Researchers Turn Swine Manure into Oil

Pork Magazine
By Pork news source Friday, April 16, 2010

Research at the University of Illinois is one step closer to opening up a billion-dollar market to the hog industry and reducing U.S. dependence on crude oil imports. University of Illinois scientists have teamed with industry partners to design a pilot plant for a large commercial livestock farm that will convert swine manure to crude oil.

The pilot plant is based on research led by Yuanhui Zhang, an agricultural and biological engineer at the University of Illinois. Zhang and colleagues developed a system using thermochemical conversion, or TCC, to transform organic compounds, like swine manure, in a heated and pressurized enclosure to produce oil and gas.

"The process we developed is different from most conventional TCC processes," said Zhang. "There is no need for the addition of a catalyst, and our process does not require pre-drying of the manure."

The initial stage of Zhang's research led to the development of a batch TCC reactor.

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