Hi Gasification Colleagues,
I must say I have enjoyed the recent discussions initiated by Tom Miles, that
has bought to the surface, some of the experiences which as manufacturers of
gasifiers, we face in the market place. Other than those who are only just
discovering gasification, enthusiasm to use the technology in a market
dominated by fossil fuels, is less than encouraging, but as addicts of
gasification, I guess that we believe in what we do, at least, most of the time
(:-)
To dwell on the negatives however, doesn't help us to answer those asking
questions to arrive at the right or appropriate answers. While we can point to
certain successes, or technical achievements at all levels of gasified
applications, the development work to interface gasifiers in commercially
visible installations, still needs vigorous unbiased scrutiny. Not every thing
that whistles and shines, no matter who makes it, can be proof that it works as
it should.
I'm intrigued by Colin's question of how long should a gasifier be tested
before declaring it commercial, because the reply depends on who's asking the
question, consultant or manufacturer. Each have their own set of
responsibilities. Insurances on which your guarantees may rely, especially
Public Liability, may place limitations on conditions of supply, so the market
you need, may have no protection if outside of the country of manufacture. As
you add the liabilities that may accumulate as a condition of supply, the
"testing period" needs to cover all those things that could invoke any
financial penalty clauses.
For what it is worth, drawing from our own commercializing programme begun in
1984, we sent the same design of gasifier to Fiji, Malaysia, South Africa, and
Maine USA. In the differing environments of temperatures and high altitudes, we
had to test for a base line for performance that was consistent across all
conditions, more a test of our finances than that of the gasifier. That took
two years alone, but worth the effort not to have any nasty surprises in the
remote Highlands of Central PNG.
If you add to this a two thousand hour engine test conducted by Listers NZ,
before arriving at the testing of the final design, you may get some idea of
just how much time based experience is needed. Short cuts cost money, usually
somebody else's! Shiny nuts and bolts cannot fix a flawed philosophy of gas
making, but many with questions, have little appreciation of how environmental
factors can affect gasification behavior. It's not only about how many have
been supplied, but tested performance across the conditions that limit their
reliability. You just cannot do all this in the cloistered protection of a home
base.
Hope this may be of some help Colin.
Doug Williams,
Fluidyne Gasification.
_______________________________________________
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/
