Biogas and the Thermo W Hot Water Tile:

Biogas and the Thermo W Hot Water Tile Team Up to Deliver Substantial Benefits to the Pig Industry!
The possibilities of pig producers have by using the technologically advanced Thermo W hot water tile to gain a significant economical benefit from the use of piggery wastes, are endless.

How is it possible to gain an economical benefit from using a Thermo W hot water tile?
Today, there is an ecological imperative to install biogas systems to get rid of smelly effluent which is offensive to neighbors and impacts on the earth’s ecosystem.

The by-products of digestion of piggery wastes in a bio-gas system are:
- a high grade fertilizer,
- water, which can be used for irrigation of cash crops as well as
- methane gas, which is commonly used for electricity generation in adapted diesel generator sets.

Immediately one would come to the conclusion that pig farmers would use the electricity generated to heat the piggery’s farrowing and nursery sections using conventional heat lamps or maybe use the methane directly to burn in gas brooder lamps.

If one looks at the whole process of using this valuable resource however, we have forgotten that a diesel generator requires a cooling of the engine in order to function properly.

Why not then harness this “FREE” energy?
By using Thermo W hot water tiles as a heat exchanger instead of the radiator delivered with the generating set, two important things are accomplished at the same time:
1. The generator set is cooled in accordance with its operating requirements and
2. Neo-natal piglets as well as weaners are provided with FREE warmth enabling rapid healthy growth of the farmer’s most valuable resource - the pig.

What other benefits does a Thermo W hot water tile introduce into a piggery?
What pig farmers are trying to achieve in the farrowing shed, for example, is to:
• Maximize the weight of the piglets at weaning;
• Promote the vitality of the piglets;
• Ensure that there is as little weight variance as possible between piglets and
• Ensure that both the sow and the piglets are kept in an environment that maintains health and wellbeing.

Thermo heating panels by the very nature of their construction only provide heat to the piglets. They do not heat the environment and therefore do not cause discomfort to the sow. It has been noted that radiant heating systems, be they gas brooders or infra-red heat lamps significantly add to the discomfort of the sow during her confinement in the farrowing crate by exposing the sow to radiant heat.

It is a well-documented fact that sows produce less milk for their litter as the surrounding environment becomes warmer, resulting in lower piglet weaning weights.

Testing carried out by Universities in Germany have proven that Thermo W plastic hot water floor tiles provide ideal heat distribution on over 90% of piglet lying area, with a further 5% of the area within an acceptable range. By comparison it was noted that polymer concrete warm water systems only provided ideal heat on some 37%, and gas
brooders on only 15% of the piglet lying area!

In summary the combination of a biogas digester and Thermo W hot water tiles provides immediate:

Environment benefits -
1. No pollution of the environment with piggery waste;
2. Fertilizer “manufactured” naturally providing live organisms to the benefit of crop production - less chemicals used in food production!

Economic benefits -
1. Electricity is sold to the national grid providing a cash return for the farmer;
2. Piglets are heated using waste heat increasing weight gain thus requiring less feed to reach market weight = lower cost of production! As the cost of feed is increasing permanently, a better growth rate (feed conversion rate) provides better total profitability. Research carried out at the University in Kiel proved that piglets raised on Thermo W panels had a significant higher increase of weight during the 4th and 21st day of life compared with piglets heated using a gas brooder or heat lamp!
3. Natural fertilizer can be sold for high return as bagged product.

SPM-Feedmill, Thailand, is using the Thermo W since 2006!