[Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?

Alex English english at kingston.net
Sun Jan 20 09:14:42 CST 2013


Hi Jonathan,
Its good to hear about the progress you have made. I can remember your 
early missives to this list, was it a decade ago?
A few questions... about the stove;

At what moisture level (in the whole seed) do you see a drop off in 
emissions performance when burned in the Jiko Safi?
Is it easy for the users to tell when the seeds are dry enough?

...about biofuel;
  Part of the idea was to provide electricity or shaft power to 
communities or business with a Lister engine on Jatropha oil.
I remember visiting Carl Bielenberg's workshop where he was doing the 
testing.
Any success stories there or is diesel always cheaper without a carbon 
consideration?

Alex


On 20/01/2013 9:23 AM, Jonathan Otto wrote:
> Hey Richard,
>
> Not sure why you feel my briquetting education has been neglected, 
> since that kind of fuel is not mentioned in any of my postings; but 
> I certainly subscribe to Dean's comment: we all have a lot to learn 
> about such alternative fuels. I would add: and the stoves that burn 
> them in a truly clean way.  Which brings up the question: if a 
> briquette or pellet is burned in an open charcoal brazier, do we have 
> a clean energy source? To put in another way, there are no 'clean' or 
> 'dirty' fuels; it's combination of fuel and stove that must be 
> evaluated together for emissions and other performance parameters.
>
> My densified fuels question to Otto the Senior or anyone else who can 
> enlighten me concerning the logic of pelletizing Jatropha presscake.  
> If farmers grow their own energy-dense, uniform-sized fuel, 
> i.e., whole Jatropha seed, why complicate matters by processing that 
> ready-to-use fuel into another fuel? No matter how efficient the 
> pelletizing process, it must require time and energy. Why not burn 
> these seeds directly in a micro gasifier stove, such as our jiko safi?
>
> Let me try to head off some likely comments. I know that there are 
> companies in many African and Asian countries engaged in commercial 
> scale production of Jatropha (and other biofuel crops) for export 
> of biodeisel. Land grabbing and other nefarious activities of some of 
> these players are obscene, as once again the global north exploits 
> tropical countries for cheap/free land and cheap labor to meet its 
> own needs.
>
> Yes, those Jatropha oil export ventures produce presscake as a 
> by-product which they pelletize and market for fuel.  And yes, some 
> smaller operations in a few countries like Uganda, are trying to make 
> a go of producing Jatropha-based biofuels for local and regional 
> energy markets.  But for all the publicity, most of it appropriately 
> negative, in the 'food vs. fuel' analysis, there's a lot more to 
> Jatropha than current attempts to put the oil in European cars and jet 
> engines.
>
> Far apart from all these recent commercial Jatropha ventures, many 
> of which are unprofitable for reasons we can discuss another time if 
> anyone's interested, are many millions of farmers in over 110 
> countries who use Jatropha as a living hedge and for medicianl uses. 
> Seems it's grown in every frost-free area of the world. I've found it 
> from Cuba -- it's native to the neo-tropics -- to Mali, which has 
> thousands of kilometers of hedges, to Bhutan where villagers were 
> obliged to pay a Jatropha tax to monks for lighting in floating wick 
> lamps.
>
> My guess is that over 99% of all Jatropha seed fall to the ground and 
> rot, unused. (One study in a district of Tanzania where Jatropha seed 
> is a traded commodity found that only 6% of seed is harvested.) As we 
> all search for renewable, sustainably harvested biomass to fuel our 
> favorite stoves, can we afford to overlook seeds of this ubiquitous, 
> multi-use species?
>
> The point of importuning my stove list colleagues on a fine Sunday 
> morning is to interest other stove makers to look at Jatropha and 
> other energy-rich seeds as a category of fuel worth consideration for 
> new stove designs.  We are modestly pleased with the performance of 
> the jiko safi, but we also know that some of you with far deeper 
> understanding of gasification and far more experience in stove design 
> could produce a much better model.  Anyone want to take up this challenge?
>
> Over to you,
>
> Jonathan
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: rstanley at legacyfound.org
> Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:46:53 -0600
> To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?
>
> Dear Ottos,
> Seems you both need training in briquettemaking . Jon you know where 
> to go in nchi yeti but Otto, where are you based? Seriously, the 
> blends you are finding smelly smokey etc suggests that you get in 
> touch with any of hundreds of others who can train you.
> Richard Stanley
