Global Scope,
Personal Focus
Based in Chilton, Wisconsin, DVO Inc. is a leading manufacturer of anaerobic digesters for organic waste. With more than 170 installed digesters, we process the waste from more than 400,000 dairy cows daily.
When all installations are included, DVO industrial and agricultural digesters collectively produce over 80MW of renewable power. That’s enough to power the energy needs of 60,000 homes.
We’re a family business, and we’ve been doing this for a long time. We rely on each other and our customers to continually improve. We know we can lean on each other to make sure the job gets done. And it gets done. Just ask our customers!
Our History
Stephen Dvorak, PE, designed DVO’s patented digester in 1999, and built the first of this unique, new design in 2001. DVO has since installed over 170 digesters at more than 130 sites in 24 states within the United States (more in other countries). Every year we continue to build new digesters for farmers, investors, and municipalities.
The first digesters were put in as a response to Wisconsin changing its laws affecting dairy farmers. Wisconsin has long been one of the largest dairy producing states, and the laws changed because of odors from increasingly larger dairies and manure storage. Stephen Dvorak had a background in digesters at a meat-packing plant, so he developed a concept for dairies that sought to improve on that model.
The original design was developed based on tests of area concrete lagoons. These lagoons were agitated and mixed, which aided the original DVO concept and engineering development. The first installation was in 2001, and it is still running today.
Since then, the experts at DVO have gained broad experience, which they’ve put to work by improving its digesters. Changes to the heating and mixing systems has ensured complete digestion. DVO also developed a design that separates the acid chamber from the methanogenic chamber, so they’re much easier to clean. This allows continuous operation with no need to ever shut down for cleaning. This makes the DVO system much more efficient and productive.
Today, the company is growing its international footprint, with installations in 10 countries outside the United States. And the number of installations grows almost every month.
Mission
“I have a farm background, and I still farm on the side. I’d like to think that we deliver a farmer’s mentality to DVO, seeking value for what we produce. We work very hard to make sure that every single digester works as well as it can, and we’ve received awards for the longevity of our systems. My wife and I are the owners. My daughter and her husband work here. Someday maybe our grandchildren will work here. So that’s important to me just like it is to every other farmer.”
Steve Dvorak, DVO Founder and President
Technology for a Healthy Ecosystem
Society is starting to recognize that anaerobic digestion is a great technology.
We all want cleaner air and cleaner water. And we all want food to feed an increasing number of mouths. As a society, we must figure out how we’re going to get all of that.
How are we going to have a stable food supply and a healthy ecosystem? Anaerobic digestion is a tool, and it’s one solution at our disposal today that makes a difference. We are proud of the system we’ve perfected.
Experience to Meet Every Situation
Our customers are livestock producers, industrial and commercial facilities, and biogas producers. Each of these customer groups, and within each customer category, has a different situation and objective for a digester.
For example, on a dairy or hog or poultry operation, each farm is a little different. Different waste streams, vastly different numbers of sows or cows, more water or less water in the manure or waste, etc. Some dairies are scraped, some dairies are flushed, some dairies have sand, some don’t have sand – it all makes a difference. That’s why we individualize every digester. We design it for what the farm is and what it needs.
We don’t ask customers to change their system. DVO adapts to their system. We’ve got the experience to do it, and there’s not a type of dairy out there that we haven’t put a digester on. We individualize each one, design each one, and that’s a challenge we’re happy to meet.
Livestock Producers
Whether poultry, swine or cattle, our digesters handle manure and litter, while delivering additional benefits for your animals and crops.
Municipalities & Food Companies
No matter what biowaste your facility generates, a DVO digester is customized to handle the load and deliver a return.
Biogas Investors & Developers
Our digesters are the lowest cost when measured by MMBtus produced. That equates to the highest return on your investment.
Available DVO Services
- Engineering and design
- Installation
- Permitting
- Utility contact
- Equipment specification and sourcing
- Complete system oversight
- System start-up
- System maintenance
DVO would be pleased to arrange a tour of an installation at one of many U.S. or international agricultural or commercial facilities.
*NOTE: DVO may provide some, but not all, components depicted on this chart.
Related Projects
Ancali, Chile
10,000 milking, 2.5MW
St. Davids, Newfoundland
1,500 milking, 450kW
Lazar, Serbia
Dairy/whey/silage/others, 1MW
Hong Seong Bio, South Korea
Urban Organics/Hog/"Mixed" digester
Dongying, China
5,000 milking equiv. CNG output
Fresh Dairy One, Australia
10,000 total cattle, 3MW
St. Nikola, Serbia
Swine, beef & urban waste processing
RTB Rustenburg, South Africa
Broiler litter digestion
When a business such as ours makes an investment of this size, the consensus from our family was to go with the proven technology. For us that meant DVO.
– Matt Maxwell, Maxwell Farms, VT (dairy)Testing & Certifications
Guaranteed Production
DVO added a lab to its facility in Chilton, WI, in 2009. This allows us to conduct biomethane potential tests for any waste from almost any industry – dairy, hog, poultry, food waste, packing house waste, etc.
Our lab provides us with a reliable, realistic assessment of the potential biogas production per pound, a level of production we strive to help you achieve. This assessment helps determine whether a digester will make economic sense for your project.
All laboratory testing performed, and results obtained by DVO are subject to the following Terms and Conditions.
Newtrient
Newtrient is a business collective of the national checkoff (DMI), the dairy farmer policy organization (NMPF) and the leading U.S. dairy cooperatives representing more than half the country’s milk supply. DVO is one of the very few, if not the only, digesters that’s certified by Newtrient for nutrient management.
Latest News
‘We have a tremendous story to tell’: Dairy farmers praise on-farm digesters
A panel of experienced dairy farmers share insights about the opportunities that come with operating on-farm digesters at Biogas Americas 2024.
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Biogas Americas 2024: DVO’s Melissa VanOrnum and the importance of farmers’ voices
On-farm biogas 'a huge and exciting opportunity' for farmers and developers
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DVO welcomes calls to cut New York methane emissions with anaerobic digestion
Building more anaerobic digesters in New York could cut methane from dairy manure by 56.5%
Read More