Energy from poultry waste: an Aspen plus-based approach to the thermo-chemical processes

A particular approach to the task of energy conversion by a residual waste material was largely experienced during the implementation of the national funded Enerpoll project. The project is a case study applied to a poultry farm located in the peripheral context of Umbria (Italy); such a farm was chosen as representative of many similar smallsized breeding realties in the Italian regional context. The disposal of a waste material (i.e. poultry manure) and the contextual energy recovery was the purpose of the case study; this aim is in agreement with the major energy objectives enhanced by the vision of the European Commission. To this aim, an innovative gasification plant (300 kW) was chosen for the experimentation: the approach novelty deals with the possibility to achieve the thermal energy production burning the derived syngas and not directly the solid residues, minimizing the nitrogen released by the exhaust flue gases and directing it into solid residues (i.e. ashes). A complete Aspen Plus v.8.0 model was also elaborated for the prediction of the quality of the produced synthesis gas as a function of both the gasification temperature and the equivalence ratio (ER); the monitored average hourly produced thermal power equal to 200 kW allowed the model estimation of the syngas energy content (i.e. LHV), resulting in the range of 3 - 5 MJ/m3 and resulting from an ER value equal to 0,2.