Energy-Saving Tips: Poultry Operations

The following information is supplied by the California Energy Commission.

Preparing for a Power Outage in a Poultry Operation

By Jim Thompson
Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis

California electric utilities will have very limited reserve generating capacity for the next several years. Loss of even small amounts of generating capacity because of equipment failure or a shortage of hydroelectric power may force utilities to shed electrical load. Blackouts protect their system and their customers' equipment when there is inadequate generating capacity.

Poultry operations must be prepared for power outages. Outages are predicted to last one to two hours but they could last longer—there are no guarantees. They are most likely from noon to 6PM on weekdays and more likely on hot days when air conditioning loads are high.

All poultry production operations should have:

1. A permanently installed engine driven generator with an automatic transfer switch. Generator must be large enough to start and operate all ventilation, cooling, and watering equipment.
2. An alarm system that notifies managers that power has been lost,
3. An uninterruptable power supply (UPS) for office computers, allowing them to be shut down without losing files.

Processing operations must decide whether to remain out of operation during the interruption or purchase standby generation. Office computers should have UPS.

Standby Generators

Most California poultry ranches have several production houses and may have a number of independent connections with their utility. (Each connection is a separate meter.) This level of complexity means that it is impossible to use the lower-cost manual transfer switches and tractor driven generators. It is too risky to depend on ranch hands to turn off all equipment, manually start generators for each service, and dependably reactivate all cooling and ventilation equipment. Standby generation must be automatically activated if power fails.

Automatic start generators are sized to provide wattage needed to simultaneously start all motors. Motors draw approximately four times more wattage during start up compared with their running power demand. This means that automatic start generators are several times larger than manual systems that are adaptable to sequential reactivation of circuits on the ranch.

The standby system is sized by taking an inventory of all electrical equipment in the operation. List the number and size of all motors, number and wattage of lights, and any other equipment. Also indicate the priority of the equipment. With special controls and some rewiring it may be possible to reactivate equipment in stages to reduce generator size. With this information a standby equipment supplier can recommend a correctly sized unit for your operation. Generator choice and installation design will also depend on equipment availability, over limit capacity of particular models, choice of transfer equipment and details of your specific operation.

The cost of new engine-driven generators varies with generator size. Installation and transfer switches are additional costs. A qualified electrician following local codes and utility regulations for interconnection should always install this equipment. This is not a do-it -yourself installation.

Transfer Switch

During an interruption the transfer switch isolates your equipment from the utility. This prevents feeding back power to the utility and accidentally injuring a utility worker. It also prevents utility power reenergizng your circuits while the generator is operating, resulting in damage to your equipment.

Air Pollution Permit

Air pollution control districts require an operating permit for standby generators. They are usually allowed 200 hours of operation per year and can only be operated for testing and powering your own facility in an electrical interruption.

Fuel Supply

The fuel tank should be large enough to supply the generator between fuel deliveries assuming maximum hours of operation per day. Some fuel suppliers have indicated that outages may affect their delivery schedule because of their inability to pump fuel from their tanks during the outage. Talk with your supplier about scheduling this summer.

Diesel engines consume about 0.4 pounds of fuel per hour per output horsepower. A 100 kW generator requires a 200 horsepower engine. If the engine operates at 50% output, it will consume 40 pounds (about 5.6 gallons) per hour.

Maintenance and Testing

The generator should be run at least once per week under at least half load to test for readiness. Follow manufacturer's recommendations for preventive maintenance.

Alarms

Even automatic systems fail to start and occasionally shut down because of accidental overloads. Automatic start systems must be equipped with an alarm system that phones or pages several individuals. Regularly monitor the generator when it is operating. Check and record voltage, engine temperature, oil pressure, etc.