COMBUSTION OF DEWATERED POULTRY SLUDGE IN A LABORATORY SCALE FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTOR

Dewatered sludge is considered as one of the largest contributors of biomass waste
material in Malaysia. The disposal of this waste through landfilling method is an
expensive process and if not handled according to the stringent procedures, can be
harmful to the environment The use of this waste material as an alternative fuel source
can mitigate environmental issues related to its disposaL Combustion is considered as
one of the etT'icient techniques of utilizing energy from biomass waste. However,
studies on thermochemical conversion of poultry sludge are extremelv scarce, and no
research has been documented on experimental level and modeling of poultrx sludge
combustion. The main objective of th1s research is to mvestigate the performance of
poultry sludge as a source of solid fuel. The combustion characteristics of poultry
sludge such as the amount of moisture content, energy content, proximate analyses and
ultimate analyses were investigated prior to the combustion experiments.