Reaserchers announce fowl new energy source

Researchers have started work on a project to produce power from chicken droppings.

The project - supported by The Carbon Trust and Keld Energy - could lead to poultry farms of the future and their local communities being powered entirely by bird droppings.

Academics from the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science (CEAS) at the University of Manchester are working to develop a small-scale power plant to destroy waste poultry litter, while simultaneously generating electricity and heat to keep growing birds warm.
 
Leader of the project, Dr Alastair Martin said: “We envisage that excess electricity will be exported to the grid as ‘green energy’ – converting what is currently an environmental liability into a substantial income stream.”

It is projected that a single plant may be able provide all the heat and a substantial excess of electrical power for the average poultry farmer as well as a bio-secure and environmentally sound disposal route for the poultry litter. These small power plants are being designed so that just one unit could consume all the poultry droppings and bedding litter, while providing all the heat and a substantial excess of electrical power for the average poultry farmer.

Dr Martin and his team are working to integrate a fluid bed gasifier – a device capable of converting biomass waste products into a combustible gas – with a small scale gas turbine, as well as investigating the best strategy for managing the energy generated.

Once this work is completed, it should be possible to deliver the generated fuel gas to a turbine engine in an efficient manner – culminating in the design and specification of the first full scale prototype of a small-scale power plant.
The research team is aiming to develop a small system capable of generating 200kW of electrical power, with an anticipated ‘litter to power’ efficiency of approximately 30% - 10% higher than existing technologies.