Abstract

Confined poultry production, which is expected to double by 2050, produces a lot of litter. For successful and sustainable poultry production, litter management is prompted and should be prioritized. Poultry litter can serve as an energy feedstock for space heating and electricity generation. Currently, heating systems in use depend on electricity, charcoal or diesel which are very expensive leading to high energy costs in poultry production. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the potential of combustion of poultry litter for space heating in poultry production. A brazier with 32 holes, of a diameter of 1cm, on its sides comprising of dimensions; Diameter=8 cm and Height=65 cm was used to burn 1kg of Poultry Litter Briquettes. The briquettes were made with a mincer which had a nozzle of dimensions, Length=11 cm and Diameter= 25 mm producing briquettes of a diameter of 25 mm and a length of 10 cm. The briquettes were made from poultry litter of chickens at the ages of 4, 5 and 6 weeks, and were either sun or solar dried. They were then directly combusted in the brazier and heat distribution was measured at distances of 30 cm, 60 cm and 90 cm from the brazier. Charcoal was used as a control. The maximum average temperatures recorded on the surface of the brazier for week 4, 5, 6 were 471^oC, 491^oC, 493^oC respectively; whereas for charcoal was 555^oC. However, the poultry litter briquettes were not able to sustain high temperatures for long compared to charcoal. Complete combustion took an average of 120 minutes while charcoal took an average of 180 minutes.

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