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Changing Environmental and Energy Climate Creates New Opportunities for Electric Boilers and Water Heaters

IN THIS ISSUE Gaining New Ground on Biodiesel Conversion Efficiency The Economics of Biofuels Georgia Tech Students Study Biodiesel Production Using Algae High School Student Produces Homemade Biodiesel Using Restaurant Fryer Oil Defining Strategies to Control Storm Water Runoff from Poultry Processing Facilities Researchers Develop Process to Recover Eggshell Waste for Alternative Uses A Look at the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard and Its Impact on Poultry Processors and Growers Changing Environmental and Energy Climate Creates New Opportunities for Electric Boilers and Water Heaters Bringing the Research Lab to the Classroom

There was a time when anyone in the poultry business would label food safety and animal welfare as the top two priorities for the industry. However, these days it is hard to have that same conversation without someone mentioning the impact that environmental controls will have in the near future.

Business leaders from across the industry have been anticipating the effects of environmental regulations; however, few know just what to expect and how to cope with them. To begin to understand how regulations will affect their businesses, business leaders should ask themselves the following questions:

While fine particle and non-attainment rules will impact the industry on some scale, the majority of large poultry producers will be impacted by the growing restrictions laid out by Title V operating permits.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the purpose of Title V permits is to reduce violations of air pollution laws and improve enforcement of those laws. Title V permits do this by:

Many poultry producers are starting to incorporate electrode boilers into their processes so that fuel switching will not only keep their costs down, but emissions low as well.

Installing environmental controls can be quite costly for the industry. For example, Iowa recently completed an economic impact study that estimates the grain and feed industry alone will spend up to $997 million to comply with industry standards.

To avoid costs like these, some poultry producers are being proactive in examining what they can do to lower emissions on their own. These producers are discovering that natural gas boilers are a main producer of NOx emissions and therefore are risky (in the environmental sense) to run full time or in areas classified as non-attainment. As a result, many in the industry are starting to incorporate electrode boilers, as well as electric hot water boilers, into their processes so that fuel switching will not only keep their energy costs down, but emissions low as well.

Among some of the advantages that electric/electrode boilers have over gas boilers, the most obvious is that electric generation becomes more efficient and environmentally friendly for the producer, since the boiler is not burning fuel on-site. As opposed to gas-fired units, electric systems eliminate on-site combustion emissions such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. Producers not only benefit from the cost savings in increased efficiency in the long-run, but in the short-term, operating electric systems reduces emissions for the plant.

Electric hot water boilers are also a more efficient alternative to natural gas, since a steam boiler has to go through a heat exchanger to produce hot water. These systems usually do not require fresh water makeup and are often preferred because they run at higher fuel conversion efficiencies than steam boilers. Most important for the industry, these electric hot water boilers can produce enough hot water to fulfill U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations on the clean-up process.

Since the earth’s air and water are not getting any better on their own, manufacturers bear the brunt of the costs needed to control emissions. Regulation of air emissions has mostly focused on sources such as factories and cars, not agricultural emissions. However, agricultural emissions now have the attention of the federal government, so tighter regulations can be expected.

Ultimately, non-attainment areas will continue to expand, and permit fees will increase. By proactively examining the benefits of new technologies (such as electric processes), companies can stay ahead of the curve before emission levels become a problem.