Agriculture Innovation Center awards research grant for poultry house wood pellet heating system

With spring here, many Georgians are ready to turn their heaters off to save money. Not so for the 4,000 plus poultry producers in the state who need heat year round to “grow” chickens. With a temperature of 90°F desired for optimum chicken growth, many poultry producers must use heaters during the summer.

Heating Georgia’s 13,000 chicken houses is costly – $100 million annually for poultry producers – which typically represents their largest operating cost. Skyrocketing propane and natural gas prices are significantly contributing to these costs by reducing producer profits.

“The poultry industry – Georgia’s largest agribusiness – leads the nation in poultry production and contributes over $13 billion annually to the state’s economy,” said Bill Boone, director of the Agriculture Innovation Center in Tifton. “It is critical we assist the poultry industry in seeking an alternative fuel for heating chicken houses.”

The AgIC, a one-stop shop resource center for agribusiness in rural Georgia, along with the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC), The University of Georgia (UGA), Fram Renewable Fuels and the Poultry Federation of Georgia are “turning up the heat” on this problem by conducting research on a new chicken house heating system fueled by wood pellets and other wood byproducts.

Georgia has over 24 million acres of commercially available pine trees. “With 7 million acres of planted pines in the state, it is estimated over 5 million dry tons of forest harvesting residues and an additional 14 million dry tons of unmerchantable timber are available each year,” said Devon Dartnell, biomass program manager for GFC. “The forestry industry is convinced this waste can be converted to fuels for bioenergy in Georgia.”

The waste can be manufactured into several forms including dried wood pellets. Wood pellets are particularly attractive for this project because they burn more efficiently and cost less to transport since they contain less water than other timber waste sources.

The project just received an added boost with a $66,500 matching research grant supported by the AgIC allowing for a more comprehensive study on the commercialization of the wood pellet heating system.

“We were limited in our scope of research during phase one of the project,” said Dartnell. “With AgIC’s grant and assistance, we have established partnerships with Fram Renewable Fuels and The University of Georgia to expand this project.”

Savannah-based Fram Renewable Fuels is providing wood pellets for the heating system from their brand new plant that opens this month in Appling County. The dried and compressed wood pellets, produced from non-merchantable timber, are presently destined for export to Europe. However, if the wood pellet heating system is successful, Fram anticipates local markets to be created for their product.

Currently the research team is monitoring four broiler houses on a farm in Oglethorpe County – two with wood heaters and two with propane heaters. The wood heaters, attached externally to the chicken house, are automatically supplied wood pellets; air is then pulled from the house and forced into the heater and returned; the warmed air is then manually distributed throughout the 500 foot house through plastic duct work. A central computer system monitors a variety of variables such as house temperature, relative humidity, heating system run time, propane usage and wood pellet feeding rates, every 15 minutes.

“The results on our first two flocks are very promising,” said Dartnell. “Heating system reliability has been improved from approximately 60% on the first flock to well over 90% on the second and humidity and ammonia levels in the houses heated with wood pellets is significantly lower than in those heated with propane. These improved environmental conditions should allow for a healthier and heavier bird.”

During phase two of this project, GFC and UGA will concentrate their research in several areas including: automating heat distribution, decreasing the cost of the heating system, monitoring chicken performance benefits and analyzing other wood wastes as alternative fuels.

A key focus for researchers is automating the heat distribution of the system. During phase one, a significant amount of time was spent manually adjusting the system’s distribution ducts; if not done properly, costly problems can occur. “The success of this type of heating system depends on the development of automating heat distribution,” said Dartnell.

Another important aspect of this research is the study of chicken performance benefits. Using wood heat should lower the humidity in the poultry house, theoretically resulting in drier environmental conditions and possibly improved flock health.

While research on this project will last at least another year, all partners involved are already calculating the tremendous potential benefits. Poultry producers will gain an economical, safe, renewable and efficient fuel for heating poultry houses—which also may provide a healthier growing environment. Fram and other wood pellet producers in rural Georgia hope to stimulate a domestic market for their products. Through the harvest of low cost timber and non-merchantable timber, the Forestry Commission seeks to ensure better forest health and reduce wildfire risks as well as improved markets for Georgia’s forest landowners. And finally, UGA researchers can share the research by publishing the findings.

Boone also said, “This unique collaboration could be one of the quickest research to commercialization projects in Georgia history. The Georgia Department of Economic Development is working with a company interested in manufacturing the chicken house heater in Georgia. If the rest of our research is as successful as we have seen to date, we can reduce energy costs for our poultry producers as well as generating additional economic development in heater manufacturing and distribution. This will also help increase the value of our forest products for those producers. It is a win – win situation for everyone.”