Making oil out of a Sow's rear - converting pig manure to oil.

---

>

---

I just read an enlightening article about a new source of potential energy,  It seems that scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a process for converting raw pig manure into crude oil.  They go on to say that with further development, the process may even yield biodiesel. Now the actual research was published in 2006. It apparently has taken this long for someone to put this newfound technology to use – making roads.

Now, in case you don’t know, let me bring you up to speed on the US pig industry

According to the US Department of Agriculture in 2007 there were 67.8 Million pigs in the United States. On average, those pigs take up space at the rate of about 8.7 per acre. And those pigs produce about 8 pounds of waste a day. That is a lot of pig poop - two and a half tons a year!

This procedure promises to make a half a barrel of oil substitute (21 gallons) per year out of that 8 pounds of daily pig manure using a thermochemical conversion (TCC) process. How much water or energy is involved in the process (and there is some of both) is unclear.

Now, one of the original sub-licensees of the process, Innoventor Inc., a design and engineering company, is going to use the process to make asphalt pavement for a road leading to Six Flags St. Louis.

This is great news. Any waste that can be successfully re-purposed is not only good for recycling, but good for conserving energy. Not a whole bunch, but, hey, it all counts.

According to the researchers, each pig can produce one half a barrel of oil substitute (21 gallons) per year. With 67 Million pigs contributing, that would be 33 Million barrels per year. –  About three days worth of US Oil imports. OK, it won’t wean us from oil. That would, however, keep us in asphalt for about 100 days. And it would eliminate a big problem for pig farmers, as well as put a few more dollars in their pockets.

And it could be a win-win for the country. We all love Bacon, hate pig poop, and need oil.

Here is the article that spawned this one.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/8BD4ECDDEBD84EC686257706000C0410?OpenDocument

Here is a recent article from Water & Wastewater about the process.
http://www.waterandwastewater.com/www_services/news_center/publish/article_002060.shtml

Here is an article from National Geographic about the process.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0701_040702_pigoil.html

And, here is the original research report news item.

http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news3557.html

And finally, here is a place you can read the original research paper OnLine!

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/20627967/THERMOCHEMICAL-CONVERSION-OF-SWINE-MANURE-AN-ALTERNATIVE-PROCESS-FOR

Well, that'll be a "wrap" with bacon and ham.

Comments

[Tom G.]

A long time ago I raised about 1,000 pigs every year. Raised some of my own and also purchased others as feeders. The article is interesting because the stated volume of raw materials [LOL] is about right. Also most hogs today are no longer raised on open range but rather in feeder houses - about 20 hogs per pen so the raw materials are easily collected.

Now if we could just get something going with all the cellulose we put into our land fills - how sweet that would be. I guess sweet might not be the right word to use since I don't think it would smell any better than the pig stuff, ha ha.

Have a great day
[email protected]

[Mike's Vent Cleaning]

Sounds amazing attempt to me...this is the best way we can not only save energy but also add resources through natural ways.Oil which is so much in daily use.

[climate change and energy efficiency]

I recently did an online home energy audit and I plan to save energy by using some of the tips the audit suggested. There were many things, but I am going to start by putting duct tape and insulation around the ducts in my home. According to the audit, this will improve the efficiency of my furnace as 30 percent of the forced air is lost if the ducts are not insulated.

[Many BTU]

This is a great idea, would this be done on site at each individual farm or have to be transported to some sort of collection and processing facility?

[seema]

The article is interesting because the stated volume of raw materials [LOL] is about right. Also most hogs today are no longer raised on open range but rather in feeder houses - about 20 hogs per pen so the raw materials are easily collected.

[Peter Aardvark]

Good blog. Converting the pig manure into energy - would solve not only an energy problem but also dealing with the huge mounds of toxic manure leaching into the system.

The idea is not new south african farmer John Fry already made methane gas composters out of his pig waste and generated the electricity from it to run his farm. Back in the early 1960's here is a article about it..http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/MENintvus/fryintvu.html

[resume services]

Oil has no future. Approximately in 20 years humanity will deplete all reserves of oil and will use some other source of energy.

[Mick]

Read this off another blog - "If 50 percent of swine farms adopted this technology, we could see a $1.5 billion reduction in crude oil imports every year," said Yuanhui Zhang, U of I agricultural and biological engineer. "And swine producers could see a 10 percent increase in their income — about $10 to $15 per hog."
http://www.kdl-55nx810.info/

[plumbing]

Your used lawn mower oil is sustainable. No matter how gloppy and dirty it's gotten, it can be recycled and used again.

[Victor Wetherbee]

True enough, everyone in America loves bacon! Kidding aside, I bet the process is like how most people in Japan are able to extract natural gas from fermenting trash and other biological wastes. With that many pigs, America will be able to sustain its need for oil (or at least half of it) without nudging a single oil rig!

[Plumbing]

This is a very reliable action. Every body knows that manures of living things have an element where it can produce chemicals or product where we can use it as an alternative replacement for oils. Thank you for giving us knowledge.

[seema]

nice.....!

[natural energy resources]

And haven't Russian farmers run their tractors on manure for decades ? We'll all catch up some day !

[Parker O-Rings]

Sounds very interesting. I wonder how many resources it takes to finish the process and if the ends justify the means. However, if this can be done efficiently, bacon for everyone!

[Bob]

I think bio-diesel, made by algae and jatropha crops, could help greatly if small communities pooled their resources and got off grid with their own diesel generator and producing their own bio-diesel.