> Monte Rico,
> Guatemala
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 19, 2013, at 18:10, Otto Formo <terra-matricula at hotmail.com 
> <mailto:terra-matricula at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Josh and Jonathan (Otto),
>
>     Yes, we are talking about the presscake of Jatropha and it was
>     processed into pellets localy in Zambia, quite easily and with
>     "simple" tools - (no waste of energy)
>
>     We had the same experience as your colleagues using briquettes
>     made out of ricehusks and sawdust.
>     They even started to glow like charcoal early in the gasification
>     process and produced smoky and smouldery combustion.
>
>     Thast why we prefer to use pellets of best possible quality.
>
>     I hope you are correct about the gasification of jatropha pellets
>     will destroy the phorbol esters and other problematic compounds
>     instead of emitting them.
>     Iam a bit worried about the forced draft units, while they seems
>     to blow some parts of the ash and gases into the open air or room.
>
>     May be the char from Jatropha could have a pestecide effect as well?
>
>     Otto
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:23:35 -0500
>     From: yeah.yeah.right.on at gmail.com
>     <mailto:yeah.yeah.right.on at gmail.com>
>     To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>     <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>     Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?
>
>     Otto - FYI jatropha presscake (the mealy material left over once
>     oil has been pressed out of the seeds) can be directly pelletized
>     without further processing. It's pretty easy to pelletize, even
>     with a small, cheaper (e.g. benchtop) pellet press. The mealy
>     presscake still contains some of the oil (think coffee grounds)
>     and it pelletizes well without worry over moisture content or
>     having to use a binder.
>
>     The pellets burn in a TLUD similar to wood or other pellets, at
>     least by visual observation and temperature recording. I have
>     colleagues that have tried to make cooking briquettes with
>     jatropha seedcake and had a very smoky, smouldery combustion. I
>     believe there are concerns of some potentially toxic emissions
>     (phorbol esters, other compounds?). I have not tested the
>     emissions from TLUD charring jatropha pellets, but there was no
>     visible smoke and the gasifier seemed to operate fine as it does
>     with other types of pellets. It would be interesting to know if
>     firing jatropha pellets in a TLUD destroys the phorbol esters and
>     other problematic compounds instead of emitting them.
>
>     I first tried to char un-pelletized jatropha seedcake in the TLUD
>     - because it is mealy like coffee grounds no draft could get
>     through and it was a total fail - lots of smoke poured out! This
>     brought the fire department to our Colorado backyard during a fire
>     ban. Whoops.
>
>     Also FYI char made from TLUD jatropha pellets performed similar
>     for herbicide uptake from simulated natural water as chars made in
>     the same way from pine pellets, bagasse pellets, and bamboo pieces.
>
>     Josh
>
>
>
>     On Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 12:29 PM, Jonathan Otto
>     <ottojonathan at hotmail.com <mailto:ottojonathan at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         Otto,
>
>         Whole Jatropha seeds can be picked from hedges on-farm and
>         used directly in our jiko safi gasification stove without any
>         further effort (except maybe for some sun drying if
>         harvested during a damp season) ... the most decentralized,
>         efficient sustainable fuel system I can imagine.
>
>         Sure, urban jiko safi users will need to buy their fuel seeds,
>         so a commercial system for transport and retail sale of seed
>         will be needed eventually, likely mimicking some aspects of
>         the charcoal trade. But it's just whole, unprocessed seed.
>
>         Concerning pelletized Jatropha fuel, I would like to
>         understand the advantages you find in going through the costs
>         and effort (including energy losses) of processing seeds to
>         expel the oil, then probably milling the press cake and shells
>         (?) to uniform size/texture, then extruding or otherwise
>         forming the mixture into pellets, and finally distribute the
>         fuel, some of which will go back to the same farmers that grew
>         the Jatropha seed in the first place?
>
>         I know there are technical advantages to gasification of
>         uniform-sized pellets, but it seems to me that round or ovoid
>         shaped seeds like Jatropha, castor (I know, more poisons!),
>         shea or croton megalocarpus provide this same advantage,
>         without going through the pelletization process.What am I missing?
