H2020 PigHeat Project: Using pork by-products as a heat source to save recycling and energy costs

Once the slaughterhouse was selected, the work involved designing the equipment for the hair-to-fuel process, as it had to be adapted to the slaughterhouse's actual needs. The same work was then performed on the steam generator, the hair storage hopper, and the fuel storage tanks.

Once the main elements of the installation were designed and sized, and the equipment location was taken into account, work began on designing the layout. Finally, the fluid lines and machines were installed according to the planned plan. The results obtained were as follows, based on the established objectives:

A) Objective 1. To demonstrate that pig hair could be transformed into fuel on an industrial scale and that its production presented no problems. Once the installation was completed and all the relevant tests were performed, the first test was conducted at half load. With the experience gained in the laboratory, the same type of process was carried out and, fortunately, the result was identical. As was later confirmed, a dry fuel with a high calorific value was obtained.

B) Objective 2. Demonstrate the high calorific value of the fuel. The University of Vic intervened with the first samples. Being able to verify the calorific value of the product obtained was essential. The results obtained in the University of Vic laboratory were satisfactory. The calorific value was 4300 kcal/kg, a truly high value!

c) Objective 3. Demonstrate that the fuel burned properly in an industrial steam generator and that the combustion presented no subsequent problems. We proceeded to the initial combustion tests. As a preliminary step, and to protect the fuel obtained, we loaded the biomass silo with wood chips, which led us to also test the entire truck unloading system. We wanted to make the necessary adjustments to the steam boiler itself. We had to test the equipment, and to do so, we performed combustion and furnace preheating tests with biomass, to have everything ready and be able to focus on the tests with pig hair.
Once the parameters were reached and adjusted, we were able to verify whether we had met this third objective. Tests were conducted with the fuel and biomass. Once completed, we examined the tubular sheet and the mobile grates, revealing no trace of adhering ash.

D) Objective 4. Demonstrate that the emission levels resulting from combustion were within the parameters required by current EU regulations (some of the most demanding in the world). Scientists from the University of Vic visited the facilities, this time accompanied by a combustion gas measurement specialist. The measurements had to be taken under optimal working conditions. Prior to the measurements, a meeting had been held between the University of Vic and our technicians to analyze the requirements of current regulations and decide which parameters should be measured. Once the tests were completed, we received the full report; the results were unbeatable. The objective was met.

E) Objective 5. Demonstrate that the production of this fuel was economically viable and amortizable within a reasonable timeframe. The use of PIGHEAT technology does not increase the energy costs of the slaughterhouse operation; quite the opposite: it saves the cost of collecting hair as a byproduct from an external company and provides the industry with more energy than necessary for processing. It also reduces the carbon footprint, as it eliminates the amount of fossil fuels consumed by these companies. Furthermore, using, as developed in the pilot plant, an exchanger that recovers the latent heat of the water evaporated from the hair, the energy savings are even greater.

Following the tests, we estimate that the payback period for a standard plant with this capacity would be, in the worst-case scenario, 6.3 years (gas) and less than 3.6 years for light oil. We are satisfied with these results. We have achieved all the objectives we initially set and have demonstrated what, in the laboratory, convinced us and the European Commission two years ago, and which earned us their trust. Pig hair, which until now was a worthless waste product, can now be considered one of the main assets of slaughterhouses and will no longer represent an environmental problem.