[Gasification] Re: NREL

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Harmon


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harmon Seaver" <hseaver at gmail.com>


> On 6/10/06, Mark Ludlow <mark at ludlow.com> wrote:
>> Dear Dr. Reed and List,
> (snip)
>>; neither can we
>> expect anyone but a hobbyist to create and maintain a front-to-back 
>> system
>> to fuel a single IC prime mover powering a generator.
>
>
>    I believe there are some Indian and maybe some Chinese companies
> that have been producing small home-size commercial
> gasifier/IC/generators for at least a few years now.
>
Ankur (a significant India Company) has a range of gasifier-engine-generator 
systems that work and that are proven in practise. The "power range" of 
their packages is from about 4 kWe to 400 kWe, or greater.

A Chinese Company produces a neat, small gasifier, which appears suitable 
for powering an engine delivering about 3 kWe. I have not completed testing 
on a "package" to verify if its present gas quality can fuel an engine on a 
sustained basis, or to determine the nature and extent of additional gas 
cleaning facilities that would be required for dependable engine operation.

Technical functionality is one thing, but economic feasibility is another 
matter.

Ther cruel facts seem to be that at small scales of operation, Biomass 
Energy Systems must be justified by reasons other than financial whenever 
fossil sourced power is a viable alternative. Such reasons may be security, 
independance, philosophical, or as a way to avoid a waste disposal problem. 
Financial justification could result from concerns about reliable 
availability of fossil sourced energy at a reasonable cost.

The financial justification of Small Scale Biomass Power installations can 
be enhanced if such a power system can be turned into a total energy system, 
where waste heat from the gasifier and engine can be used to avoid the need 
to purchase fossil energy for space heating.

Best wishes,

Kevin