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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Dear Stovers,<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Alexis wrote: [with attached file]<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">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</pre>
</blockquote>
On 4/14/2014 10:02 PM, Paul Olivier wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAOreFvbpfTzq_NX1H_qZ2EKRU+ipBG1+yRHEovv8beff+YH+Ag@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>Air does not flow up evenly through ordinary
coconut dust.<br>
</div>
This dust has to be pelleted.<br>
</div>
<div>We have a small 100 gasifier that works well on
pellets.<br>
</div>
<div>
It's the smallest of the three gasifiers shown here:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Jpegs/IMG_1719.JPG">https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Jpegs/IMG_1719.JPG</a><br>
</div>
<div>It has a diameter of 10 cm and a height of 25 cm.<br>
</div>
<div>It's made out of standard 304 ss piping.<br>
It looks like a toy.<br>
The reactor weighs just over a kg.<br>
</div>
<div>With pellets, it puts out enough heat for ordinary
household cooking.<br>
</div>
<div>The burn time on pellets is over one hour.<br>
</div>
<div>The 100 gasifier can also be used on loose rice
hulls.<br>
</div>
<div>It's really nice to use on loose rice hulls when one
only wants to cook for about 15 minutes.<br>
</div>
<div>Households could have more than one reactor to serve
different cooking needs.<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Gasification.pdf">https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Gasification.pdf</a>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
But air does flow up evenly through coffee grounds.<br>
</div>
Sun-dried coffee grounds work quite well.<br>
</div>
<div>We will starting using unpelleted coffee grounds in
gasifiers.<br>
<br>
Here you see the gasifier/roaster that we made:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ZtyY0MhYc&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ZtyY0MhYc&feature=youtu.be</a><br>
</div>
<div>This is the very first gasifier/roaster.<br>
</div>
<div>
Since then we have gotten the drum to turn more smoothly.<br>
</div>
<div>The energy savings per kg of coffee bean roasted is a
thousand fold.<br>
</div>
<div>The small co-op in Laos using this roaster is able to get
about ten times more for their coffee.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Most small coffee farmers in Vietnam have never tasted
their own coffee.<br>
</div>
<div>Now they can roast, taste and sell their own coffee.<br>
</div>
<div>Many Vietnamese drink coffee that consists of up to 90%
additives.<br>
</div>
<div>Many have never tasted pure coffee.<br>
<br>
The same roaster can also be used to roast cacao beans.<br>
Chocolate beans are easier to roast than coffee beans.<br>
</div>
<div>Some cacao farmers in Vietnam do not know that chocolate
comes from cacao.<br>
</div>
<div>We will soon design and sell a melange to go along with
the chocolate bean roaster.<br>
</div>
<div>Cacao farmers will be able to roast and sell chocolate
bars.<br>
</div>
<div>At the moment most people in Vietnam eat imported
chocolate.<br>
</div>
<div>This imported chocolate is expensive, and it's far from
being true chocolate.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It's really sad that small coffee and chocolate farmers
are so alienated from their products.<br>
</div>
<div>They earn almost nothing for their labor.<br>
Traders, processors, loan sharks and bankers make all the
money.<br>
</div>
<div>All of this unfair trade has to come to an end.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Gasifiers running on pellets can be used to dry paddy
rice, coffee cherries and parchment beans.<br>
</div>
<div>If the length of the reactor is 50 cm, the burn time on
pellets is over 2.5 hours.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I am just about finished writing a paper on how
gasification fits into a larger concept of waste
transformation.<br>
</div>
<div>I outline four levels of waste transformation, and apply
these technologies to the raising of pigs, chickens and
cows:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Alternative%20to%20Biodigestion.pdf">https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Alternative%20to%20Biodigestion.pdf</a>
<br>
</div>
<div>In this paper, biochar is applied to both fermented feed
and bedding.<br>
</div>
<div>It undergoes four-fold bioconversion before making its
way into the soil.<br>
</div>
<div>It enters the soil in a biologically activated state.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks.<br>
</div>
<div>Paul Olivier<br>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 7:24 AM, Paul
Anderson <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu" target="_blank">psanders@ilstu.edu</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div>Lloyd,<br>
<br>
I have not heard :<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">that people like Alexis Belonio
& Paul Olivier have had success with <i>Forced
Air</i> TLUDs [with coconut husk/coir as fuel].<br>
</blockquote>
I hope they will reply to all of us about their
experiences, favorable or unfavorable.
