[Gasification] Myanmar: Engineering society preparing code for gasifier standards

[Thomas Reed]

Tom Miles

If there is anything I can do to advise these people day to day on the realities of gasification, I'd be happy to help.

Ali Kaupp wrote his thesis at UCDavis on rice hull gasifiers.

Here's a question for you.  If you pyrolyse hulls at <700C, the resulting silica ash is quartz.  If the temperature goes over 800C it comes out cristobalite, which is carcinogenic I believe.  

Tom Reed

Thomas B Reed 


On Mar 19, 2012, at 1:54 AM, "Tom Miles" <tmiles at trmiles.com> wrote:

> Myanmar Times: Engineering society preparing code for gasifier standards
> By Juliet Shwe Gaung
> Volume 31, No. 619
> March 19 - 25, 2012
> MYANMAR Engineering Society is working to establish an industr;y standard for the building and operating of gasifier electricity plants, a spokesperson said last week.
> U Thoung Win, chairman of the society’s energy and renewable energy committee, said some gasifiers, which work by burning biomass – typically rice husk, are creating environmental problems.
> “We can see some weak points from the operation of gasifiers,” he said. “These include weaknesses in the designs and construction that typically leads to unclean exhaust gasses and water, which are polluting the land, water and air.
> “Although we’ve heard of a number of specific problems in Rakhine State, we believe people in many areas face similar issues,” U Thoung Win said.
> The committee discussed the matter with a number of industry experts in mid-February and is drawing up a set of basic standards, he said.
> U Thoung Win added that the MES document would include waste management standards, as well as a template design for gasifiers.
> “We’ve heard that some people [living near gasifiers] have been diagnosed with cancer or are not living as long as they perhaps should as a result of the gasifiers,” he said.
> “And we’ve heard that some gasifiers have poisoned ponds, killed fish and rendered water undrinkable in some ponds that waste water has flowed into,” he said.
> However, U Thoung Win said it would not be difficult to set basic standards because other countries have faced the same problem and MES could examine what solutions have worked elsewhere.
> “The reason we use rice husk-powered gasifiers is because we grow so much paddy. But if the ash content [of the rice husk] is high, we need to work hard to reduce the tar content in the waste products,” he said.
> He said he was trying to set up a non-government organisation to focus on renewable, sustainable and green technology.
> U Zaw Aye Maung, Minister for Rakhine Affairs under the Yangon Region government, said most power supplied in that state was generated by localised electricity generation groups.
> He said towns and villages used rice husk gasifiers with the help of experts from Yangon but added that environmental protection standards were low.
> “The main reason is that because the local people are poor, they build gasifiers as cheaply as possible,” he said.
> “They don’t use higher technology systems that limit the amount of waste products. All the waste water is discharged into streams and poisons them – sometimes even snakes are killed.
> “And water that is discharged onto paddy fields seriously reduces yields,” U Zaw Aye Maung said.
> He added that gasifiers have been used widely in Rakhine State since 2004.
> “Some people living near gasifiers have reported lung problems and while people know that it’s important to filter the waste products properly, this increases the cost,” he said.
> U Phyo Minllian, a technical advisor to a Malaysian company that makes gasifiers, said associated industries also needed to be standardised.
> He gave an example of the company’s experiences in Thailand, where it had provided sample gasifiers to the government but was unaware that there were standards it had to meet for the gasifiers’ heat exchanger as well.
> “There are also certain standards in Thailand that must be met for accompanying products, such as heat exchangers,” he said.
> He added that a standard code of practice and would better protect the environment and people.
> http://www.mmtimes.com/2012/business/619/biz61902.html
>  
>  
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