Compaction as a sustainable alternative to dried sludge from poultry slaughterhouse wastewater for energy generation

Abstract

The generation of wastes in poultry abattoirs has increased considerably in recent years due to the growing demand for chicken meat. This fact, combined with the current need for developing new forms of renewable energy from biomass, and the lack of disposal facilities, motivated this study. We determined the technical feasibility of the barbecue charcoal production using briquettes produced with different blends containing sludge from a poultry abattoir and Pinus spp. shavings. To that end, we have mixed both residues by gradually adding 10 to 90 % of sludge in the blends, which resulted in 9 treatments containing sludge, and 1 containing only shavings. After that, we produced four briquettes of each treatment and charred them by using a heating ramp. After charring, we submitted the charcoal to the analyzes of Moisture Content (MC), Bulk Density (BD), Compressive Resistance (CR), Gross Calorific Value (GCV), and Proximate Analysis (PA). We calculated the Gravimetric Yield (GY) and the Energy Density (ED) by using the results from the other analyzes. Results showed that the CR, the GCV, the Volatile Matter (VM), and the Fixed Carbon Content (FC) of the charcoals decreased by increasing the proportion of sludge in the blends. However, the charcoals’ bulk density (BD) increased, which also increased its energy density (ED) and ash content (AC). The best blend to produce charcoal for household use was the one containing 90 % of sludge and 10 % of Pinus spp. shavings.