[Stoves] Coconut husk - coir - as gasifier fuel ..... was Re: Biochar for the Philippines?

Paul Anderson psanders at ilstu.edu
Mon Apr 14 22:30:48 CDT 2014


Dear Stovers,

Our collective thanks to Paul Olivier and Alexis Belonio for separate 
replies [below because not sent to the Stoves Listserv] about their 
success with using coconut husk (called coir) as a fuel in their forced 
air TLUDs.   Please note that both  of them used coir that was 
pelletized.    Use of cut but otherwise un-processed coir in TLUDs (as 
in chunks) is still not established, but Art Donnelly has worked on it, 
but I do not find that report at this time.

Paul

Alexis wrote:  [with attached file]
> Hi Paul,
>
> This is the info re my work on coconut coir pellet as fuel for gasifier wayback in 2008.  I not working much on coconut by-product since they are being utilized now as soil amendment material and in production of geotextile.
>
> I can still consider my self still a learner on biomass gasification.  To me, success is relative. Helping others is  my goal.
>
> Good day!!
>
> Alexis
On 4/14/2014 10:02 PM, Paul Olivier wrote:
> Air does not flow up evenly through ordinary coconut dust.
> This dust has to be pelleted.
> We have a small 100 gasifier that works well on pellets.
> It's the smallest of the three gasifiers shown here:
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Jpegs/IMG_1719.JPG
> It has a diameter of 10 cm and a height of 25 cm.
> It's made out of standard 304 ss piping.
> It looks like a toy.
> The reactor weighs just over a kg.
> With pellets, it puts out enough heat for ordinary household cooking.
> The burn time on pellets is over one hour.
> The 100 gasifier can also be used on loose rice hulls.
> It's really nice to use on loose rice hulls when one only wants to 
> cook for about 15 minutes.
> Households could have more than one reactor to serve different cooking 
> needs.
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Gasification.pdf 
>
>
> But air does flow up evenly through coffee grounds.
> Sun-dried coffee grounds work quite well.
> We will starting using unpelleted coffee grounds in gasifiers.
>
> Here you see the gasifier/roaster that we made:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ZtyY0MhYc&feature=youtu.be
> This is the very first gasifier/roaster.
> Since then we have gotten the drum to turn more smoothly.
> The energy savings per kg of coffee bean roasted is a thousand fold.
> The small co-op in Laos using this roaster is able to get about ten 
> times more for their coffee.
>
> Most small coffee farmers in Vietnam have never tasted their own coffee.
> Now they can roast, taste and sell their own coffee.
> Many Vietnamese drink coffee that consists of up to 90% additives.
> Many have never tasted pure coffee.
>
> The same roaster can also be used to roast cacao beans.
> Chocolate beans are easier to roast than coffee beans.
> Some cacao farmers in Vietnam do not know that chocolate comes from cacao.
> We will soon design and sell a melange to go along with the chocolate 
> bean roaster.
> Cacao farmers will be able to roast and sell chocolate bars.
> At the moment most people in Vietnam eat imported chocolate.
> This imported chocolate is expensive, and it's far from being true 
> chocolate.
>
> It's really sad that small coffee and chocolate farmers are so 
> alienated from their products.
> They earn almost nothing for their labor.
> Traders, processors, loan sharks and bankers make all the money.
> All of this unfair trade has to come to an end.
>
> Gasifiers running on pellets can be used to dry paddy rice, coffee 
> cherries and parchment beans.
> If the length of the reactor is 50 cm, the burn time on pellets is 
> over 2.5 hours.
>
> I am just about finished writing a paper on how gasification fits into 
> a larger concept of waste transformation.
> I outline four levels of waste transformation, and apply these 
> technologies to the raising of pigs, chickens and cows:
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Alternative%20to%20Biodigestion.pdf 
>
> In this paper, biochar is applied to both fermented feed and bedding.
> It undergoes four-fold bioconversion before making its way into the soil.
> It enters the soil in a biologically activated state.
>
> Thanks.
> Paul Olivier
