Cost Reduction Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

A lot of studies worldwide show that biochar is a powerful tool to address some of the most urgent environmental problems of our time: global warming, soil degradation, water pollution by agro-chemicals, and waste management. In the Philippines, biochar from rice hull is commonly used as soil conditioner and as main ingredient in the production of organic fertilizers. To popularize the use of biochar in the farm and improve the system of producing it, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) developed the continuous rice hull (CtRH) carbonizer in 2010. As its name implies, it operates in continuous mode with almost smokeless emission. The heat generated during its operation is recoverable for use as energy source in various farming operations. This action research was conducted in response to the need of a farmer/poultry grower for cost-reducing and environment-friendly technologies for his farm. Specifically, it aims to integrate the CtRH carbonizer in the poultry operations in order to accomplish two things: (a) make use of the carbonizer-generated heat for brooding chicks to replace the conventionally-used liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and (b) production of biochar as ingredient of organic fertilizer together with the chicken manure. The study involved overcoming challenges of retrofitting the CtRH carbonizer into the automated heating system of a modern tunnel-type poultry house (capacity of 35,000 chickens) that has to comply with the standards set by the broiler integrator whom the farmer was in contract with. Results of the performance test trials showed that the CtRH carbonizer, equipped with heat recovery attachment, can substitute the existing LPG heater to provide the needed heat for brooding chicks, saving 5 to 6 tanks of LPG (50kg/tank) for every one heater replaced. At the price of rice hull and LPG of Php 0.20/kg and Php 70/kg, respectively, a net savings of Php 69,958 per growing period or Php 489,706 per year could be realized per building for brooding. Additional income is expected from the coproduced biochar (1,300kg) which, together with the chicken manure (13,300 kg), can be processed into organic fertilizer. Moreover, with the integration of the CtRH carbonizer in the poultry operations, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of around 23 tons CO2e per building per year could be prevented.