Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

Fibrowatt Technology producing Electricity from Poulty Litter and
Agricultural Waste
U.S.A., Commercial
Crop
Residue
Process
Equipment
Main Product
Alfalfa, Corn, Rice and poultry litter
Straw, Residues
Combustion
Boiler, Conveyor, Furnace, Condenser, Turbine
Electricity
By-Product
Technical Description of Technology
Fibrowatt has 15 years of operating experience using a proven technology
that supplies enough electricity from three plants in the United Kingdom to
serve 150,000 homes. Fibrominn generates enough electricity to serve 40,000
homes. Through long-term contracts and spot market purchases, Fibrowatt
obtains poultry litter from surrounding farms. The process begins with poultry
house cleaning, then the poultry litter is transported in tightly covered trucks to
a fuel storage building, where jobs once operational (30 on-site jobs, 60 in
litter transportation, and 10 at the ash fertilizer plant), and an economy
boosted by increased local wages, spending, and tax revenues.
The technology used by Fibrowatt has been well proven by the management
team in the three plants which they developed in the United Kingdom in the
1990s. Those plants, which have now been sold to a new owner, were the
world's first three poultry litter fueled power plants. Over the past 15 years,
they have turned more than seven million tons of poultry litter and other
biomass into enough electricity to serve 150,000 British homes. Today,
Fibrowatt is introducing its proven technology in select communities around
the United States and continually improving upon its processes.
Detailed Process Description
Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of Fibrowatt Technology
50