[Stoves] A continuous feed rice husk gasifier for parboiling 40 kg of rice?

Joshua Guinto jed.building.bridges at gmail.com
Fri Feb 20 18:56:20 CST 2015


You're most welcome, Frank



*Joshua B. Guinto*Specialist, Appropriate Technology
MSc Management of AgroEcological Knowledge and Social Change (MAKS)
Wageningen University, The Netherlands


2015-02-21 8:24 GMT+08:00 Frank Shields <franke at cruzio.com>:

> Dear Joshua
>
> A very enjoyable video on parboiling rice. Well done and I learned a lot.
>
> Thanks
>
> Frank Shields
> franke at cruzio.com
>
>
> On Feb 20, 2015, at 11:34 AM, jed.building.bridges at gmail.com wrote:
>
> (The images in Joshua's original email were too large to go to the list.
> Attached are smaller copies of those files. - Erin R. erin at trmiles.com  )
>
> *From:* Joshua Guinto [mailto:jed.building.bridges at gmail.com
> <jed.building.bridges at gmail.com>]
> *Sent:* Friday, February 20, 2015 2:25 AM
> *To:* Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
> *Subject:* Re: [Stoves] A continuous feed rice husk gasifier for
> parboiling 40 kg of rice?
>
>
> Dear Dr. Paul and Joe and Serge and everyone (sorry, i clicked the send
> icon before finishing the whole email.... )
>
> Greetings!
> This is also very interesting for me. As you know i was all the while
> tinkering with the terra cotta equivalents of the gasifier stoves. And i
> just have one on the making. For the lack of better name i call it the
> Brick Stove Carbonizer.
>
>
> Last night, i found a video in the you tube and it helped greatly to
> understand parboiling as this is the first time for me to learn about it.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNUlsnIO_1A
>
> My idea to combined the best features of five technological fronts for the
> need of Serge in parboiling:
>
> 1. *Stability  and Safety*. The video portrays a huge metal pots (25
> liters i suppose) and needs a stable base as the cook work in the rice and
> steam with the hot pot. The In Stove has this feature.
>
> 2. *Ease in Loading/Unloading*: The challenge is how to bring the
> volatile gases down close to the ground so the stove and the big pot may
> sit at the comfortable reach of the cook. The height of the stove and the
> pot matters as the cook will be pouring rice, hauling them, setting the
> steamer and so on. Prof Alexis Belonio developed the rice husk gasifier
> stoves with the burners low on the ground.
>
> 3.* Time of Cooking*: Parboiling takes several hours of different
> intensities and duration.Joe James is pushing up ahead with his JJQuad
> Stove and have great improvements in terms of extending the  burn time of
> the rice husk load. Going further Engr. Alexis Belonio has a rice husk
> gasifier that can run in a continuous mode.
> 4. *Mitigating Health Risks *of the Nano Particles of Silica in Burning
> Rice Husks: Should we be concerned with sillicosis ? (respiratory ailment
> caused by the accumulation of silica in the lungs).
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis
>
> Mr. Neil Lumanlan, a professor of microbiology in the Philippines raised
> this issue more than once..
>
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3606399/
>
> http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130529/srep01919/full/srep01919.html
>
>
> A chimney for this is best portrayed by the In Stove or is it enough when
> handling rice husks?
>
>
> *5.  Reducing the Cost and Extending the Usable Life of the Stove. *At
> this moment, i am discovering the methods and techniques on how to make
> gasifiers in terra cotta equivalents. I have now fire bricks of different
> shapes which can be stacked like a Lego piece to form any structure.
> Following the recipe of low thermal mass clay, the  *fire bricks float in
> water* !! Thanks to Jon and Flip Anderson and Dr. Larry for the coaching.
> And then, when stacked together, they would form into a  gasifier stove
> that runs in TLUD mode. Tests are ongoing with rice husks, pine needles,
> saw dust, coco shells, *canarium *shells. Test last night with *one
> kilogram of rice husk with a computer fan set at 4.5 volts boiled 5 liters
> of water in 19 minutes 10 seconds*. My thanks also goes to Dr. TLUD for
> the lessons during the Stove Camp 2014 in Aprovecho.
