Report discusses new sources to heat broiler houses

Due to the increasing energy prices in the past years, has the cost price for heating the broiler houses increased. Broiler farmers are therefore searching for alternative (energy saving) methods for heating their houses.

Fire fox boiler
The most common alternative energy system is the fire box boiler. Wooden chips and pellets can be used as fuel for the fire box boiler. There are also other special fire box boilers available which can be filled with other alternative solid fuels like wheat and Miscanthus.

Poultry manure
Another possible fuel is poultry manure. Poultry manure is difficult to burn, gasification of the fuel gives better results. On large scale, projects focussed on the gasification of poultry manure are in progress. An obstacle for the broiler farmer to apply a gasificiation system on his broiler farm is the strict legislation concerning emission exhaustion and the high investment of a gasification system. Next to this, the principle of small scale gasification is still in the research phase.

Heat pumps
Heat pumps are well applicable for heating the broiler houses. A heat pump can be connected to a floor heating system and reduces the ammonia concentration in combination with the Kombidek system of R&R systems. A disadvantage of the heat pump is that it takes a long time to get the broiler house on the right temperature, especially after the production interval.

A way of reducing the energy use of the broiler houses with a high percentage is to apply a heat exchanger in the broiler house. According to the supplier, the use of a heat exchanger can give a reduction of 50-60% on the heating costs of the broiler house.

Related website:
The full report (in Dutch)  

Subscribe here to the free poultry newsletter