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 7:24 AM, Paul Anderson <psanders at ilstu.edu 
> <mailto:psanders at ilstu.edu>> wrote:
>
>     Lloyd,
>
>     I have not heard :
>
>>     that people like Alexis Belonio & Paul Olivier have had success
>>     with /Forced Air/ TLUDs  [with coconut husk/coir as fuel].
>     I hope they will reply to all of us about their experiences,
>     favorable or unfavorable.
>
>
>     Paul
>
>     Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
>     Email:psanders at ilstu.edu  <mailto:psanders at ilstu.edu>    
>     Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
>     Website:www.drtlud.com  <http://www.drtlud.com>
>
>     On 4/14/2014 6:59 PM, Lloyd Helferty wrote:
>>     Paul,
>>
>>      I agree with you about not having any success with coconut coir
>>     in a ND (Natural Draft) TLUD...
>>
>>      I believe that people like Alexis Belonio & Paul Olivier have
>>     had success with /Forced Air/ TLUDs. [?]
>>
>>     Regards,
>>
>>        Lloyd Helferty, Engineering Technologist
>>        Principal, Biochar Consulting (Canada)
>>        www.biochar-consulting.ca  <http://www.biochar-consulting.ca>
>>        48 Suncrest Blvd, Thornhill, ON, Canada
>>        905-707-8754
>>        CELL: 647-886-8754
>>           Skype: lloyd.helferty
>>        Steering Committee coordinator
>>        Canadian Biochar Initiative (CBI)
>>        CURRENTS, A working group of Science for Peace
>>        http://www.scienceforpeace.ca/currents/
>>        President, Co-founder & CBI Liaison, Biochar-Ontario
>>        National Office, Canadian Carbon Farming Initiative (CCFI)
>>        Organizing team member, 2013 N/A Biochar Symposium:
>>          www.carbon-negative.us/symposium  <http://www.carbon-negative.us/symposium>
>>        Member of the Don Watershed Regeneration Council (DWRC)
>>        Manager, Biochar Offsets Group:
>>                 http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2446475
>>         Advisory Committee Member, IBI
>>        http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1404717
>>        http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42237506675
>>        http://groups.google.com/group/biochar-ontario
>>        http://www.meetup.com/biocharontario/
>>        http://www.biocharontario.ca
>>         www.biochar.ca  <http://www.biochar.ca>
>>
>>     "Producing twice as much food with diminishing resources, without further loss of natural habitats and biodiversity and in a changing climate may be the greatest challenge facing humanity."
>>         - Lloyd Helferty
>>     On 2014-04-14 1:35 PM, Paul Anderson wrote:
>>>     Tom M.
>>>
>>>     Tom, I am pleased to read about success with gasification of
>>>     coir (coconut husk).   My personal experience using coir in
>>>     TLUDs has been UNsuccessful in a few short attempts.   So I am
>>>     interested in finding out the "secrets" for successful use of
>>>     coir as fuel.
>>>
>>>     I suspect that it might relate to the temperature inside the
>>>     TLUD.  Maybe not getting it hot enough when simply  in the
>>>     pyrolysis processes.
>>>
>>>     Comments please.
>>>
>>>     Paul
>>>
>>>     Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
>>>     Email:psanders at ilstu.edu  <mailto:psanders at ilstu.edu>    
>>>     Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
>>>     Website:www.drtlud.com  <http://www.drtlud.com>
>>>
>>>     On 4/7/2014 2:12 PM, Tom Miles wrote:
>>>>
>>>>     Lloyd, Tom,
>>>>
>>>>     Electricite de France (EDF) generated power from coconut husks
>>>>     using Imbert downdraft gasifiers in the Pacific (Vanuatu?) many
>>>>     years ago. I know of at least one husk fired project on Vauatu.
>>>>     I have been in contact with them over the last year. We have
>>>>     also discussed alternatives in the Marshal Islands.
>>>>
>>>>     There are current husk projects are in the 9-12 MWe size range.
>>>>     That's about 100,000 tpy of green husks.
>>>>
>>>>     http://www.biomassenergy.gr/en/articles/news/5504-coconut-to-energy-power-plant-in-thailand-by-dp-cleantech
>>>>
>>>>     Satake in Japan promotes gasifiers for husks. I think they have
>>>>     two 900 kWe system operating in Thailand on other fuels. They
>>>>     also build small systems. They use gasifier designs that have
>>>>     been developed in South Africa, India and Japan.
>>>>