>
> With the gasifier built from terra cotta, the cost of the entire stove can
> drop to a minimum and can be built into almost any shape. It may also be
> combined with metal. to undertake the components such as the pot rest, the
> gas pipes, the burner and so on.
>
> I also believe that brick pieces can be made to create the terra cotta
> equivalent of the In Stove as well as the  continuous rice husk gasifier of
> Engr Belonio and then fitted with a chimney and a fan.
> Is pottery a tradition in Serge's place in Benin?
>
>
> As there are yet so many things unknown with this prototype, please allow
> me to tinker with it further and make my *mistakes on my safe space *with
> the help of small circle of friends*.* I will surely let everyone know
> the progress very soon.
>
> Best wishes
> Jed Guinto
>
>
> *Joshua B. Guinto*Specialist, Appropriate Technology
> MSc Management of AgroEcological Knowledge and Social Change (MAKS)
>
> Wageningen University, The Netherlands
>
>
> *Joshua B. Guinto*Specialist, Appropriate Technology
> MSc Management of AgroEcological Knowledge and Social Change (MAKS)
>
> Wageningen University, The Netherlands
>
> 2015-02-20 3:10 GMT+08:00 Paul Anderson <psanders at ilstu.edu>:
>
> Dear Serge and Abraham,
>
> I am not sure in what country Abraham lives.   Please tell us. It is
> interesting that two messages about parboiling of rice arrived so close
> together in time.
>
> The rest of this message relates to Serge's message:
>
> 1.  Please confirm the following:
> A.  The people who parboil the rice are doing it as a business.
> B.  Do those same people remove the husks from the barboiled rice?   If
> yes, then they have control over their own fuel supply, which is good.
>
> C.  The rice must reach a temperature of 80 deg C.   But how critical is
> it that the time to reach that temperature is about 30 minutes?   What if
> it took 45 minutes?   or only 20 minutes? Does that have any impact on the
> rice itself?
>
> D.  How do the people know that it has reached about 80 C? Thermometer?
>  Visual seeing of small bubbles rising?   Touch? That does not make any
> difference.   I am just curious.
>
> E.  The steaming of the hot wet rice is the crucial step.   We will try
> for boiling (evaporating away) 6 L of water in one hour.   But how
> sensitive is that time?    And if the time needs to be close to one hour,
> and if the stove is boiling away the water too fast, is it acceptable to
> have 7 or 8 liters for creation of the steam.   In other words, steam (at
> 100 deg C) needs to pass through the rice.   Is the amount of steam (from 6
> liters of water) the important issue, or is steam for one hour (whether
> from 6 or 7 or 8 liters) the important issue?
>
> 2.  Joe James (who is receiving this message) has recently worked on a
> rice husk TLUD gasifier that should be able to accomplish the specified
> tasks.   Joe is an engineer and can crank out some of the numbers.   Also
> some other members of this Stoves Listserv could be of assistance.  Here
> are the questions:
> How much heat is needed to vaporize 6 L of water?
> Raise 6000 g of water from about 25 C to 100 C
> (75 degree change x _______ Joules per gram x 6000 = ___________)
> Then add in the latent heat needed for vaporizing the 6000 g.
>
> Divide that total amount of heat by 60 minutes.
>
> Determine how much rice husk is needed to get the needed heat (allow for
> efficiency of heat transfer to be as low as 30%.)
>
> This not my specialty, but I know it all can be calculated.   Also to
> calculate the heat needed to bring the pot to 80 deg C in the first phase
> of the processing.  A little assistance would be appreciated.
>
> Then we see how much heat Joe's unit (called JJQuad TLUD) can put out.
>  The unit can be made larger or smaller, and having 2 units might be the
> better option.   Or we increase the air flow (via the fan) to get faster
> pyrolysis, and maybe we need to have a refill of fuel into the batch
> gasifier.   This does not take long to refill and reignite.
