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TRANSCRIPT
In June of 2010, Aviagen completed a multi-million dollar expansion of its U.S. poultry feed mill in Athens, Alabama. The mill supplies pelletized and crumbled feed to Aviagen’s Pedigree operation in Tennessee and to 115 Aviagen poultry farms in Alabama. After the expansion, the Athens mill saw its production capacity increase by more than 30 percent.
New equipment, including a state-of-the-art conditioning and long-term retention vessel which helps the company increase its output while maintaining the strictest biosecurity controls, is a vital part of ensuring that the feed used in Aviagen’s breeding program is free of harmful pathogens.
That, however, is only the beginning. By reducing its consumption of electricity, natural gas and diesel fuel, the modernized feed mill also has cut its annual energy costs by more than $160,000.
“Our Athens mill expansion is achieving exactly what we had targeted,” says Richard Obermeyer, Aviagen’s director of feed production. “We grew capacity by about 30 percent
that we enhanced the sustainability of our feed mill operation by reducing energy consumption across the board.”
In fact, Obermeyer estimates the Athens feed mill has reduced its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by a whopping 615 tons. To bring that number down to earth, a 615 ton reduction in CO2 is like pulling 126 passenger cars (or 92 pickups and SUVs) off the road for a year.i
June 30, 2011), Obermeyer tracked how much the feed mill spent on electricity and natural gas for every ton of feed produced. He also monitored how many tons of feed Aviagen’s trucks hauled in each delivery to its farms, and in turn calculated the diesel fuel needed for those trips. He then compared those numbers to the same metrics for the
The results tell the story of an upgrade that pays dividends in multiple ways.
Electricity Electricity powers nearly everything at the Athens facility, from lights and HVAC to the core functions of the production equipment. All told, the mill requires more than 2 million kilowatt hours (KWH) a year.
In FY 2010, the Athens mill consumed 34.01 KWH of electricity for every ton of feed it produced. After the upgrade, consumption dropped 15 percent to 28.87 KHW per ton. (Overall metered use dropped by a total of 364,438 KHW.) Obermeyer calculated the cost of those electrical savings at 43.9 cents per ton. With the mill’s total production in FY 2011, Aviagen cut its overall electrical costs by $31,126.
Factoring in U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that generating a KWH of electricity in Alabama produces 1.31 pounds of CO2,ii Aviagen’s carbon footprint on electricity use alone plummeted by 238.7 tons.
Feedmill Sustainability
Natural GasA natural gas-powered steam generator is central to the Aviagen operation for two reasons. One, the steam conveys the heat to kill the bacteria that poses a threat to poultry, and two, it bonds starches in the feed so that the pellets stand up to transportation. The steam generator is the only component in the mill that runs on gas.
Aviagen has reduced its natural gas consumption in large part by making innovative use of the 360-degree exhaust created by the steam generator. The system redirects the exhaust into the high-volume specially designed heat exchanger that preheats water for steam generator makeup and input hot water into the feed conditioning stage of the process without paying to heat it.
The result? Aviagen uses 12 percent less steam and has cut its natural gas consumption by an impressive 28 percent. Aviagen saw its gas usage drop from 2.671 hundred cubic feet (CCF) per ton of feed manufactured to 1.9 CCF per ton. That produced $75,510 in savings.
This reduction in natural gas consumption improves Aviagen’s carbon footprint even more. According to the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, burning 1 CCF of natural gas produces 12.2 pounds of CO2.ii Because Aviagen reduced its gas consumption by 54,665 CCF, the company in turn reduced its carbon emissions by 333 tons. As an added
exhaust for use in the heat exchanger, the exhaust that
water supply temperature (~95 to 97 degrees) far cooler
Diesel FuelThe Athens mill today produces pellets that are denser (by about 12 percent) than they were prior to the upgrade. The reason stems from the new production process, which creates pellets that don’t expand even after they cool off and are exposed to the air. Denser pellets allow Aviagen trucks to deliver more feed per load – 2.22 tons more, in fact, and results in fewer trips in Aviagen’s diesel-powered semi-trailer trucks.
Once again, Aviagen saves money and reduces its carbon emissions. Obermeyer estimates that each load travels an average of 73.37 miles at a cost of $3.65 per mile. Between FY 2010 and FY 2011, the company reduced its total load count by 236, translating to a total savings of $63,200.
Those fewer round trips amount to a reduction in driving of 17,313 miles. Based on EIA estimates that big rigs burning diesel fuel emit 22.384 pounds of CO2, Aviagen’s improvements in feed density have reduced its carbon emissions by another 43 tons.iii
“Minimizing the environmental impact of our feed production is a sign to the community that Aviagen takes sustainability seriously,” says Obermeyer. “Certainly, we’re saving money compared to our energy expenses from last year. But by reducing our carbon emissions so dramatically, we’re helping to save something even more important.”
www.aviagen.com August 2011
iU.S. Environmental Protection Agency. iiCarbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
iiiU.S. Energy Information Agency.
Feedmill Sustainability Continued...