[Gasification] Live Webcam on Gasification and Biochar workshop

Sun Jun 19 16:58:47 CDT 2011

We're now in the midst of our Father’s Day Gasification
workshop<http://www.gekgasifier.com/workshop/>at ALL Power Labs in
Berkeley, CA.   We have about 75 people here from near
and far to wander down the rabbit hole of biomass thermal conversion.

For those of you not able to join us, we have a webcam on the 10 kW Power
Pallet endurance run.  You can watch the progress here:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/webcam/

We plan 50 hours over the next several days with datalogging of the wood
chip fuel in to power out particulars.  We started yesterday afternoon and
ran straight through the night.  So far 24+ hours constant run without
issues.  We pulled the filter apart at 24hours and were happy to find it
nice and clean.  No bell reduction bell packing either, which has lately
been our biggest challenge on long runs.   Some minor tweaks to grate design
seem to have cleared up the problem.

We have the full datalogging regime up and running so we should soon have a
good set of info on fuel in to power out particulars, as well as system
temps, pressures, and gas composition numbers.  The fuel we are using is
chipped cedar from the local landscaping supply company.  We've sifted out
the overs and unders, but otherwise it is standard disk chipper wood chip.

There are lots of good pictures of the workshop proceedings here in
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150219877157611.312016.330512257610&l=ee47069901

We'll continue this eve, and likely some more tomorrow if anyone wants to
stop by.  The original info on the workshop is copied below.

jim

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: jim mason <jim at allpowerlabs.org>
Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Subject: Gasification and Biochar workshop in 1 week. Project and schedule
details contained herein.
To: Icp <icp at spaceship.com>

[image: topdownfrontwithjay_img_2042-800-300.jpg]

*Father's Day Gasification and Biochar Workshop: June 17-19, 2011**

Opening Intro & Lecture: Friday, June 17, 7:30 – 9:30PM
Weekend Build, Run and Test: Saturday and Sunday, June 17-19, 11am – 7pm*

*Location: ALL Power Labs, 1010 Murray Street, Berkeley CA
94710<http://www.gekgasifier.com/about/workshop/travel-and-accomodation/>
Cost: Free if you are a GEK or BEK owner, either through self build or
purchase.  Otherwise, $100 for weekend*.
RSVP to the forum
here.<http://www.gekgasifier.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2145#post2145>
Buy
your spot here. <http://www.gekgasifier.com/about/workshop/sign-up/>

 Our summer workshop is fast approaching-  June 17th - 19th.  Many of you
have already RSVP'ed and are flying in from the 4 corners, but there is
still room for more.  So come join us for a quality Father's Day weekend of
wrenching, rotating machinery, and guided tour down the rabbit hole of
biomass thermal conversion.

The workshop begins with a Friday evening talk on the science of
gasification and pyrolysis, and the new engineering solutions embodied in
the GEK gasifier and BEK biochar maker.  Saturday and Sunday are full days
of building, running and testing the physical particulars. Come prepared to
get your hands dirty building and running machinery.  We learn through both
talking and working.

We'll have 4 projects going in parallel for this round of the workshop.  You
can participate in all of them, and wander between them as desired.

*1.  50 Hour Endurance run of the 10kw Power Pallet:
*Long proving runs of the Power Pallet continue on this end.  This round
we'll do a total of 50 hours over several days.  We have it on good
authority that it will not rain this time, and we'll be sure to have plenty
of reasonable fuel on hand before we start.  We look forward to more refined
data on fuel consumption, gas composition, and feedback on general usability
from you kicking the tires over the weekend.  Runs will start on Saturday
and continue into the early part of the following week.  If you can't be
here, we'll have a webcam on the proceedings as usual.

This test will use one of the current generation stainless steel Power
Pallets pictured here: http://www.gekgasifier.com/wpgallery/

*2. Demonstration runs of the 20kw Power Pallet:*
Those of you interested in the larger 20kw Power Pallet will can finally see
one in action over the weekend.   There will also be 8 of the 20kw Power
Pallets under assembly in the APL factory, so you can see how we make them.
Things will look something like this, only bigger:
http://wiki.gekgasifier.com/w/file/40416596/batch2onthefloor.JPG.  The
engineers and builders of these units will be on hand to answer questions
and explain the details.

*3.  GEK Gasifier Building:
*Want to build you own gasifier?  Here's your chance to do it, using our
tools and with plenty of instruction from the local crew.

This round of the workshop we're having a special GEK Level III building
clinic.  We have tables and welders for 4 people who want to weld together a
kit over the weekend.  Given clear inhouse instruction, you should be able
to get through the building process by the end of Sunday.  Finished
gasifiers can Russian doll back into the hopper and filter for checking as
oversize baggage on the plane.  Yes this does work.  We do this regularly.

Anyone who wants to do this will need to reserve a spot by purchasing a
Level III weld together GEK kit.  There is no additional cost for
instruction, using our tools, and burning our welding wire.  The workshop is
also free if you get a kit.   We're trying to make this easy and accessible.

Again, there are ONLY 4 slots for gasifier building.  Welders are limited.
Please reserve ahead of time if you want to build a kit.

*4.  BEK Biochar maker running:
*
We continue to have the BEK on hold while we focus on ramping up the Power
Pallet production.  This has made quite a few people unhappy, as there is so
few small scale biochar making machines available at the moment.  We're
trying to get back to making these as soon as possible, but in the meantime
we wanted to give the interested a chance to run our in house machine.

We'll have the BEK on fire both Saturday and Sunday of the workshop.  You
are welcome to bring your feedstock of interest and run it through.  Or, you
can experiment with our variety of feedstocks on location.  If you have some
you want to bring, please do write us beforehand so we can coordinate the
details.

*
General Info and Signup*

The APL workshop series offers education, research reports and hands-on
experience to bring more people to successful operation of small scale
gasification and pyrolysis units.  The event is open to everyone, not just
GEK or BEK users/owners.  Worshops are free if you own a GEK or BEK by
either purchase or DIY build. Otherwise the weekend is $100, which helps to
cover food, drink and other consumables.

If you want to join us, please RSVP to the forum thread here:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/forums/showthread.php?t=563

If you need to pay the workshop fee, you can do so via credit card here:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/about/workshop/sign-up/

Information on local accommodation, maps and airports is here:
http://www.gekgasifier.com/about/workshop/travel-and-accomodation/

We look forward to seeing you here soon.

jim

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Mason
Website: http://www.whatiamupto.com
Current Projects:
   - Gasifier Experimenters Kit (the GEK): http://www.gekgasifier.com
   - Escape from Berkeley alt fuels vehicle race: www.escapefromberkeley.com
   - ALL Power Labs on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allpowerlabs
   - Shipyard Announce list:
http://lists.spaceship.com/listinfo.cgi/icp-spaceship.com

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Mason
Website: http://www.whatiamupto.com
Current Projects:
   - Gasifier Experimenters Kit (the GEK): http://www.gekgasifier.com
   - Escape from Berkeley alt fuels vehicle race: www.escapefromberkeley.com
   - ALL Power Labs on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allpowerlabs
   - Shipyard Announce list:
http://lists.spaceship.com/listinfo.cgi/icp-spaceship.com

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Mason
Website: http://www.whatiamupto.com
Current Projects:
   - Gasifier Experimenters Kit (the GEK): http://www.gekgasifier.com
   - Escape from Berkeley alt fuels vehicle race: www.escapefromberkeley.com
   - ALL Power Labs on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allpowerlabs
   - Shipyard Announce list:
http://lists.spaceship.com/listinfo.cgi/icp-spaceship.com
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