>
> 3.  Subject to actually making things happen, in my opinion the best
> "evident" option is to have a rice husk gasifier provide the heat by using
> the husks from the rice as fuel for the parboiling businesses are creating.
>
> 4.  The production of at JJQuad TLUD is being examined in Vietnam at this
> time.   We are assisted with this by Dylan Maxwell and Olivier Kolmel, who
> are also receiving this message.  There are issues being examined about
> fans and controls and metal quality and production.   This is not a quick
> solution, but it is quite viable, in my opinion.
>
> 5.  Serge, I would like to know about the number of parboiled-rice
> producers you are considering could need such a solution.   Also, please
> tell us about metal working (thin sheet metal) capabilities in Benin, and
> accessible.  Also, I would appreciate information about you and your
> involvement and situation (with an NGO?).
>
> It might be time for this conversation to not be on the Stove Listserv, or
> after any replies by Joe or Dylan and Olivier.   Any readers who have
> continuing interest should probably tell me and Serge so that we can keep
> you informed.
>
> Paul
>
> Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
> Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
> Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
> Website:  www.drtlud.com
> On 2/19/2015 5:21 AM, Serge Horsmans wrote:
> Dear Paul and ,
>
> Thank you very much for your quick response.  Please find the answers
> to the questions asked.
>
> 1.  How important is it to convert to using the rice husks as fuel for
> the parboiling process?   I believe that use of the rice husk as fuel
> is NOT the priority.   As Serge and Abraham have stated, the main
> concern is to reduce the use of large amounts of wood.   Appropriately
> sized TLUD gasifiers with wood fuel (or Rocket burners of sticks)
> could accomplish the task of reducing the amount of wood being burned.
>    This would be with natural draft.
>
> At this moment I have to list the possibilities of not using firewood
> in the parboiling process.   The use of a rice husk gasifier seems to
> me one of those possibilities.  So I would like to continue with rice
> husk, as it is easily available.  So at this moment I would like to
> answer the question, “Is somebody using a rice husk gasifier that that
> can heat water to a temperature of about 80°C in about 30 min.?  And
> can the same stove be used to boil away 6 l. of water In about 1 h.?”.
> If there is such a stove I would like to know and I will added to my
> list.  Next we might want to test that one first.
>
> 2.  IF rice husks are to be used with a TLUD gasfier, it would
> required Force Air (or Fan Assistance) (FA), and that would require a
> small amount of electricity.   With the parboiling being done in the
> daytime, a solar cell could be used, even without a battery.   What
> are the availabilities of small electrical power in the locations of
> either Abraham's or Serge's operations?
>
> I was aware that fan assistance would be needed.  We do have the
> possibility to provide the required electricity.
>
> 3.  Please comment on the frequency of doing the parboiling task.
> Abraham, is your operation run every day?   Frequency of use can
> impact favorably the ability of maintain equipment such as a fan unit
> or battery / solar package.
>
> Maintenance will not be a problem.
>
> 4.  For the 25 L quantities described by Serge, there is really no
> need to have a continuous operating gasifier.   Either the unit could
> be large enough for the stated durations of usage (30 minutes to raise
> to 80 C; and one hour for the steaming).   To boil away (evaporate) 6
> L of water in one hour can be accomplished; but some attention should
> be paid to the configuration under the pot, such as possibly having a
> pot-skirt or other ways to improve heat retention and heat transfer.
> This is NOT a situation requiring a good turn down ratio to obtain Low
> Power cooking.
>
> We will use the configuration you can see on the pictures where the
> rice is steamed or use a pot skirt.  We might not need a continuous
> operating gasifier but as the operations will be performed outdoor,
> wind or other environmental factors might slow down the heating,
> requiring more fuel.  What ever type we will use, we need to make sure
> that the parboiling can be finished.  The aim of our study is to
> improve the livelihood of the rice parboilers in Benin.  If the
> parboiling process cannot be finished, the paddy might get spoiled and
> they will not have an income, they will loose the money they used to
> buy the paddy instead.  That should be avoided.   So if we go on with
> batch gasifiers, we might have to oversize the unit.
