Renewed Interest In Utilizing Poultry Litter For Energy
Poultry litter has traditionally been used as an agricultural soil
amendment because of its nutrient qualities. However, in recent years,
attention has also begun to focus on its value as an alternative source
of energy.
|
Poultry manure, more commonly referred to as litter, is a valuable
byproduct generated by the poultry industry.
|
Poultry manure, more commonly referred to as litter, is a
valuable byproduct generated by the poultry industry. This litter
has traditionally
been used as an agricultural soil amendment because of its nutrient
qualities. However, in recent years, attention has also begun to
focus on its value as an alternative source of energy. Because poultry
litter
is heavily made up of wood chips or wood shavings, it has good burning
qualities making it a potentially excellent source of fuel. With
recent fluctuations in energy costs coupled with growing attention
on greenhouse
gas emissions, litter is seen as a potentially stable and green fuel
source that can help displace demand for fossil fuel and purchased
electricity.
But burning litter is not a simple matter of putting it
in a conventional boiler. It requires special attention both to managing
incoming moisture
content and controlling its products of combustion, which include
ash and various compounds that can damage a boiler’s interior. While
a number of companies have tried to introduce specially designed litter-burning
technologies to convert it into steam and/or electric power, few have
succeeded. However, two recent entries are beginning to attract renewed
attention.
|
Biogas combustion zone of mobile Eco-remedy plant.
|
rem Engineering, based in Roswell, Ga., is introducing an
innovative gasification technology, known as Eco-remedy, designed
to displace
fossil fuel demand in boilers used by poultry and other agriculture
industries. rem Engineering says their patented Eco-remedy system
provides safe, environmentally responsible conversion of poultry litter,
routine
mortality, and related agricultural byproducts into usable energy.
The process is rather straightforward. Litter, removed from the house,
is gasified “neat,” meaning no preparation or processing
is required. The gasified fuel is then cleanly combusted, the heat
from which generates steam that either offsets demand from the plant’s
conventional boiler or is used to generate electricity either for in-house
power demand or for sell back to the power grid. The resulting ash
from the gasification process can be used as a valuable all natural
fertilizer which is rich in insoluble phosphorus.
According to rem
Engineering, Eco-remedy has successfully gasified poultry litter
(chicken and turkey, cake and cleanout), composted dairy
manure, processing sludge (DAF and waste activated sludge), spoiled
feed, molded corn, peanut hulls, rice hulls, sawdust, fescue hulls,
and more. In fact, the company showcased its mobile litter to steam
plant this past January at the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta.
Company officials note the technology is well suited to meet the
energy needs of feed mills and processing and rendering plants using
poultry
litter as the main fuel source. “Using Eco-remedy to convert
poultry litter into a renewable energy source has the capacity to reduce
harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by the combustion of fossil
fuels,” says David Mooney, vice president of rem Engineering.
The company says that if all of Georgia’s poultry litter were
utilized as fuel in place of foreign oil and natural gas, green house
emissions could be reduced by as much as 1.34 million tons annually.
The Eco-remedy process boasts another green benefit. “There is
no waste,” explains Mooney. “Eco-remedy’s unique
process returns the litter to its elemental form, rich in phosphorus,
potassium, calcium, and a myriad of trace elements, making it an excellent
all natural fertilizer. In addition, studies show that the nutrient
rich ash has value as a supplement for animal feed. This process continues
to impress us with its many ‘green’ benefits.”
rem
Engineering has successfully demonstrated their Eco-remedy technology,
most recently in a six-month field trial at a feed mill located in
northwest Georgia. During those trials, the Eco-remedy gasifier converted
nearly 1,000 tons of litter into usable process steam. Preliminary
air quality stack tests confirmed design expectations of extremely
low critical pollutant emission rates. Furthermore, a market for
the nutrient rich ash was developed.
