Turkey Litter Burner Heats Brooder House

Turkey Litter Burner Heats Brooder House LIVESTOCK Poultry Glenn Rodes used to spread turkey litter on his fields but he found a “higher use” for it He burns it and uses the heat to keep turkey chicks warm and healthy The experimental system goes through 180 lbs of litter per hour leaving behind about two 55-gal drums of ash each day “When I built the brooder house in 2002 I bought a corn burner I read about in FARM SHOW ” recalls Rodes “I was looking for an alternative energy supply to use instead of propane for supplemental heat Burning litter had been tried but was cost prohibitive ” When the price of corn shot up burning it was no longer economical and Rodes returned to using propane as supplemental heat to a wood-fired boiler He needs a lot of heat The brooder house is 50 ft wide by 624 ft long In recent years concern over pollution of the Chesapeake Bay has put pressure on livestock farmers like Rodes Excess phosphorous due to repeated spreading of manure has limited what he can spread each year When the local Natural Resources Conservation Service conservationist told him about grant money to try a turkey litter burner Rodes agreed He needed the heat and a way to dispose of about 1 560 tons of litter produced yearly “I agreed to build a shed to house it and they provided the burner ” says Rodes “We need the heat even in the summer because young birds must stay warm We plan to ramp up its use this fall and winter ” The PLF-500 Global ReFuel furnace is a new production model from Wayne Combustion Systems It’s designed to burn poultry litter at a fairly low temperature The goal is to use the energy while retaining more nutrients in the ash for use as plant food “We hope to use some on our fields but if there is excess the ash will be easier to ship outside the area than turkey litter ” says Rodes The attached 2 1/2-ton hopper is loaded daily The litter is augered into the furnace automatically When the furnace is started propane burners preheat the burn chamber They shut down as the litter is introduced Ash is augered out automatically as well and hot air is distributed down the center roofline of the brooder house Rodes estimates the full cost of the system at between $100 000 and $125 000 With 8 flocks of 35 000 chicks moving through the brooder house each year he figures the system would pay for itself in 3 to 5 years While the turkey litter could be sold for roughly $13/ton Rodes estimates the savings in purchased fuel at roughly $160/ton “Burners like this may not be the answer ” says Rodes “I do hope it will be a piece of the puzzle to help us manage our manure ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Glenn Rodes Riverhill Farms 5535 Lawyer Rd Port Republic Va 24471 ph 540 810-3142; fuelfarmer@yahoo com ; or Wayne Combustion Systems 801 Glasgow Ave Fort Wayne Ind 46803 ph 260 425-9200; toll free 800 443-4625; www waynecombustion com

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