>
> 5.  As we close in on the topic, we need to discuss who will lead the
> efforts (management) to accomplish the tasks, and who will pay for the
> expenses (finances).    Strong communications via email are quite
> important.  Skype is useful.   Access to some sheet-metal workers is
> important for the fabrication of the TLUDs.   The cost of materials
> should not be very high, but the issues and costs of management and
> labor can be easy or difficult, depending on the circumstances.
>
> It is going very fast now and I 'm very happy with your enthusiasm !
> But as you can read in the answer on your first question, right now I
> am listing the possibilities of not using firewood in the parboiling
> process.  So my first question is, can we banish firewood using those
> stoves?  Or more in detail, I want to know “Is there an existing rice
> husk gasifier that that can heat water to a temperature of about 80°C
> in about 30 min.?  And can the same stove be used to boil away 6 l. of
> water In about 1 h.?”.     If there is not such a stove, we will have
> to compare  the different  possibilities to banish firewood in the
> parboiling of rice in Benin.  The rice husk gasifiers will be an
> option.  Next we might consider to design one ourselves and your help
> will be really appreciated.  As we have experience in Benin with
> dissemination of new technologies, we might start to built them and
> provide them.  But we are not that far yet.
>
> 6.  Are Serge and Abraham close together, and working together?    If
> not, each should describe their specific situations.    Please send us
> your views of possible plans for moving forward.
>
> I would like to know more about Abraham and his project.   As
> mentioned we are in Benin and at the moment I live in Savalou,
> department Les Collines.  For my view, please read my answer on
> question 5.  I like to know more about your views.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Serge
>
> 2015-02-18 19:30 GMT+01:00, Paul Anderson <psanders at ilstu.edu>:
> Dear Serge and Abraham,
>
> The photos from Serge are very helpful.   Photos from Abraham will show
> the larger system that they use.
>
> There are a few questions and issues.
>
> 1.  How important is it to convert to using the rice husks as fuel for
> the parboiling process?   I believe that use of the rice husk as fuel is
> NOT the priority.   As Serge and Abraham have stated, the main concern
> is to reduce the use of large amounts of wood. Appropriately sized TLUD
> gasifiers with wood fuel (or Rocket burners of sticks) could accomplish
> the task of reducing the amount of wood being burned.   This would be
> with natural draft.
>
> 2. _IF _rice husks are to be used with a TLUD gasfier, it would required
> Force Air (or Fan Assistance) (FA), and that would require a small
> amount of electricity.   With the parboiling being done in the daytime,
> a solar cell could be used, even without a battery.   What are the
> availabilities of small electrical power in the locations of either
> Abraham's or Serge's operations?
>
> 3.  Please comment on the frequency of doing the parboiling task.
> Abraham, is your operation run every day?   Frequency of use can impact
> favorably the ability of maintain equipment such as a fan unit or
> battery / solar package.
>
> 4.  For the 25 L quantities described by Serge, there is really no need
> to have a continuous operating gasifier.   Either the unit could be
> large enough for the stated durations of usage (30 minutes to raise to
> 80 C; and one hour for the steaming).   To boil away (evaporate) 6 L of
> water in one hour can be accomplished; but some attention should be paid
> to the configuration under the pot, such as possibly having a pot-skirt
> or other ways to improve heat retention and heat transfer.   This is NOT
> a situation requiring a good turn down ratio to obtain Low Power cooking.
>
> 5.  As we close in on the topic, we need to discuss who will lead the
> efforts (management) to accomplish the tasks, and who will pay for the
> expenses (finances).    Strong communications via email are quite
> important.  Skype is useful.   Access to some sheet-metal workers is
> important for the fabrication of the TLUDs.   The cost of materials
> should not be very high, but the issues and costs of management and
> labor can be easy or difficult, depending on the circumstances.
>
> 6.  Are Serge and Abraham close together, and working together? If not,
> each should describe their specific situations.    Please send us your
> views of possible plans for moving forward.
