Poultry Power

Sarah Koskinen, Jaspreet Narang, Nihil

Rajendran, Jack Turner, Woo Choi

Executive Summary
Perdue AgriRecycle
Industrial-scale poultry litter/mixed-input anaerobic digester operation
Eastern Shore, MD
Converts chicken litter and other organic products into methane (CH4)
and concentrated slurry (liquid fertilizer) that can be used in agriculture
Proposal of ~ $5 construction cost
Convert litter to biogas to produce electricity
Payback period: Rate of return of 15 years with Maryland Energy
Association Incentives

Overview of Client
Perdue AgriRecycle

Primary investors and facility administrators

Anaerobic Digestion Facilities location: Church Hill, Maryland

Farms:

Chestertown, MD (poultry litter and crop residues)

Sudlersville, MD (poultry litter and crop residues)

Currently do not possess an anaerobic digester

Food waste from Heron Point of Chestertown Retirement Community
Pulp grom Glatfelter Pulp Wood Co. in Delmar, MD

Location

Description of Renewable Energy Technology

Biological conversion mechanism that converts organic material to

the most reduced and oxidized form (methane and carbon dioxide)
in the absence of oxygen.
Since no electron acceptors are added, the initial energy
present in the feed material is retained in a more usable and
transportable form in the production of methane gas.
There are 4 main steps:
Hydrolysis: Extracellular process: particulate matter sugars
and amino acids
Fermentation: Microbial process: sugars and amino acids
organic acids (alcohols and hydrogen)
Acetogenesis: Microbial process: organic acids acetic acid
and hydrogen
Methanogenesis: Comprised of 2 different microbial
processes to produce methane and carbon dioxide:
acetate methane (produced by Aceticlastic
microbes)
hydrogen methane (produced by Hydrogenotrophs)

Renewable Energy System Design

30 tons/day input

Liquid Mixed input digester

Primary input poultry litter

Crop residues, food waste, and pulp also

used as inputs

1,975,947 m3/methane/year

Can be used to power certain equipment at

facility, and pumped directly into gas grid

6,788,156 kWh/year
Initial construction cost: $5,107,900
Operating cost: $333,681.78/year
Image: Jack Turner

Renewable Energy System Design

Two-stage, complete mix digester with
storage silo

Digester (~100ft diameter)

Post-Digester (~100ft diameter)

Tubing carrying heated water insulates each

silo to optimize microbial community efficiency
Double membrane roof

Loading/storage area for biomass inputs

Separate buildings for sulfur scrubbing,
gas pressurization, and mainframe office
Connection to main gas lines and effluent
pumps which feed adjacent agriculture
fields

Diagrams Courtesy of Jean-Francois Delaitre (OTerres Energies)

Energy Calculations

Payback Period

Final Recommendation
Limits on digester: Many uncertainties still exist in industrial scale anaerobic
digestion, and maintenance and gas output pressure and volume vary greatly,
even over short periods of time.
Frequently digester projects are not profitable and have not had as positive
reception in the United States compared to countries like Germany and
France.
This digester is based on a fully operational, current working reactor in France
that is on track to fulfill the payback period, possibly even ahead of schedule.
We would recommend that Purdue AgriRecycle invest the $5 million dollars in
order to explore a sustainable, renewable energy source.

References
"Animal Manure Management." Natural Resources Conservation Service. United States Department of Agriculture. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Darre, Michael J. "Everything You Need to Know About Raising Broiler Chickens." Department of Animal Science. University of Connecticut. Web.
15 Nov. 2015.
Hills, David J., and Parameshwaren Ravishanker. "Methane Gas from High Solids Digestion of Poultry Manure and Wheat Straw." Poultry Science
63.7 (1984): 1338-345. Print.
Fulhage, Charles D., Dennis Sievers, and James R. Fischer. "Generating Methane Gas From Manure." Stanford University Department of
Agricultural Engineering (1993). Print.
Tao, Jing, and Karen Mancl. "Estimating Manure Production, Storage Size, and Land Application Area." The Ohio State University Extension(2008).
Print.
"Standard Offer Service." Pepco. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
"U.S. Broiler Performance." The National Chicken Council. 15 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.