>>>>     http://www.jst.go.jp/asts/asts_j/files/ppt/23_ppt.pdf
>>>>
>>>>     Japan has actively promoted remote biomass power generation in
>>>>     Cambodia, Laos and other countries for several years. Ankur and
>>>>     its affiliates have been very active in South Asia, mostly
>>>>     firing rice husks.
>>>>
>>>>     Other gasifiers have been tried. Several Ankur gasifiers
>>>>     (typically 100-kWe but now up to 1 MWe each) have also been
>>>>     used. I am sure that there are All Power Labs Power Pallets
>>>>     that are being used at a small scale (10-20 kWe). I think that
>>>>     their first unit went to the Philippines in 2012. Husks are
>>>>     difficult to grind up and are probably best used in combustion
>>>>     systems. Generating power from biomass at the small scale is
>>>>     very expensive. By the time you have bought the grinder, dryer
>>>>     and other auxiliaries you have spent $5,000-$10,000/kWe for
>>>>     even the APL or Ankur systems. Then you have the challenge of
>>>>     maintaining them. Increasingly we see small gasifier suppliers
>>>>     who are not selling system but installing systems and selling
>>>>     heat and power, us because it is difficult to get people to run
>>>>     the equipment right. We have used that strategy for other
>>>>     processes.
>>>>
>>>>     You may actually have a very good technology for converting
>>>>     husks to biochar and power right under your nose but I'll let
>>>>     them reveal themselves in their own time.
>>>>
>>>>     Making biodiesel from palm oil byproducts may make more sense
>>>>     for power generation than converting the husks to power. The
>>>>     French (ADEME) have promoted making biodiesel from coconut oil
>>>>     in places like Tuvalu.
>>>>
>>>>     Tom
>>>>
>>>>     *From:*Lloyd Helferty
>>>>     *Sent:* Monday, April 07, 2014 11:28 AM
>>>>     *To:* Thomas Goreau
>>>>     *Cc:* Scott Countryman; Ron; Paul S Anderson, Ph.D.
>>>>     *Subject:* Re: Biochar for the Philippines?
>>>>
>>>>     Thank you, Tom.  You are right... I should be asking Ron ~ or
>>>>     others (like Tom /Miles/ -- because this conversation is not
>>>>     just about "stoves"...). [Especially if island economies are
>>>>     looking at producing electricity from "green wastes" like
>>>>     coconut husk and fronds.]
>>>>
>>>>      With regard to "chopping it to an appropriate size", I will
>>>>     follow up in another message thread that you are having with
>>>>     Mr. Chaudhuri ~ regarding a technology that was developed here
>>>>     in Ontario that is able to "micronize" (shred) just about any
>>>>     dry biomass feedstock into a sort of "fluff" that can be fed
>>>>     into almost /any/ type of biomass energy system.  (It is a
>>>>     "front-end" system for biomass energy technology users.)
>>>>
>>>>      Regards,
>>>>
>>>>        Lloyd Helferty
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     On 2014-04-06 8:46 PM, Thomas Goreau wrote:
>>>>
>>>>         Dear Lloyd,
>>>>
>>>>         Ron Larson follows stove technology very closely and is the
>>>>         person to ask.
>>>>
>>>>         It seems the key to using coconut husk is to chop it to an
>>>>         appropriate size. It is the major waste biomass available
>>>>         in many countries.
>>>>
>>>>         Best wishes,
>>>>
>>>>         Tom
>>>>
>>>>         *Thomas J. Goreau, PhD
>>>>         President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
>>>>         President, Biorock Technology Inc.*
>>>>
>>>>         *Coordinator, Soil Carbon Alliance*
>>>>
>>>>         *Coordinator, United Nations Commission on Sustainable
>>>>         Development Small Island Developing States Partnership
>>>>         in New Sustainable Technologies*
>>>>
>>>>         *37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
>>>>         goreau at bestweb.net <mailto:goreau at bestweb.net>
>>>>         www.globalcoral.org <http://www.globalcoral.org>
>>>>         Skype: tomgoreau
>>>>         Tel: (1) 617-864-4226*
>>>>
>>>>         *No one can change the past, everyone can change the future*
>>>>
>>     <snip>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Paul A. Olivier PhD
> 26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
> 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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