A heating system for piglets in farrowing house using waste heat from biogas engine

Abstract

The aim of this study is to design and test a heating system for piglets in farrowing house by utilising the waste heat from a biogas engine as a heat source. The study was separated into three parts: the study on the biogas combined heat and power plant, the investigation on the properties of the heat panel, and the installation and testing of the heating system. From the experiment, the condition producing 60 kW of electrical power was a proper one, in which electrical efficiency and specific fuel consumption were 14% and 1.22 m3/kWh respectively. Generating both electricity and heat increased the overall efficiency to 37.7% and decreased the specific fuel consumption to 0.45 m3/kWh. The heat panel, which was made of a plastic material, had a thermal conductivity of 0.58 W/mC and the maximum compressive force and operating pressure of 8.1 kN and 0.35 bar respectively. The surface temperature of the panel was dependent on the inlet water temperature. When hot water of 44C was supplied into the farrowing house with room temperature of 26C, the average surface temperature was 33C. The developed heating system could provide heat for 4.3 farrowing houses. The payback period of this project was 2.5 years.

Keywords

• piglet
• heating system
• heat panel
• waste heat
• biogas engine