<div class=""><br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
<pre cols="72">Doc / Dr TLUD / Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu" target="_blank">psanders@ilstu.edu</a>
Skype: paultlud Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.drtlud.com" target="_blank">www.drtlud.com</a></pre>
</div>
<div>
<div class="h5"> On 4/14/2014 6:59 PM, Lloyd Helferty
wrote:<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="h5">
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>Paul,<br>
<br>
I agree with you about not having any success
with coconut coir in a ND (Natural Draft) TLUD...<br>
<br>
I believe that people like Alexis Belonio &
Paul Olivier have had success with <i>Forced Air</i>
TLUDs. [?]<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
<pre cols="72"> Lloyd Helferty, Engineering Technologist
Principal, Biochar Consulting (Canada)
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.biochar-consulting.ca" target="_blank">www.biochar-consulting.ca</a>
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
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.scienceforpeace.ca/currents/" target="_blank">http://www.scienceforpeace.ca/currents/</a>
President, Co-founder & CBI Liaison, Biochar-Ontario
National Office, Canadian Carbon Farming Initiative (CCFI)
Organizing team member, 2013 N/A Biochar Symposium:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.carbon-negative.us/symposium" target="_blank">www.carbon-negative.us/symposium</a>
Member of the Don Watershed Regeneration Council (DWRC)
Manager, Biochar Offsets Group:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2446475" target="_blank">http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2446475</a>
Advisory Committee Member, IBI
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1404717" target="_blank">http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1404717</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42237506675" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42237506675</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://groups.google.com/group/biochar-ontario" target="_blank">http://groups.google.com/group/biochar-ontario</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.meetup.com/biocharontario/" target="_blank">http://www.meetup.com/biocharontario/</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.biocharontario.ca" target="_blank">http://www.biocharontario.ca</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.biochar.ca" target="_blank">www.biochar.ca</a>
"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</pre>
On 2014-04-14 1:35 PM, Paul Anderson wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>Tom M.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
I suspect that it might relate to the
temperature inside the TLUD. Maybe not getting
it hot enough when simply in the pyrolysis
processes. <br>
<br>
Comments please.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
<pre cols="72">Doc / Dr TLUD / Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu" target="_blank">psanders@ilstu.edu</a>
Skype: paultlud Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.drtlud.com" target="_blank">www.drtlud.com</a></pre>
<br>
On 4/7/2014 2:12 PM, Tom Miles wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Lloyd,
Tom,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">There
are current husk projects are in the 9-12
MWe size range. That’s about 100,000 tpy
of green husks. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.biomassenergy.gr/en/articles/news/5504-coconut-to-energy-power-plant-in-thailand-by-dp-cleantech"
target="_blank">http://www.biomassenergy.gr/en/articles/news/5504-coconut-to-energy-power-plant-in-thailand-by-dp-cleantech</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.jst.go.jp/asts/asts_j/files/ppt/23_ppt.pdf"
target="_blank">http://www.jst.go.jp/asts/asts_j/files/ppt/23_ppt.pdf</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Tom
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
name="14562c52a6eb7830__MailEndCompose"></a><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid
#b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">
Lloyd Helferty<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, April 07, 2014
11:28 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Thomas Goreau<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Scott Countryman; Ron; Paul
S Anderson, Ph.D.<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: Biochar for the
Philippines?</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Thank you,
Tom. You are right... I should be asking
Ron ~ or others (like Tom <i>Miles</i> --
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.]<br>
<br>
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 <i>any</i> type of
biomass energy system. (It is a
"front-end" system for biomass energy
technology users.)<br>
<br>
Regards,</p>
<pre> Lloyd Helferty</pre>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
On 2014-04-06 8:46 PM, Thomas Goreau
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Lloyd, </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ron Larson follows
stove technology very closely and is the
person to ask.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best wishes,</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tom</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#1634ff">Thomas
J. Goreau, PhD<br>
President, Global
Coral Reef Alliance<br>
President, Biorock
Technology Inc.</span></b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif""></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#1634ff">Coordinator,
Soil Carbon Alliance</span></b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif""></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#1634ff">Coordinator,
United Nations
Commission on
Sustainable
Development
Small Island
Developing States
Partnership in New
Sustainable
Technologies</span></b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif""></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#1634ff">37
Pleasant Street,
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:goreau@bestweb.net" target="_blank">goreau@bestweb.net</a><br>
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.globalcoral.org" target="_blank">www.globalcoral.org</a><br>
Skype: tomgoreau<br>
Tel: (1)
617-864-4226</span></b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif""></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif""> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#1634ff">No
one can change the
past, everyone can
change the future</span></b><br>
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<snip><br>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Paul A. Olivier PhD<br>
26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong<br>
Dalat<br>
Vietnam<br>
<br>
Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)<br>
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)<br>
Skype address: Xpolivier<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.esrla.com/"
target="_blank">http://www.esrla.com/</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
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