>
>         Otto, the minor
>
>         P.S.  It's too late for me to retire 'on time'
>
>         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>         From: terra-matricula at hotmail.com
>         <mailto:terra-matricula at hotmail.com>
>         To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>         <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>         Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:23:37 +0100
>
>         Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?
>
>         Jonathan,
>
>         We have got some samples of pelletized jatropha shells and
>         seeds from Zambia, after the oil has been extracted and we
>         feel that is the way forward.
>
>         We will update you on the progress, so you will be albe to
>         retire "on time".................:)
>         We are not so worried about PM in natural draft gasifiers, but
>         thanks for the concern.
>
>         Otto........................
>         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>         From: ottojonathan at hotmail.com <mailto:ottojonathan at hotmail.com>
>         To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>         <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>         Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2013 09:03:35 -0500
>         Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?
>
>         Otto-
>
>         You 'would guess' wrong.
>
>         'We should be very careful advising people' about such
>         unsupported conclusions.
>
>         The challenges of gasifying oils found in seeds, notably the
>         oils of Jatropha seed, in a cookstove are far different
>         from working with most pellets formulations.
>
>         I keenly look forward to news of your all-fuel stoves that
>         will handle J seeds, and the results of your tests. I
>         sincerely hope you develop this soon, so I can finally retire
>         in peace.
>
>         Oh, and when you do tests, please include particulates in your
>         emissions testing, so we can finally end all this hand
>         wringing about 'these types of fuel'.
>
>         >From the cheeky other Otto,
>
>         Jonathan
>         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>         From: terra-matricula at hotmail.com
>         <mailto:terra-matricula at hotmail.com>
>         To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>         <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>         Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:23:48 +0100
>         Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?
>
>         Dear stovers,
>
>         I would guess that "any" gasifier will burn jatropha seeds or
>         pellets cleanly and efficient, as long as the moisture content
>         are less than 10%.
>
>         We have in the pipeline to test a new design of natural draft
>         gasifiers, using jatropha seeds and pellets, for emmissions
>         and toxcic fumes.
>
>         We should be very carefull adviceing people using these types
>         of fuel, before it has been carefully tested by independent
>         institutions.
>
>         Have a nice weekend.
>
>         Otto (not the famous one..........:)
>
>         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>         From: crispinpigott at gmail.com <mailto:crispinpigott at gmail.com>
>         To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>         <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>         Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:19:11 -0500
>         Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?
>
>         Dear Jonathan
>
>         I am interested in the general layout and dimensions of a
>         stove that will burn the seeds well. Are you sharing at this
>         time anything regarding the design?
>
>         Thanks
>         Crispin
>         ++++++++
>
>         Dear Joyce and stovers all,
>
>         My regrets for not responding to this request 6 months ago.
>         I admit that it got lost in my messy inbox which I have
>         now reduced from 6000 messages to a mere 2400, and in the
>         process uncovered Joyce's email.
>
>         Burning Jatropha seeds whole or in briquettes in open cooking
>         arrangements is a bad idea.  It produces a smoky, smelly fire
>         and probably exposes cooks to toxic emissions.  I even
>         question burning Jatropha oil in lamps in enclosed areas for
>         the same reason. Maybe others know of emissions studies.
>         [snip]
>
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>     -- 
>     Josh Kearns
>     PhD Candidate, Environmental Engineering
>     University of Colorado-Boulder
>     Visiting Researcher, North Carolina State University
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