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Co-Firing of Coal and Broiler Litter (BL) Fuels for Power Generation: BL Fuel Quality and Characteristics

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  024189,  2002 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.9391) @2002
Authors:   Saqib Mukhtar, Kalyan Annamalai, Ben Thien, Shane C. Porter
Keywords:   Broiler Litter, coal, combustion, energy, fuel properties, heating value

An increase in the number and concentration of integrated livestock and poultry operations in the United States presents a greater challenge of efficient and environmentally sound management of animal waste. A co-firing technology for coal and broiler litter (BL) to generate power may provide a simplified disposal method for BL. A first step in developing such a technology is to analyze and understand the properties of BL as a fuel source. In this study, ultimate and proximate analyses were performed on excreted broiler manure (EM), cleanout litter (CL), dried and ground litter (DL), coal, and a 90:10 blend of coal and CL (C90:DL10) to determine BL fuel quality and characteristics. The results showed that BL fuels were higher in nitrogen, sulfur, and ash but lower in heating values than those for coal. The ash composition of EM and CL indicated that these fuels are likely to cause fouling and corrosion in a boiler burner due to greater concentration of ash and its higher volatile oxides composition as compared to coal. The 90:10 blend (C90:DL10) exhibited fuel quality and cost ($/GJ) similar to coal. Further testing of BL fuels in a small-scale boiler burner is necessary to assess fouling and corrosion potential along with combustion efficiencies and pollutant emissions of these fuels.

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