to power an already existing system for milk cooling. The work analyzed several technical aspects connected to cooling system sizing, feasible configurations for supplying the cooling demand, evaluation of the consumption of the different energy inputs (electricity and biogas) of considered configurations. It was evaluated the carbon credits generation, as well as the involved economical aspects (investments, operational and maintenance costs, earnings from commercialization of carbon credits). It was also evaluated the impact of introducing the cooling system on milk production costs and values received by the producer. The analysis shows that a biogas-fueled Otto-engine electrical generator is the best configuration for a new system, and that the replacement of the electric power purchase for generation on farm is also an interesting alternative, although its payback time is relatively high for Brazilian standards.