André Hoeve – optimised compressed air distribution
The André Hoeve in Spierdijk will be converted into the first climate- and CO2-neutral barn in Europe in 2019; A friendly barn for animals, environment and surroundings modelled on CONO Kaasmakers' cheese factory in the Beemster. This CONO stable, owned by André, Jolanda and Stan Schilder, is completely focused on the future, with sustainable materials, human measurements and transparency as starting points.
The herd at the André Hoeve consists of about 280 dairy cattle and is milked carefree every day. They focus on making the whole chain sustainable from cow to cheese and call it; "happy cows, happy farmers and happy earth".
Supporting this, the accompanying care farm offers a useful daytime activity for people with disabilities. Several operations here are carried out by hand, so energy consumption is significantly lower than at similar barns of this size due to automation.
More information: www.andrehoeve.nl
To this progressive concept, an optimal and leak-free compressed air distribution and pneumatic components naturally belong. To realise this project, Farmservice B.V. from Leeuwarden was called in, which, in cooperation with the technical specialists of Q Plus B.V., optimised the layout of this component. To fit within the CONO barn concept, this project looked at sustainability in consumption, minimisation of compressed air leakage and use of materials. These are resistant to the aggressive moisture and dirt in a dairy barn.
Optimisation of compressed air supply with MelQ
To optimise compressed air supply there is a MelQ Compressor Kit MQ-COM22. The 2.2kW rotary vane compressor is equipped with an absorption dryer, basic filtration (cyclone filter, coarse filter, fine filter) and a 270L tank in which the clean and dry air is buffered. This 'plug and play' kit provides clean and dry compressed air that guarantees the service life of pneumatic components for as much as five years. In its standard version, the compressor kit delivers compressed air quality with the Standard: ISO 8573-1:2010;2.2.1 (solids, water and oil).
MelQ DMCA/RC series cylinders have been used for the selection ports. Thanks to the aluminium caps and updated scraper ring developed especially for the barn, the cylinder is protected against moisture, ammonia fumes and dirt.
In the Boumatic side-by-side milking pit, all existing valves (64) have been replaced by the MelQ valves, which feature low-temperature seals and lubrication. Previously, the valves had to be changed on a regular basis as they became less or non-functional due to leakage. The seals remain flexible for longer to even extreme temperatures of -25°C.
CO² neutral farm and no more compressed air leakage
Thanks to this new installation, leakage in the pneumatics system has been eliminated, so no energy is wasted. This contributes optimally to the concept of a CO² neutral farm.
André, Jolanda and Stan Schilder are very satisfied with the choice of MelQ parlour pneumatics products. Thanks to the implementation of the compressor kit, valves and cylinders, the André Hoeve has no longer suffered from compressed air leakage since December 2019. This directly saves money on energy costs and recoups the initial investment of the compressed air system within a very short time.