Development of Fuel Briquettes from Dewatered Poultry Sludge

Dewatered poultry sludge (PS) has been explored for its potential as a bio-fuel to support the power generation industry. This biomass waste material is difficult to handle, transport, and dispose in its dewatered form because it is often produced with high moisture content, contribute to numerous environmental issues and direct contact with this waste can result in health concerns. To turn this dewatered waste material into a viable solid-fuel product, a densification approach is proposed. In this study, the PS waste is pressed under moderate pressure of between 5 and 13MPa to form a cylindrical briquette of 40 mm diameter. Two different briquette designs were explored, a full solid and a solid with a concentrically located hole, for their mechanical strength and combustion characteristics. In addition to the mechanical strength, the energy content and chemical composition of PS were also explored. The results found the PS solid fuel to contain relatively higher calorific value, carbon, hydrogen, and lower sulfur content as compared to other biomass fuels. The PS briquettes also displayed good mechanical strength and burning characteristics. Based on the lab scale tests, dewatered poultry sludge showed good potential for further development into an alternative solid fuel for the power producing industry. Specific studies exploring into the combustion performance in a pilot scale facility would obviously be the next step.