Hi Bill, My qualifications are training in The US Navy as an electrician and subsequent duty as ship electrician. I left the field due to the lack of challenge and went to college and got established in the field of hospital administration and healthcare IT. I'm visiting the field again due to increased opportunities for business. Its a lucrative field right now and at my age I could use more boredom. Once the gens run, you have the whole day off for life or an English or lifescience Phd.
I have been reviewing alternative energy power systems for the last eight months and the biggest problem so far has absolutely not been technical, its getting liability insurance. All of the techy haters I've come across have been wrong about the biggest problem. I have permission to pump 2Mw into the grid and thats about $2mil in income before I pay for fuel. To generate that much I need inexpensive and reliable systems. I have evaluated gasification but it just doesn't par well. I have settled for Chevy flex fuel engines paired with gens and after that, biomass boilers. I keep looking for good news about gasification but its just elusive. I think somewhere the news is good and I'll spend more time with gasification after the plant is running. Some of the on site comments posted as good are not good. There is a video posted about the success about making a gasifier run for 24 hours. My (diesel) gens can run a month if I push them. Off site comments don't help either. Comments about varnish and dirt and cleaning the engine after eight hours are plentiful. I try to use gasifiers for heat duty but even with that there are problems. The flame does not work with stock burners. You have to craft dispersal mechanisms to make an adequate burner. The fuel? You should chop that into 1" squares but wood that can be chopped into 1" squares is hard to find and that type chopping is hard to do. Changing the wood type and shape causes problems. Do you want to burn wood/biomass because its cheap and you can makes lots of money in an honest and decent trade? Yea, me too. We agree! Hurst boilers do that without a lot of fuss. I think the people at GEK have done an outstanding job but they are process oriented and I am not. Sometimes the discussion is over my head. I make power using biomass, GEK tames the gasification process and those things are not the same. My handle is findable and I have posts there and I have voiced my opinions. If you want to gasify, get rid of the idea of the generic input. You have to focus on one fuel, one that you get regularly by the ton, like dried manure and see what that fuel does for you. If it gasifies well and provides either the heat or syngas you need then by all means use it. For me its a project to work on during my off hours and then after research, practice and testing, I can hook up. Thats my case, Warmest regards Phillip Manske On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 7:43 PM, Bill Klein <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Mr. Manske: > > Your experiences with GEK aka Gasification EXPERIMENTAL Kit is a fairly low > grade qualification as an expert. > > When it comes to gasifiers and their operation, very often, but not always, > we find operator error is the problem and, secondarily, operator's inability > or unwillingness to accept responsibility for their inability to follow > simple operation instruction. > > Granted, there is low grade equipment out there, posing as top grade, but, > just as one cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear, with gasification and > gasifiers, you will only get what you pay for and, as hard as it may be to > believe, there are no free lunches! One owes it to their sensibile self to > investigate before they buy. Don't you think? . > > If you wish to slam GEK, call up Jim Mason and do so. If you are an expert, > state your credentials. There are many of us out here that not only own and > operate successful gasifiers, but have spent our lives and our own money > improving them. If you want to lurk, do so, but don't slam an industry about > which you know little. > > Incidentally, The GEK has made an incredible contribution to this industry > and has raised a great deal of awareness about the process worldwide. I'm > sorry for your bad experience, but perhaps you should look in the mirror > before you publicly attack. > > Respectfully, > > Bill Klein > 3i > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "phillip manske" <[email protected]> > To: "Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification" > <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 6:43 PM > Subject: Re: [Gasification] equipment suppliers for power generation 40kW ? > > > Hi - I would not recommend using gasifiers until you are very familiar > with them. GEK makes a set but it costs $20,000 for 20kw and works > sporadically. If you need to make electricity, use diesel, veg oil, > ethanol or steam. Learn about the gasifier and then get one type of > mass to burn. Its a real serious undertaking. I would not rely on it > for reliable power. > > P > > > > On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 9:57 AM, Li CHEN <[email protected]> wrote: >> Dear Doug, >> >> I am interested in these two questions too. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Li >> Le 30/03/2011 15:54, Jérémie Biton a écrit : >> >> Thanks for those who answered me on this forum or in private. >> >> >> >> Doug, >> >> Can you tell me where you experienced gasification in Madagascar? >> >> Who were the French engineers? >> >> Do you know if it is still running? >> >> Thanks! >> >> >> >> Regards >> >> >> >> Jeremie Biton >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Gasification mailing list >> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >> [email protected] >> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org >> for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: >> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Gasification mailing list >> >> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >> [email protected] >> >> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org >> >> for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: >> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Gasification mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: > http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Gasification mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: > http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ > > _______________________________________________ Gasification mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
