[Stoves] fossil fuel plants hit hard by solar and wind

[Paul Olivier]

I had no idea that solar and wind were competing so well against fossil
fuel power plants:

*Companies like RWE of Germany and EDF of France are confronting complex
challenges. Their revenue is being hit by dwindling demand for electricity
and by new wind and solar projects that undercut the price of the energy
produced from many fossil fuel plants...

With so much energy coming from renewables, many fossil fuel plants can no
longer compete on price. Despite the upfront costs associated with green
energy projects, they are inexpensive to run...

The rising output and falling prices of green energy may be part of the
problem for fossil fuel generators, but they are part of the solution for
energy consumers. *

Biomass stoves must also gain in prominence within developed countries.
Replacing fossil fuel gas with syngas in modern kitchens should be a top
priority.

Yesterday I tested a super-short reactor (net reactor height of 20 cm). The
reactor weighs 1.2 kgs and is made entirely of bright annealed 304
stainless steel. These pictures were taken right after the first run:
:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1567.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1568.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1569.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1571.JPG

I filled the reactor with about four inches of pellets. This gave a burn
time of about 40 minutes. The pellets were easy to light. I thought for a
moment that the unit might work without a fan. But this was not possible. A
fan is still needed.

But the fan that I was using is much too powerful for such a short reactor
filled with pellets. The fan was turning at an incredibly low speed. It was
using surely no more than about a half watt of electricity. I need a fan of
a much lower air resistance - perhaps only 20% that of the fan that I use
on loose rice hulls.

The biochar produced from the rice hull pellets remained in pelleted form:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1563.JPG
The original rice hull pellets had a diameter of 8 mm. When converted into
biochar, the diameter of the pellets decreased to 7 mm.

The flame was orange, not blue. A few months ago I had tested a 70 cm
reactor completely filled with rice hull pellets of a 6 mm diameter. Here
the flame was blue.

When I run a gasifier on loose rice hulls, small particles of fly ash are
always being emitted from the burner. With pellets, I could not see any
particulate matter.

This gasifier is still a very crude device. However I do believe that the
day is not so far away when small, lightweight gasifiers could make their
way into modern kitchens throughout the world. Just as fossil fuel power
plants are being replaced by solar and wind, stoves using fossil fuel gas
must be replaced by stoves using syngas.

Thanks.
Paul Olivier
-- 
Dalat
Vietnam

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://www.esrla.com/
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