[Gasification] CHAB unit .. was Re: [Stoves] Natural draft TLUD turn-down

Mon May 26 11:06:43 CDT 2014

Hello All,

I am preparing a research proposal with my colleague, on a feasibility to
generate butanol from biomass (straw, wood, Jerusalem artichoke), after
extracting sugars for xylitol.  Apparently hemicellulose contains a variety
of sugars such as pentoses (xylose and arabinose), hexoses (mannose,
glucose and galactose), plus sugar acids, with Xylose comprising about 30%
of the plant.  It seems that after extracting xylose still some sugars are
left which in theory would make butanol production possible.  We would very
much appreciate information with regards to butanol processes that are
successful and close to commercialization.  I am aware that the
gasificationdigest does not deal with alcohols, but you all are so
diverse in your
interests so I hope that some assistance would be given.

Best Regards,

Elisabeth Staniewski

On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 8:39 AM, Paul Anderson <psanders at ilstu.edu> wrote:

>  Lloyd,
>
> 1.  You should change the Subject line to reflect the topic.
>
> 2.  I think Crispin is not subscribed to the Gasification Listserv, so I
> am sending my reply plus your message to him.
>
> 3.  What you describe (including making biochar) is most closely met by
> the Chip Energy Biomass Furnace.    See    www.chipenergy.com     The
> realities are:
>
> a.   $50,000 for the full big system;   To fit on a pallet-size footprint,
> the $15,000 for the stripped system is without heat exchanger/water pump,
> etc.
> b.  With 4 units commercially made, we know that it works.   However, it
> is a unit that should have support including some R&D for the specific
> application/location; it is not a "plug and play" system.
> c.  Your expectations about using a wide variety of dry biomass fuels
> would require R&D at the expense of the operator.  Fuel from  shipping
> pallets sounds easy, but the metal nails and bolts prohibit "chipping" and
> require a grinder with magnet to extract the metal (significant
> effort/investment).
>
> Chip Energy is interested in such a project, but it is a project, not just
> a turn-key product.   Contact me for further details.
> psanders at ilstu.edu
>
> Please let us know if there are other candidates for that project.
>
> 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 5/20/2014 2:14 PM, Lloyd Helferty wrote:
>
> Crispin (and all),  [CC; gasification list]
>
>   This is a very interesting conversation regarding ND TLUD power (heat)
> variability and its implications, and (as you know) I do have a keen
> interest in this topic since being introduced to the TLUD 'stove' concept
> back several years ago (by Dr. Anderson, when he came to Ontario to
> demonstrate his small "Champion" stove and similar devices at the Laepple
> farm in June 2009), especially since the TLUD is one of the few simple
> technologies that can produce biochar cleanly at a small (or possibly at a
> medium) scale for local use ~ while producing (hopefully) useful amounts of
> energy (heat).
>
>   What I am working on right now here in Toronto might interest you or
> others on this list.
>  I have been approached by a business in Toronto that would like to be
> able to implement a small-scale char-making technology at their
> manufacturing site in the Toronto area (GTA) that would utilize the (dry)
> 'residuals' from their food production process in order to make heat energy
> that could lower their (fossil) energy use [natural gas costs] while also
> turning their (dry) 'food waste' into a biochar (and/or high-char ash) that
> could be re-integrated back into a (wet) food composting system
> (vermicompost) that is already being implemented onsite at their operations
> here in the city.
>
>  The primary use of the heat would be to heat up water, but it would also
> be welcome if it could be used in the preparation of the 'raw' food
> (drying, roasting certain products to a certain temperature -- i.e. an
> 'oven') that goes into their recipes, which includes 'fair-trade' sourced
> (temperate and tropical) foodstuffs that have been either grown or imported
> into Canada in bulk, and which are prepared on-site (including de-hulling
> etc. of several of the key ingredients).
>   Essentially, this company would like to know if it might be possible to
> come up with either a "customized" or an "off-the-shelf" system that has a
> fairly small footprint (about the size of a shipping pallet<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet#Dimensions>,
> or ~16 sq. ft = 40" × 48", as commonly used in the food industry) that
> would be able to meet the following requirements:
>
>
>    - Provides space heating and/or hot water heating (for their kitchen),
>    with the possibility also for using the heat for "roasting" their
>    ingredients (@ ~140 Celsius max. -- possibly using a heat exchanger, if
>    necessary).
>    - something flexible and rugged
>    - can accept multiple fuel inputs (different sized feedstocks,
>    different moisture/energy content -- not just woodchips)
>    - no smoky emissions (after-burner, if necessary) so that it can meet
>    local emissions regs
>
>
>   Of course they are interested also in custom of "commercial" gasifiers
> [as well], but small systems (stoves) that could do the job they are
> seeking might suffice, although they probably want the system to be as
> automated (hands off) as possible to that the minimum amount of human
> intervention is required... although it would need to be as low-cost as
> possible (almost a "DIY" system -- they could actually make it themselves
> since they do have some expertise, including a machinist & a "master
> builder" who has built and operated a series of gassifier stoves for
> several years and "who is more than capable of manufacturing" something --
> if they had the 'plans' for an open-source system/design that could do the
> job).
>
>  Ideally this company would be interested in seeing 2 or 3 designs that
> might work for them (a few devices that they could initially assess)... so
> that they could work with the designers to get more details.  They would
> then choose a final design that they would then incorporate into their head
> office (operations), but then possibly also into a "franchise system" that
> they are designing (and that would operate like a "food truck" would in
> *any* city ~ except instead of the truck being electricity or natural gas
> or propane-powered, the 'portable' food production/processing system would
> operate partially off of its own 'waste'... and/or wood chips [or pellets]
> that could be produced or supplied locally ~ possibly even from chipped
> shipping pallets that have *only* transported food products -- i.e.
> clean, 'food-grade' "green waste" like the type that can be found at the
> back of nearly every supermarket in the country... including all the broken
> ones.)
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>   Lloyd Helferty, Engineering Technologist
>   Principal, Biochar Consulting (Canada)
>   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
>   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
>
> "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 2014-05-19 7:38 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott wrote:
>
>  Dear Roberto
>
>  I agree with your analysis. There is a lot of merit in keeping the
> secondary flame in close proximity to the top of the fuel bed. The most
> important is that the secondary flame is harder to put out with a slight
> breeze (because it relights). The second is that when the primary air is
> turned down to control the power, the secondary flame is able to remain hot
> enough to stay alight. Combined with external, down-drafting secondary air
> preheating (not like the Peko Pe) one can maintain the secondary air feed
> ration under different primary air conditions.
>
>  Read and heed! TLUD's are not succeeding in meeting the turndown ratios
> required by ordinary cooking. To burn clean at different burn rates,
> whatever the fuel, you have to control both the primary and secondary air
> flows.
>
>  While a 'double controller' can work, turning the secondary air down at
> exactly the same time as the primary leads to a 2-3 minute period of very
> high PM and or CO and VOC's because of the retained heat in the fuel bed
> and stove body. This is worse if the combustion chamber is ceramic or cast
> iron.
>
>  If the secondary air feed it an automatic, buoyancy-driven ‎supply, it
> will draw in additional air as required during the cooling-off period. This
> explains the strange layout of the air supply in a Vesto Stove which tried
> to address the problems inherent in David Hancock's (very advanced at the
> time) 1984 Tsotso Stove (which is still in production).
>
>  Regards
>  Crispin in Seoul enjoying spring
>
> <snip>
>
>
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