[Gasification] Kalle

[John Zander]

   Thank you for the information about Harald Steppat and his collection 
of gasifiers.  I will be in touch with him to see if he can provide me 
some specific details about the Kalle gasifier, specifically the wind 
sieve for conveying the solids from the cyclone back to the gasifier.  I 
have been trying to make the calculations work out, but they don't seem 
to, so there must be more to the story.

I have not worked with char gasifiers before, but my present opinion is 
that using gasifiers for transportation fuel makes the most economic 
sense, and hence the best application to explore.  In order to make 
gasifiers a viable option, their operation needs to be made as 
consistent  and predictable as possible and "refining" the fuel by using 
charcoal, you would  have improved storage and handling characteristics 
of the fuel, hence making the system more consistent and user friendly.  
I am in Southern Minnesota and do a lot of work with material processing 
and handling technology, such as pellet mills, kilns and grinders.  An 
area I have explored extensively is flow characteristics of bulk solids, 
such as sawdust flow patterns in a storage bin.  I have not seen any 
research on design concepts for a gasifier to facilitate mass flow of 
the fuel to improve performance and reliability.  My feeling is that 
with mass flow design and electronic sensors and controls, gasifier 
operation could be simplified and become a viable option in applications 
such as construction and agricultural equipment.   Ideas and advice are 
always welcome.

John Zander

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus