[Gasification] Subject: Rice Husk as Gasifier Fuel

Tue Mar 4 11:38:56 CST 2008

Rolf,

I can't tell you anything because it is proprietary but I can point to where
they are used. 

Your note reminds me that one of the basic references for rice husks is
still Eldon Beagle's Rice Husk conversion to energy, FAO Agricultural
services Bulleting 31, Rome, 1978.
http://www4.fao.org/cgi-bin/faobib.exe?rec_id=210525&database=faobib&search_
type=link&table=mona&back_path=/faobib/mona&lang=eng&format_name=EFMON

Eldon wrote his book at the time that the staged gasifiers that became PRM
Energy http://www.prmenergy.com/ were developed in Stuttgart Arkansas.

Rob Williams or others at UC Davis may know of a more recent compendium on
rice husk conversion to energy. JR Goss, BM Jenkins, VM Tiangco, and KS
Creamer at UCD did a lot of work on small scale rice husk gasification from
1983-1989. Those papers were presented at meetings of the American Society
of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE, now ASABE). Zhang Baozhao's study using the
UCD gasifier is on the FAO site
http://www.fao.org/docrep/T4470E/t4470e0i.htm An AK Jain and JR Goss study
(Biomass and Bioenergy 2000) is available on Science Direct
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(99)00083-5   Some of the work was
summarized and updated in 1996 by Velupillai et. al. in "A Study of the
Market for Rice Husk-to-Energy systems and Equipment." (Louisiana State
University Agricultural Center, 1997). Of course there are many references
to rice husk gasification in these discussion archives all accessible from
the web.   

The suspension burners are scroll type register burners, like those made by
Coen http://www.coen.com/ ,but designed for low peak temperature. They were
developed and used at the 10 MWe Agrilectric Power Corporation
http://agrilectricresearch.com/ facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1984.
Cristobalite appeared when the same principles were used but the burners
were modified by Zurn-NBEPCO at the 25 MW Wadham Energy (now Enpower
http://www.enpowercorp.com/index.cfm?page=wadham )plant in Williams,
California in 1989. See also http://www.industcards.com/biomass-usa-ca.htm 

More recently McBurney Energy http://www.mcburney.com , who supplied boiler
equipment for the Lake Charles plant, has refined the burner technology and
applied it to the AT BioPower Pitchit, 20 MWe power plant in Thailand in
2005 http://www.energy.poyry.com/projects/TH2025_ATB.pdf .

That doesn't tell you anything about the burner technology but identifies
where the burners are used and the scale of their application. The design of
the boiler system is as important to the success of these plants as the
burner design because of the erosive nature of the husks. 

Tom

> -----Original Message-----
> From: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org [mailto:gasification-
> bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Rolf
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 4:30 AM
> To: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'
> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Subject: Rice Husk as Gasifier Fuel
> 
> Hallo Tom,
> can you tell us (me ) more about these suspension burners for husks ?
> 
> Thank you
> Rolf
> 
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org
> [mailto:gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org] Im Auftrag von Tom
> Miles
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 4. März 2008 01:24
> An: 'Ferruccio Pittaluga'; 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and
> gasification'
> Betreff: Re: [Gasification] Subject: Rice Husk as Gasifier Fuel
> 
> Ferruccio,
> 
> I haven't heard of cristobalite being a problem with rice husk
> gasifiers. It
> may be in the ash and not measured.
> 
> It was my understanding that peak temperatures are the primarily case
> of
> cristobalite formation. You can see the temperature range for
> cristobalite
> on a silica phase diagram.  Cristobalite appeared as a problem
> initially
> when milled rice husks were burned in suspension in California. It was
> collected as a fine particulate that was a health hazard when handled.
> The
> burners had been supplied by a licensee that ignored the low
> temperature
> design of the originators in Louisiana. Peak temperatures in the
> burners
> were subsequently lowered to reduce the amount of cristobalite. Current
> burners supplied for suspension burning husks, in Thailand for example,
> limit cristobalite formation through temperature control.
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org [mailto:gasification-
> > bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Ferruccio Pittaluga
> > Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 12:49 PM
> > To: gasification at listserv.repp.org
> > Subject: [Gasification] Subject: Rice Husk as Gasifier Fuel
> >
> > Dear all,
> > it seems to me that a main issue is overlooked when discussing
> > gasification of rice husk. The problem is the possible, maybe even
> > likely, production of cristobalite (Silicon Dioxide,
> > http://www.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/cristoba/cristoba.htm), a
> > polymorph of quartz, but highly carcinogenic. I really do not know if
> > significant amounts of this material are produced in gasification
> > processes, but I know for sure that they are emitted at stack if you
> > burn rice husk mixed with woodchips on moving grid hearth. Has anyone
> > got additional information on this topic?
> > Ferruccio Pittaluga
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> > DIMSET/SCL - Savona Combustion Lab
> > pittalug at unige.it
> > http://proxy.sv.inge.unige.it/SCL/
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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> > g
> > http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org
> > http://info.bioenergylists.org
> 
> 
> 
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