Poultry manure valorization

Project Information

Poul-AR

Grant agreement ID: 652171

DOI

10.3030/652171

Project closed

EC signature date 30 September 2014

Start date 1 October 2014

End date 31 March 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

COLSEN, ADVIESBURO VOOR MILIEUTECHNIEK BV
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Poul-AR (Poultry manure valorization)

Reporting period: 2014-10-01 to 2015-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

A feasibility study was conducted during phase 1 of the H2020 project Poul-AR®. The main objective for this phase of the project was to perform a complete feasibility check of the new technological idea named Poul-AR® including a proof of technology, an optimization of separate technological processes at lab- and pilot scale, a business case determination of the system and a market study. By performing the relevant tasks and reaching the objectives the Poul-AR® project was able to proceed to TRL 6 (Technology Readiness Level). The separate tasks are listed below:

1. Technical and technological research:
1.1. Characteristics chicken manure;
1.2. Ammonification efficiency;
1.3. De-ammonification efficiency;
1.4. Stripping air amount;
1.5. Mixing, blending and pumping capacity;
1.6. Inventory of chemical aids usage;
1.7. Inventory of energy demand.

2. Business case Poul-AR:
2.1. Design and engineering;
2.2. Operational costs and benefits;
2.3. Investment for potential customers.

3. Market study:
3.1. Global and European market poultry sector;
3.2. Classification of poultry holdings;
3.3. Regulation related to manure treatment within the sector.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work during the feasibility study was performed following the objectives list of the previous section. All technical and technological assumptions made, were tested and verified during the H2020 phase 1 project. During lab- and pilot tests the optimization of mixing, heating, stripping air amount and chemical aid amount resulted in nitrogen removal ratios of up to 95% were achieved. These results were used for potential Poul-AR® business cases for installation of variable size and resulted in the compilation of a reliable modelling tool for the calculation of operational costs, benefits, investment and in- and outputs of the Poul-AR® system. Within the modeling special attention was given to the complete heat and energy balance of the system. With this tool it was confirmed that self-sustainable Poul-AR® installations will be otqined. Since the amount of chemical aids and energy to run the process are limited, the revenues surmount the operational costs. Simultaneously the predicted overall environmental performance shows a significant improvement compared to current practices. For holdings with a manure production of up to 120 tons/day or more the Poul-AR® technology guarantees an ROI of approximately 2 years depending on geographical location of the project. For the market study related the commercialization of the Poul-AR® system several international databases were consulted to gain knowledge about and insight in the European and global perspectives of the poultry sector. FAO statistics indicate a global poultry population increase of 9% from 2012 till 2020. Another important observation for the viability of the Poul-AR® concept is the growing amount of large poultry holdings since the intrinsic amount of birds per holding is increasing as well as the amount of farms that collaborate in consortia. This supports the business case of single farm Poul-AR® installations to be more profitable.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

All technical, technological and market-based results for the Poul-AR® concept are all very promising as indicated above. The business opportunity for poultry manure treatment is a global one. The cultivation of poultry for meat and egg production represents a booming industry because of the ever increasing food demand, especially in under developed countries, and therefore represents a growing market. The market introduction of Poul-AR® will most likely take place in those countries where the project partners are already active (i.e. 50% of the total market). It is estimated that 25% of this market will be approachable for the Poul-AR® technology based on farm size, potential consortia formation, geographical location, competition, financial viability and others. This means the market for Colsen and partners is expected to be 12.5% of the world production of poultry manure (50,000,000 tons per year) and this represents an average market potential of approximately 2,000 Poul-AR® installations (calculated with an average installation size for the treatment of 70 tons/day).

In order to be able to reach the final TRL of 9, the Poul-AR® project proposal will be submitted for a H2020 phase 2 grant. Due to the very beneficial and positive test results and market study it is a logic step for Colsen to proceed the successful H2020 phase 1 with a H2020 phase 2 project for zhich we intend to include other European partners.

Poul-AR process scheme