Executive SummaryKeywordsIntroductionObjectivesBackgroundOverview of the US Poultry IndustryEconomic ContributionIndustry SectorsIndustry StructureProducers vs. IntegratorsOwnership and Responsibility of Litter ManagementBird ProductionDescription of Poultry Production FacilityProduction CycleTypical Broiler HouseEnergy RequirementsHeating Fuel RequirementsCumulative Energy %Current Energy SourcesEnergy CostsProduction of Manure and LitterProduction of Manure and LitterProperties and Characteristics of LitterCPC Litter Property TestingConverting Litter into EnergyFuel Characteristics of LitterFuel Energy Value EquivalentsEnvironmental BenefitsAdaptation of SMB to Gasify Poultry LitterLaboratory Gasification Test ResultsSMB Pilot Scale Test Data (5 hours of Electricity Production)Material Energy BalancePhase-II System DesignsConcept Gas Production Module Concept Power Production ModuleDowndraft Gasifier SystemFluidized Bed Gasifier SystemLIMCO Concept: Community-scale Hydrogen Enrichment and Ammonia ProductionCost EstimateCost ComparisonValue of Ash ProductMarket EstimateSummaryDemonstration of a Small Modular BioPower System Using Poultry Litter DOE SBIR Phase-I Final Report Contract: DE-FG03-01ER83214 Community Power Corporation Prepared by: John P. Reardon, Art Lilley, Kingsbury Browne and Kelly Beard Community Power Corporation 8420 S. Continental Divide Rd., Suite 100 Littleton, CO 80228 with Jim Wimberly Foundation for Organic Resources Management 101 W. Mountain St., Ste 200 Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701 and Dr. Jack Avens Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition Colorado State University 234 Gifford Building Fort Collins, CO 80523-1571 February 25, 2001Small Modular Poultry Litter Gasification. SBIR Phase-I iiDemonstration of a Small Modular BioPower System Using Poultry Litter Executive Summary The purpose of this project was to assess poultry grower residue, or litter (manure plus absorbent biomass), as a fuel source for Community Power Corporation’s Small Modular Biopower System (SMB). A second objective was to assess the poultry industry to identify potential “on-site” applications of the SMB system using poultry litter residue as a fuel source, and to adapt CPC’s existing SMB to generate electricity and heat from the poultry litter fuel biomass. Bench-scale testing and pilot testing were used to gain design information for the SMB retrofit. A system design for a phase II application of the SMB system was a goal of the Phase I testing. Cost estimates for an onsite poultry litter SMB were prepared. Finally, a market estimate was prepared for implementation of the SMB. The poultry industry contributes $23 B USD to the gross domestic product, producing 7 billion birds and 36 million tons manure annually; and 17% of domestic production is exported. The largest sector of the poultry industry is broiler production with 93% of the head production and 73% of the manure production. Turkey production is second to broilers for both head production (4%) and manure production (22%). Egg layers are not a target market for gasification technology. The typical broiler production house produces 110,000 birds/year in multiple flocks and produces between 100 to 125 dry tons of litter. The value of litter is ~$3/ton on the house floor and ~10 to $12/ton delivered to a fertilization or offsite litter processing facility. The wholesale value of post gasification mineral ash is on the order of $50-$60/ton which equates to $12-15/ton dry litter. The average energy content of dry poultry litter was 6,000 Btu/lb, so a ton of gasified litter would equal 93 gal LPG for a 75% efficient gasifier. Poultry farmers typically pay $0.65/gal for LPG in the mid southern poultry producing states. The equivalent energy value of litter produced per production house is 9,300 to 11,625 gal LPG, whereas the poultry farmer uses between 5,000 and 6,000 gal LPG/year and 22,000 to 24,000 kWh/year of electricity. An SMB system could meet all the heat and electricity requirements with a creative CHP implementation and would require 66% or more of the annual litter production. If implementation of a nutrient management program gave rise to excess litter above that required for heat an electricity on the farm-scale, then additional litter processing could be performed on-the farm without meeting the energy needs, or could be collected for third-party litter processing, but this off-farm system may still fall under the description of small-modular being on a scale of 250 kW to 1000 kWe. The gasification of litter is challenging because of the high ash content in dry litter and because a large fraction of the ash contains potassium, which can lead to fusion of char in the fixed bed, or freezing of the bed media in a fluidized bed gasifier. Other problems can also occur with volatilized potassium. Temperature control is very important in the process and may require additives to prevent ash fusion. CPC successfully converted 99% of the energy content of a poultry litter sample without causing ash fusion in a bench scale experiment, resulting in a highSmall Modular Poultry Litter Gasification. SBIR Phase-I iiiquality ash product. The wholesale value of ash was estimated to be ~50 to $60/ton based on the value of mineral constituents. Furthermore, 83% of the energy content was converted in a non-optimized downdraft gasifier system during a 5-hour pilot test run. The SMB ran continuously generating 4kWe of electricity for the duration of the test as well as generating recoverable thermal energy. The high organic nitrogen and sulfur content of poultry litter also poses a significant challenge to the gas clean up and emissions control equipment. CPC proposes a method of catalytically converting ammonia in the producer gas prior to combustion as a method of chemical NOx emission control. The sulfur and subsequent ammonia mitigation enables utilization of producer gas in direct combustion “brooder” furnaces common to the poultry production house. Sulfur absorber technology would be important to a Phase II system to enable catalytic methods of tar and ammonia mitigation. Projected costs of an SMB system in production was estimated based on prototype costs and manufacturing technology assumptions. There are ~60,000 broiler production houses in the United States and as many as 26,000 turkey production houses. A 10% market penetration scenario of a