How would I use turkey starter litter as a fuel source

Many do it. Can't add the biogas-methane to LPG. Also you have to watch out for corrosion by H2S gases. You will also need to de-sludge periodically = good compost.

Don't pelletize for biogas - liquefy and screen any debris more than 0.1-.2 in and compost.

Think about selling if you pelletize or try to compost it. Composting with pine shavings and straw require alot of nitrogen to compost to a fertilizer, but also turkey shit requires alot of dilution to apply as fertilizer. So all you

Try your county agricultural agent if in US. Or google-search...Something like this

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/farmmgt/05002.html

Yes contact American Combustion Technoligy. President is Latif Majoob at 562-633-2722 or check out their web site. They are in California.

Hello Electriturk,

As a new company, we were formed last year, to deal with just this kind of issue and present solutions to our clients , in addition to presenting construction solutions and implementing them in sometimes alternative ways, when needed. This is the process we that we present and follow and we would be glad to consult with your company further on this matter , after your overview of our methods of use of poultry waste. The process is as follows:

1.) Poultry manure with its wood shavings are fed, along with a small measured amount of raw feed, into a methane digester and worked off. (Note: The raw feed has been shown to help speed up and increase the gas volume derived from the digestions bacteriological process producing more gas than if not used.) The digester gas, is used after a cleanup process , or then sold & re-entered into a LNG supply line as that after proper processing, it is as clean as LNG. Or it could be burned, as a fuel for a Combined heat & power generator or steam turbine and the power used or sold.

2.) The digestion sludge, exits the digester, to a drying area. At under a 15% moisture the next step starts - one of a slow and incomplete burning .

3.) The dried sludge is , fed into a Woodgas burner combustion furnace. The resulting gas produced by this process, is used to drive generators and provide you with additional fuel for the combined heat and power system, as noted above .

4.) The small amounts of ash, left over after gasification, is a natural potassium and pot ash fertilizer, one of which that can now be either sold in bulk loads back to a farm or with additions of nitrogen , a more complete balanced fertilizer matrix, is created for higher dollar fertilizer sales, in bagged form.

Your supply and the handling of the farm waste is an important factor and this is how the process would function at its highest and best order, on an individual farm business ; and this will provide a continuous flowing stream for your farm waste providing, potential extra income from the waste, that has traditionally been a disposal problem .

I hope this helps answer your question and if we can be of service to you, please contact us off board and we will try to address your questions .

Best Regards,

Joe Woodall, Managing Partner

Georgia Adobe Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy

2395 Bowman Hwy. NW

Dewy Rose, GA 30634 USA

706-213 7693 Ext. 1 Note this is a combined office recorder number leave message & we will return the call.

http://www.georgiaadobe.com

Sales @ georgiaadobe.com ( spread out to slow spam )

Watch out

You need to keep the wood out of the digester for better mixing and digestion

Digestion of wood chips-cellulose requires nitrogen and reduces conversion

Cleaning up - removal of CO2 and H2S requires complicated equipment

Selling biogas requires very low H2S and pipeline quality BTUs

No one ships LNG in typical pipelines - liquefied natural gas

Drying of the wood chip sludge is complicated if combined with sludge from the digester - lots of heat. mixing/turning, or drying time in beds (big beds) to go from 5-10% solids (90+% liquids) down to 85% solids (15% moisture), especially from 40 >> 80+% solids.

No.3 appears to be pyrolysis - gas to be burned elsewhere

Burning a fuel with 15% moisture is expensive without complex heat recirculation for drying to <5% before firing.

4. Maybe depending on what has been fed to the poultry

Continuous flow and handling are is important - sizing and stable process is important even on the weekends and holidays.

Disposal problems do become a resource but requires considerable effort and planning.

Check with your local agricultural agents. Check with the poultry industries.

Check these people out, but don't expect much. Get references and warranties.

Dr. Tom Williams

How many turkeys are we talking about? It would take a lot of turkeys to make the processing plant worthwhile wouldn't it?

I'd say dry it out before you try to light it on fire, but I don't have any experience with this. That won't stop me from giving my unqualified opinion though.

In India, they do biogas with human feces, cow dung, etc. in an appropriate scaled small system which produce low BTU some sulfur biogas for household cooking. If they can do it, the US turkeys can do it, may get some chickens too to upscale.

Sludge handling is more of a problem than getting it to dry out - pipes and pumps from the biogas digester to the drying beds, spreading over the drying beds - basins with a layer of sand beneath the sludge. Removal by bobcat loaders. Burning sludge in the US will madden the AirQualControl boys and may result in citations.

Tom

Hey Joe - CHILL OUT

Hi, electriturk!

First of all, and most important of all, a great big fat WELCOME to CR4! We all sincerely hope you come to enjoy it as much as we. Great first blog. Thanks.

Now to business:

When I was in school, this chap made headlines everywhere with the chicken-shit powered car:

http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/batesmethane.htm

These people:

http://www.threemilecanyonfarms.com/

are putting their waste into a sceptic tank through a chute, and harvesting methane which is admitted through a water trap into an accumulator where is piped to gas heat/light fixtures.

Make sure your sceptic tank and accumulator housing is made of heavy reinforced concrete with a sprinkler system. And make sure it's airtight (chute should be air-locked) so the environmental watchdogs don't hammer you for air and ozone depletion pollution.

Another site where you can see someone processing this kind of information:

(Never try to 'compress' Methane. It'll explode. Rather, cool it if you want to condense or liquefy it. But in the septic tank complex, just use it as it bubbles up to help keep your turkey farm warmer in winter.)

You won't have to worry about re-introducing new methanogenic bacteria as the turkeys will provide them from their guts in their waste for you. Every once in awhile, the sceptic tank will have to be emptied. The waste can be spread in the air to infuse with aerobic bacteria, and used to fertilize your turkey feed acreage.

Mark