[Gasification] Kalle

Doug doug.williams.nz at gmail.com
Wed Jan 11 13:01:27 CST 2017


Hi John,

I'm pleased that Harrie had Harold's email address, at least that 
indicates he still is busy with his work what ever that might be now. 
Harold had his collection stored right away in a little rural village, 
so don't expect him to be enthusiastic about digging in those piles of 
history. One might hope he has them displayed by now, but surely we 
would have been advised to visit. I can assure you, that there is never 
an ending to the gasification story!

More in the text just hope it separates):-(


On 10/01/17 18:40, John Zander wrote:
>   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.

There is plenty of information posted from enthusiastic builders of 
transport gasifiers, char gasifiers are an easier option, if you have 
the charcoal. Not all charcoal is equal, and that can affect a perfectly 
designed gasifier from any source.

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.

Have you studied the effort that was put in place, before and during 
WW2? All these issues were documented.

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.

The foundation of these technologies in the USA certainly include the 
original research of Tom Miles Senior, father of Tom Miles Jnr who 
facilitates these Lists devoted to biomass energy etc. Possibly Tom 
might be able to offer a history of his fathers work.

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.

Since I became involved in gasification in 1975/6, I think it is far to 
say that  all your thought and aspirations have been shared by everyone 
"touched" by gasification. My suggestion is to make it work for you, but 
don't expect anything other than the satisfaction of chugging down the 
road, with the knowledge that you did it your way.

Keep us informed of your progress.
Doug W.






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