Experimental researches on poultry manure combustion in co-combustion with biomass

¹ Power Engineering Faculty, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 313, 060042 Bucharest (Romania)
² Mechanics and Mechatronics Faculty, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 313, 060042 Bucharest (Romania)

^* Corresponding author: glazaroiu@yahoo.com

Abstract

Combustion of pure avian waste is strongly affected by its humidity content. According to the results of composition analysis, the initial humidity reaches up to 50%, inhibiting direct combustion initiation and development. Drying of poultry waste is an alternative, but simple relatively long-term storage or thermal pre-processing, complicates the technological process of energy recovery and increases the associated costs. Co-combustion represents a promising solution to enrich the heating value of raw poultry manure. Experiments using biomass (in a mass fraction of up to 30%) led to positive results in terms of efficiency. It is highlighted that the process depends on the quality of the woody biomass used for the mixture, but also on its bulk density, which causes an accelerated diffusion of air and influences the burning speed. This paper presents the experimental investigations on the co-combustion of poultry manure and woody biomass, performed on a 55 kW pilot boiler equipped with a post-combustion grate. The focus of the analysis is on the influence of the biomass bulk density and its heating value on the co-combustion process. The results obtained favor the development of a technology that is easy to apply and has a reduced cost. The technology investigated here is suitable for onsite applications in poultry farms, enabling meeting the energy demand based on co-combustion of resulting poultry waste.