Biosecurity on poultry farms from on-farm fluidized bed combustion and energy recovery from poultry litter

Abstract

The spreading of poultry litter in recent years has led to a serious increase in levels of eutrophication, nitrate leaching, high Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), ammonia toxicity, high chlorine concentrations and pathogen contamination. The review presented here details the optimum standards that should be met when storing litter for On-Farm Fluidized Bed Combustion. Storage conditions are paramount to a fuel combusting to its highest possible potential. Safety measures such as the prevention of leaching and spontaneous combustion must be adhered to, so too should the prevention and containment of possible diseases and pathogens to minimize the effects of contamination. © 2010 by the authors.