The future is bright for the animal
agriculture industry. “With
the data gained from this successful demonstration, we are more excited
than ever,” exclaims Mooney. “By converting animal manure
and other industry byproducts to a renewable fuel source, we feel Eco-remedy
can help our nation’s integrators to close the loop. Reduced
dependence on the expensive and volatile fossil fuel market will help
the poultry industry to realize economic benefits while leading the
way in using renewable energy.”
|
In October 2007, Fibrominn, a subsidiary of Fibrowatt, opened
the first U.S. power plant fueled by poultry litter in Benson,
Minn. The $202 million project generates 55 megawatts of power,
enough electricity to power 40,000 homes.
|
Fibrowatt, a Pennsylvania-based
developer, is no stranger to litter burning. They were founded in
2000 by the management team that built
the world’s first three poultry litter-fueled power plants in
the United Kingdom in the 1990s. The U.K. plants have converted more
than 7 million tons of poultry litter into more than 4 million megawatt-hours
of electricity and 500,000 tons of ash fertilizer.
In October 2007,
the company’s subsidiary, Fibrominn, opened
the first U.S. power plant fueled by poultry litter in Benson, Minn.
The $202 million project generates 55 megawatts of power, enough electricity
to power 40,000 homes.
Fibrowatt maintains that such plants create
renewable energy from locally abundant agricultural byproducts, which
displaces limited fossil fuels,
is environmentally sustainable, and offsets additional carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gas emissions. The company also notes that plant
start-up and operation offers an alternative, beneficial use for
poultry litter that reduces a grower’s exclusive reliance on land application.
Fibrowatt’s approach is proven. Through long-term contracts and
spot market purchases, Fibrowatt obtains poultry litter from surrounding
farms. Terry Walmsley, vice president of Environmental and Public Affairs,
stresses the unique approach that the company takes to its fuel supply.
Unlike many biomass projects that are worried about the day-to-day
supply of “commodity” biomass, Fibrowatt uses the services
it provides as a way of ensuring a long-term supply of fuel. “We
really use renewable energy as a means to supply a beneficial service
to the poultry industry. Because the grower typically receives barn
clean-out, loading, and transportation services from Fibrowatt and
their regulatory burden is reduced, we are able to provide the grower
with a multitude of benefits that they value and make a part of their
business. A grower is in business to raise birds — we are in
business to offer a service that helps them do what they do best — raise
birds.”
The process begins with poultry house cleaning, after
which the poultry litter is transported in tightly covered fuel trucks
to a fuel storage
building, where it is kept at negative pressure to prevent the escape
of odors. Inside the power plant, the furnace burns the litter at
very high temperatures, heating water in a boiler to produce steam,
which
drives a turbine and generates electricity.
When poultry litter is
combusted, it produces not only electricity, but also a nutrient-rich
byproduct that can be used as fertilizer.
The byproduct contains concentrated forms of phosphorous and potassium,
which are important nutrients for plants. This nutrient-rich fertilizer
product is in a concentrated form, which makes it possible to economically
transport greater distances than traditional litter, potentially
removing it from areas of concentrated poultry production. The concentrated
fertilizer also enables farmers to make fewer trips across their
fields,
and is in a form well-suited for crop uptake, making it ideal for
fertilizing row crops and managed forest farms.
Fibrowatt recently announced plans
to open a second U.S. plant in Sampson County near the town of Faison,
N.C. Construction is expected to begin
in 2009, and the 80-acre plant will open in 2011. The company is
also actively working on other projects in North Carolina as well as
plants
in Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, and Mississippi, with future projects
planned for Alabama and Texas.
“Litter to energy projects have been discussed and evaluated
for years in Georgia”, says Georgia Poultry Federation Senior Vice President
Mike Giles. “We are very encouraged by the renewed interest in
these types of projects as the financial payback has improved with
increasing energy prices. While the option of the beneficial use of
poultry litter as a fertilizer will remain for those growers who choose
to utilize it in this way, we believe that there is serious potential
in Georgia for producing renewable energy from poultry litter in the
years to come.”
|
