[Terrapreta] Chook Poo

[Michael Bailes]

Poultry Droppings Make for a Great
Fuel<http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/poultry_droppings.php> by
Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los
Angeles<http://www.treehugger.com/authors/index.php?author=jeremyej>on
08.20.07 Science & Technology<http://www.treehugger.com/science_technology/>
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[image: chickens]

You can't stop progress: turning chicken droppings into
electricity<http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/connecticut_egg.php>is
one thing, but developing transportable
pyrolysis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolysis> units to convert poultry
droppings into bio-oil on-the-go? A team of scientists from Virginia Tech's
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is working with a coalition of
poultry growers to test a transportable unit that would convert poultry
litter — a mixture of manure, feathers, bedding and spilled feed — into
bio-oil (or pyrodiesel), producer gas and fertilizer.

It would do so by first heating the litter until it vaporized; the vapor
would then be condensed to make the bio-oil. At the same time, a form of
slow release fertilizer could be recovered from the pyrolysis unit. The main
advantage of this system is its self-sufficiency: the vapor generated by
heating the biomass can be used to power the unit. "The self-contained
transportable pyrolsis unit will allow poultry producers to process the
litter on site rather than having to haul the litter to a separate location.
In addition, the thermochemical process destroys the microorganisms reducing
the likelihood of the transmission of disease to other locations," said
Foster Agblevor, the lead researcher on the project.

The large amount of poultry litter produced each year — above 5.6 million
tons — makes this technology highly applicable. In addition to providing an
economical, efficient means of creating bio-oil, this transportable
pyrolysis unit has several concrete environmental benefits as well: it would
greatly ameliorate the logistics of biofuel production (by reducing
inefficiencies related to biomass transportation), cut down water
contamination and reduce the threat posed by many litter-borne diseases,
such as avian influenza. According to Agblevor, bio-oil yields range from
about 30 - 50% by weight — depending on the bedding content and age of the
litter (the higher the bedding content, the larger the yield).

"The type of poultry litter used will affect the amount and quality of the
bio-oil produced and ultimately will impact the producer's profitability.
Finding the right set of conditions for the poultry litter is key to the
adaptation of this technology," said Agblevor.

Via ::Biopact: Mobile pyrolysis plant converts poultry litter into
bio-oil<http://biopact.com/2007/08/mobile-pyrolysis-plant-converts-poultry.html>(blog)

See also: ::Bio-Oil: Growing Your Own Petroleum
Substitute<http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/biooil_growing.php>,
::A New Twist on Using Wood for
Fuel<http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/a_new_twist_on_wood.php>

*Image courtesy of
alauraborealis<http://www.flickr.com/photos/raucousrage/47614557/>via
flickr
*


-- 
Michael the Archangel

"You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
Most people don't know that"
FROM
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
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