[Gasification] Syngas on Wiki_

jim mason jim at allpowerlabs.org
Tue Dec 28 23:07:21 CST 2010


On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 9:04 PM, jim mason <jim at allpowerlabs.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Toby Seiler <seilertechco at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> Calling the product made from your $5,500 machine "syngas" is, at best, misrepresenting.
>>
>> GF stated my concern;  "Your explanation for the word "Syngas" being the product of a GEK is of great commercial value."  Your diatribe post Jim did not convince me that your gas maker makes synthesis gas and that you are entitled to make the "syngas" claim for machinery sales and to reap the commercial value associated with the claim.
>>
>> My lexical fundamentalism says that you stop advertising, saying that you have a product that will make a gas that it clearly will not make.  You were long ago educated on the difference right here on this list and are a key source of confusion, even amongst professionals, with your anti-laxical- fundamentalism claim to the term "syngas" .
>>
>


i guess i should have started the last note with what i actually
finished it with.  and that is to note that i don't like any of the
terms for the "gas which will for now go unnamed" and try to organize
sentences so that i don't have to use any of them.  i try to org
sentences so that i only use the terms "gasifier" and "gasification",
which i think are the best ones.

from the vigor with which toby is pursuing this, one would think there
is a giant flashing red sign on the top of each page of our site
proclaiming "SYNGAS MADE HERE".  nothing could be further from the
truth, as you will see in the inventory below.  after around 230 units
sold to date, no one has ever complained of any misrepresentation
here, or even raised it as a topic.  it is a non-issue.  gas energy
density is not a major issue in getting this tech to actual relevance
for small scale use.  tar prevention, fuel flexibility, and mechanical
fuel handling are vastly more important problems to solve.   toby, i
gently suggest that you are assembling a bit of a straw man here --and
one that relates to your own plans and interests-- rather than
anything i have in fact done.

as logical argument wasn't previously convincing, let's now try the
raw data.  below is an inventory of actual usage of the terms in
question on the gek site.  i've done this for the 8 most visited pages
on the site, in order.  i've then pulled out a much lower visited
page, but the one where i thought my "sins" would be the most
pronounced.  this is the one where the details of gasification are
explained.  it is the 14th most visited page.

as you will see, there is no sentence of the type "the GEK makes
syngas".  in actuality, the "syngas" term is barely even used.  in the
top 8 pages, only 3 occurrances, 1 to note that "syngas" is one of
many terms used for the gas, and 2 in passing while talking about
mixing systems.  in contrast, there are 82 occurrances of the term
"gasifier", 28 occurrances of the term "gasification", 9 for "wood
gas", 0 for "producer gas", 0 for "suction gas", 0 for "synthesis
gas".   i'll even eliminate the two passing uses of the term while
discussing mixing if that helps quell this nonsensical lexical
tempest.

more to your point, the selling pages have exactly 0 declarations that
"syngas" is the gas being made by the GEK.  that's right- zero.  the
term is in not used anywhere to make a claim about the type of gas the
gek makes, nor to promote its sale.   not sure if this changes
anything, but that's the data.  as a man of science, i trust you will
recalibrate your conclusions in relation to the real data.


here's the detail inventory.  it is done over the permanent content on
each page.  not rss feeds in the left column from elsewhere, which
change constantly and not in my control (though i could find zero
occurances of the "syngas" term there either).

1. GEK gasifier home page: http://www.gekgasifier.com
gasifier (9), gasification (4), syngas (1), wood gas (0), producer gas
(0), synthesis gas (0)
      the "offending" syngas sentence at the bottom of the page:
"The system automatically adjusts syngas/air mixture via a wide band
Bosch oxygen sensor, shakes the grate when needed, and removes ash via
a mechanical auger.")

2. How to make the GEK page: http://www.gekgasifier.com/wood-gasifier-plans/
gasifier (8), gasification (3), syngas (0), wood gas (1), producer gas
(0), synthesis gas (0)

3. Power Pallet info and buy page:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-store/gasifier-genset-skids/
gasifier (19), gasification (3), syngas (2), wood gas (2), producer
gas (0), synthesis gas (0)
       the two 2 syngas references are again in the context of
talking about fuel/air mixing

4.  Store front:  http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-store/
gasifier (8), gasification (3), syngas (0), wood gas (1), producer gas
(0), synthesis gas (0)

5. Wiki page with detail plans and CAD drawings on making and using
the GEK: http://wiki.gekgasifier.com/w/page/6123754/How-to-Build-and-Run-the-GEK-Gasifier
gasifier (8), gasification (3), syngas (0), wood gas (2), producer gas
(0), synthesis gas (0)

6. BEK biochar info page:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/reactor-options/pyrolysis-biochar/
gasifier (5), gasification (2), syngas (0), wood gas (2), producer gas
(0), synthesis gas (0)

7. Gasification Basics, intro to the tech:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-basics/
gasifier (8), gasification (6), syngas (0), wood gas (0), producer gas
(0), synthesis gas (0)
    the closest i get to sin here is:
"Gasification is the use of heat to tranform solid biomass, or other
carbonaceous solids, into a synthetic “natural gas like” flammable
fuel.")

8. Gasifier kits info and buy page:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-store/gasifier-systems-and-kits/
gasifier (17), gasification (4), syngas (0), wood gas (1), producer
gas (0), synthesis gas (0)


Here's where i thought my biggest "sins" would be.  This is the page
with the detailed explanation of how gasification works:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-basics/how-it-works/
gasifier (8), gasification (18), syngas (2), wood gas (2), producer
gas (1), synthesis gas (0), suction gas (1)
     there are 2 sentences with syngas.  the "offending sentences:
"The gas produced by this method goes by a variety of names: “wood
gas”, “syngas”, “producer gas”, “suction gas”, etc."
"This is why an engine run on syngas can have such clean emissions."


those appear to be the facts from my neck of the woods.  others are
invited to review the above pages and point out where they think
things are otherwise or should be changed.  i'll happily change them,
as i don't really have a horse in this race.

percentage nitrogen density isn't really the relevant racetrack to
work out the real issues with this tech.


jim




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