Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are
developing cost-effective techniques for separating and
converting poultry processing residuals into higher-value
products such as high-grade fuels. The techniques would provide
a beneficial use for these byproducts, which are typically
blended back into lower-value products. “Our ultimate goal is to
extract usable, quality feedstocks from poultry processing
byproducts such as brown grease extracted from wastewater
pretreatment processes. If successful, we will help reduce costs
by providing a cheap and simple way for the industry to better
utilize their low-quality waste oil and grease byproducts,” says
John Pierson, a GTRI principal research engineer. To achieve
this goal, Pierson and GTRI research coordinator Robert Wallace
teamed with the Cumming, Ga.-based company American Proteins to
obtain samples of poultry-processing waste materials. They first
focused their efforts on developing better ways to separate
usable portions of the waste – such