Frye Poultry Project

Update

West Virginia Department of Environmental Quality features
Coaltec’s Frye Poultry chicken litter gasification project in their
InDEPth newsletter. For the full article, click here.

West Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Division of
Air Quality, features Coaltec’s Frye Poultry gasification project
in their Clean Air Forum. Scroll to page 7 of the PDF version for
the full article here .

Gasification - Gasification Utilization Best Practices

Located at Frye Poultry Farm, Hardy County West Virginia, this
demonstration project has shown that chicken litter can successfully
be gasified to provide a bio-based heating system. The project
compared, side-by-side, a typically-heated poultry house and a
poultry house heated with hot air out of a WESI-36 gasifier’s heat
exchanger. The focus of the project was to prove the feasibility and
economic viability of a bio-based fuel-to-energy system utilizing
poultry litter as the fuel and a fixed-bed gasifier as the medium to
convert the material to energy. The project is the culmination of
advanced-stage research and development work for a poultry
system, and included commissioning, evaluation, and field testing of
a gasification system specifically designed for the poultry industry.

On March 19, 2007 the gasifier was delivered to the Frye Poultry
site. By the end of that same day the modular system was in place
and ready for coupling to the ducting system. On day two the
propane and electrical work were in progress. On day three the
system was operating to cure the refractory. The was done by a six
man crew with the assistance of a crane and crane operator. A sock
air distribution system was installed with outstanding results; the
ambient air temperature throughout the house having no more than
a two degree differential.

The controls in the house are completely secured and the system is
operational with birds in the house. Additionally it was operated
between flocks to dry the manure pack on the floor and to preheat
the house to improve the environment for new poults coming in.
The fuel feed is completely automated and the system changes as
fuel quality and energy needs change. The system has been
operated utilizing both local controls as well as with monitoring from
Indiana and Canada through the remote web-based access system

The operation of the gasifier has a definite positive impact on the
bird growth and health. The humidity level in the house is lower –
over 20% less, and the bird’s growth was as much as 7% higher. The
propane use is obviously lower as the gasifier is providing the
energy for replacement heat.

Due to some manure management issues, a consistent fuel supply of
a quality acceptable for gasification (minimum 3500 Btu) was not
available throughout the heating season. The owner is installing a
litter shed which will eliminate this issue for the 2008-09 heating
season. On most on the operating runs the system operated with
the fuel below the quality that was required to sustain a reaction.
The use of the propane heater to “top off” the energy allowed this to
happen. The use of the burner was automated so it only operated
when the energy level required it. The use of the poorer fuel quality
does create operational issues and changes are being made to
improve the fuel quality. The stack test protocol for the air permit
was prepared and approved, and the stack modifications have been
made; however, the stack test has been postponed until the litter
shed is installed and a consistent acceptable fuel is available.

As the system is used, a variety of unexpected benefits have been
discovered: The ash as a fertilizer supplement has substantial
value. It may also be beneficial as a feed supplement to replace
dicalcium phosphate. Research work to determine this will be a part
of Phase 2 of the project.
The use of the gasifier reduces the work load to maintain the house
and could have a significant impact on the operating costs when
incorporated in the design of a new facility.
The reduced work load and the ability to bake the house between
flocks can decrease the time between flocks – thus increasing the
opportunity for the farmer to generate revenues.
Initially, the benefits were thought to be confined to cold weather
and winter months. However, the ability to utilize the gasifier to
produce cool air through a chiller has huge potential. The actual
bird performance is worse in the spring and fall as the critical factor
is temperature changes from day to night more so than just cold
temperatures. Phase 2 of the project will address this opportunity.

Funding is provided for portions of this project from the Natural
Resources Conservation Services through a Conservation
Innovation Grant and from the West Virginia Department of
Agriculture.

Page 2: Gasification Utilization Best Practices