Assessment of the energy potential of chicken manure in Poland

Abstract

Animal waste, including chicken manure, is a category of biomass considered for application in the energy industry. Poland is leading poultry producer in Europe, with a chicken population assessed at over 176 million animals. This paper aims to determine the theoretical and technical energy potential of chicken manure in Poland. The volume of chicken manure was assessed as 4.49 million tons per year considering three particular poultry rearing systems. The physicochemical properties of examined manure specimens indicate considerable conformity with the data reported in the literature. The results of proximate and ultimate analyses confirm a considerable effect of the rearing system on the energy parameters of the manure. The heating value of the chicken manure was calculated for the high moisture material in the condition as received from the farms. The value of annual theoretical energy potential in Poland was found to be equal to around 40.38 PJ. Annual technical potential of chicken biomass determined for four different energy conversion paths occurred significantly smaller then theoretical and has the value from 9.01 PJ to 27.3 PJ. The bigger energy degradation was found for heat and electricity production via anaerobic digestion path, while fluidized bed combustion occurred the most efficient scenario.