Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century

Poultry Litter Pellets Fuel Furnaces

Every year, Alabama's poultry industry produces 1 million-plus broilers, 2 billion-plus eggs—and 6 million-plus tons of poultry litter. But now AAES scientists have identified a way to put that litter to use: They're converting it into pellets that possibly can be used to heat poultry houses and greenhouses.

In research led by AU biosystems engineer Oladiran Fasina, the scientists have pinpointed at what exact temperature and moisture level litter must be to form the pellets, which they’re producing using a laboratory-scale pellet mill.

In the current phase of the project, the scientists are determining whether the pelletized poultry litter—as well as pellets made from peanut hulls and bioenergy crops such as switchgrass—will burn in a specially designed furnace to provide an efficient source of heat for poultry houses and greenhouses. If successful, this process would give poultry growers and nursery owners an extremely economical alternative to propane and natural gas.

It also would be an environmentally sound and highly efficient way to manage agricultural by-products. Pelleting reduces three cubic feet of poultry manure down to one cubic foot, which makes those 6 million-plus tons of litter easier to store and transport.

Fasina says pelletizing the litter and finding value-added uses such as bioenergy help the AAES meet a new, Alabama Legislature-funded agricultural initiative that calls for the development of new products from and new uses for poultry litter.