>
>
> Dr TLUD
>
> Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
> Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
> Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
> Website:  www.drtlud.com
>
> On 2/18/2015 5:01 AM, Serge Horsmans wrote:
>
> Dear Paul (and other insiders),
>
> thank you very much for your attention to my request.  Below you will
> find the questions and the answers.  Please ask for more information
> if needed.
>
> 1.  What heat source(s) are you currently using?   Do you have
> batch-operations of rice husk gasifiers already?   What is good and
> what is bad about them?
>
>    At the moment we are using fire wood as the heat source.  We are not
> using gasifiers and I don't have any experience with them, but it
> seems to me that continuous flow gasifiers are more appropriate since
> once the heating of the soak water or the steaming is started, it
> should not be interrupted by refilling the batch.  It is hard to find
> gasifiers in Africa.
>
> 2.  Is your operation the only one, or could there be other similar
> businesses that might also want to improve their heat sources?
>
>    I am not too much aware of the other businesses, but it is easy to
> guess that if it is affordable technology, it will as well be adopted
> by local restaurants.  For one or other reason this technology didn't
> reach Africa yet.
> In Benin, it is mainly women that parboil rice.   Recently a new
> device for parboiling has been introduced to improve the quality of
> the parboiled rice.  An educational video, in which rural women
>    explain how to use the improved rice-parboiling technology and its
> benefits, was
>    developed by AfricaRice in 2005 to promote this technology to
> end-users.  The video-supported training tool has contributed
> significantly to the
>    diffusion of the technology in Central Benin. This video has been
> used by many NGOs. It is now the common device in Benin. So the same
> might be done with the gasifier.  All organisations that support those
> women might adopt the gasifiers as they all want to reduce the use of
> fire wood.
>
> 3.  I assume that all of the associated structures are in place,
> functional, and are expected to be part of the new operation.
> Structures such as the large vessels (pots, trays, cauldrons, etc.)
> and also the boiler.
>
> Yes, though I don't know what you mean about the boiler... it is just
> wood placed below the cauldron  .
> Any heat source that can be used to heat water in a cauldron could be
> used as the device is basically a cauldron containing about 25 l. of
> water for soaking the paddy.   The same cauldron is afterwards used
> for steaming the paddy with about 6l. of water ( I will add some
> pictures).  Since firewood and charcoal have always been used and is
> easily available, they continue to use firewood or charcoal.   By
> introducing the gasifiers we would like to reduce the use of firewood.
> - Soaking process:  heat paddy in 25 l. of water to a temperature of
> about 80°C, it takes about 30 min.   Next let it cool down during the
> night in the cauldron.
> - Steaming process:   You take a paddy holding vat and a cauldron (a
> similar cauldron as for the soaking). The  paddy holding vat is
> perforated with holes (maximum diameter 2.5 mm) from its base to about
> a quarter
>    of the way up its body . The paddy rice is poured into
>    the vat, which is inserted in the cauldron containing 6l. of water.
> The water level in
>    the cauldron is such that it does not reach the bottom of the paddy
> holding vat.  The improved
>    method prevents water in the cauldron from getting into the paddy,
> only the steam
>    generated from the boiling water in the cauldron passes through the
> perforated vat to
>    parboil (steam) the paddy rice.  It takes about 1 hour.
>
> 4.  Please send us some photos of the existing installation. There are
> issues such as height of the boiler above ground that can influence
> what options could be for the new "fire box."
>
> I will add some.  Please ask for more if needed.
>
> 5.  Are you or others in your area interested in biochar from the rice
> husks?   If so, a pyrolyzer (rather than a full process gasifier)
> might be more appropriate.
>
> Hard to say.  The women parboiling the rice are not same as the ones
> cultivating the rice.   So they will not use the biochar as a soil
> conditioner.  I have no clear idea what could be done with biochar...
>
> Thanks again  for your attention to my request.   I 'm looking forward
> to hear from you again.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Serge
>
>
>
>
>
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