Power from Poultry Waste

Chandala Poultry, Gingin, Western Australia produce approx. 1.7 million birds for the Australian poultry meat industry per year. Four sheds are run in rotation and every 6-7 weeks the sheds are emptied producing approx. 3000 tonnes of chicken litter per year.

Currently the poultry waste is stockpiled, composted and transported to nearby farms where it is used as a fertiliser. This process attracts flies, produces odors and releases greenhouse gases, it also does not capture the energy content of the waste or realizes the full value of the product.

Energy Farmers has been engaged to find a waste to energy solution for the farm. After a farm visit and discussions with Chandala Poultry, it was decided to adopt thermal conversion (pyrolysis/gasification) to process the waste stream. Parts of the development pathway included:

Energy Farmers have run an exhaustive series of trials with the poultry waste supplied by Chandala Poultry. These trials looked at how to handle poultry waste before it enters the pyrolysis process. Poultry waste can be very high in moisture content which is detrimental to any thermal conversion process. It also can have lumps which will not char completely.

We have also carried out a number of in crop trials using poultry litter biochar. More information can be found in our latest blog