[Stoves] Energy from whole coconuts

[Paul S. Anderson]

Peter,

You wrote:
>  The fire box for my coconut gratings drier is not big enough  to 
> burn whole coconuts -- but the one I use for boiling cane  juice down 
> is -- and they burn very well with bagasse--  whole -- lethal liquids 
> and all.

How big is your fire box for the cane juice, and what amount of bagasse do you
add?  (the bagasse is required for successful burning, or just convenient?)

I ask because if your method is reasonable, then you have provided an answer
about using the whole coconuts (as long as the needed amount of fire/heat is
large.)

I was thinking about a large gasifier, but it was becoming huge and 
without any
purpose.

Paul




-- 
Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D., Geography professor - Emeritus
Telephone:  USA-309-452-7072 (residence and office)
Internet site:  www.ilstu.edu/~psanders
For my gasifier stoves info, go to:
http://bioenergylists.org/contributors#Paul_Anderson


Quoting Peter Singfield <snkm at btl.net>:

> At 08:25 PM 9/18/2006 +0100, AJH wrote:
>> On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:56:49 +1200, Ian Vincent wrote:
>>
>>> I live in a large coconut plantation area on Taveuni Island, Fiji and we
>>> have a 'huge' surplus of unharvested waste coconuts. I can get them for
>>> free if I collect them myself, or can buy them @ US$5 per  100.
>>>
>>> Strikes me that these whole nuts contain a large amount of energy, both as
>>> oil and as wood material. They also contain water of course.
>>
>> Hi Ian
>> I'm amazed that such a resource could be seen as waste. I quite like
>> to drink "coconut milk" but I'm sure that it can be ferment to yield
>> alcohol. The copra was a prized resource, the ODA from UK prototyped a
>> copra dryer that ran off the pyrolysis offgas from a charcoal retort
>> loaded with coconut shells. With the mention of oil as well there
>> simply seem too many possibilities to want to just burn them.
>>
>> AJH
>>
>
> AJH;
>
> Spoiled coconuts are rotted out in the core -- the liquid they contain is
> equivalent to fermented vomit -- except is smells much worse.
>
> If I put a drop on the back of your hand you would probably feel very
> compelled to rush to the nearest emergency ward and get totally sterilized
> -- as you would if you opened up a letter with anthrax dust in it.
>
> The fire box for my coconut gratings drier is not big enough to burn whole
> coconuts -- but the one I use for boiling cane juice down is -- and they
> burn very well with bagasse-- whole -- lethal liquids and all.
>
> The other solution might be to get a good stone crusher and feed it truck
> loads -- dumped -- of whole coconuts -- to be broken up to release
> obnoxious liquids -- then spread to be dried.
>
> But would be hardly worth the effort -- as you would still have a major
> mess after -- though drier.
>
> One could line them all up at 100 yards and using a target rifle perforate
> them so they drain.
>
> Just think on one thing -- which ever way you work on these spoiled nuts --
> you do not want to be splashed -- not in the least.
>
> Even picking them up the wrong way is risky!!
>
> So -- the best solution is just use them as is in  fire box large enough to
> burn whole coconuts -- or a gasifier large enough to do 6 to 8 in diameter
> "wet" pellets.
>
> Also -- I doubt you will be getting any copra out of them -- basically --
> what happened in those coconuts is the same process that goes on in AD
> Karve's bio-methane fast digesters.
>
> In fact -- if you built a large enough tank and put all the spoiled
> coconuts in that -- you probably could harvest a lot of methane.
>
> But the residue will still be very -- very messy.
>
> Ergo -- what to do with whole spoiled coconuts is to burn them whole.
>
> Peter / Belize
>
> (Been splashed by spoiled coconuts numerous times and not dead yet!!)
>
> _______________________________________________
> Stoves mailing list
> Stoves at listserv.repp.org
> http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_listserv.repp.org
>



----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using Illinois State University Webmail.