Hi John,
I'm pleased that Harrie had Harold's email address, at least that
indicates he still is busy with his work what ever that might be now.
Harold had his collection stored right away in a little rural village,
so don't expect him to be enthusiastic about digging in those piles of
history. One might hope he has them displayed by now, but surely we
would have been advised to visit. I can assure you, that there is never
an ending to the gasification story!
More in the text just hope it separates):-(
On 10/01/17 18:40, John Zander wrote:
Thank you for the information about Harald Steppat and his
collection of gasifiers. I will be in touch with him to see if he can
provide me some specific details about the Kalle gasifier,
specifically the wind sieve for conveying the solids from the cyclone
back to the gasifier. I have been trying to make the calculations
work out, but they don't seem to, so there must be more to the story.
I have not worked with char gasifiers before, but my present opinion is
that using gasifiers for transportation fuel makes the most economic
sense, and hence the best application to explore.
There is plenty of information posted from enthusiastic builders of
transport gasifiers, char gasifiers are an easier option, if you have
the charcoal. Not all charcoal is equal, and that can affect a perfectly
designed gasifier from any source.
In order to make gasifiers a viable option, their operation needs to be
made as consistent and predictable as possible and "refining" the fuel
by using charcoal, you would have improved storage and handling
characteristics of the fuel, hence making the system more consistent and
user friendly.
Have you studied the effort that was put in place, before and during
WW2? All these issues were documented.
I am in Southern Minnesota and do a lot of work with material processing
and handling technology, such as pellet mills, kilns and grinders. An
area I have explored extensively is flow characteristics of bulk solids,
such as sawdust flow patterns in a storage bin.
The foundation of these technologies in the USA certainly include the
original research of Tom Miles Senior, father of Tom Miles Jnr who
facilitates these Lists devoted to biomass energy etc. Possibly Tom
might be able to offer a history of his fathers work.
I have not seen any research on design concepts for a gasifier to
facilitate mass flow of the fuel to improve performance and
reliability. My feeling is that with mass flow design and electronic
sensors and controls, gasifier operation could be simplified and become
a viable option in applications such as construction and agricultural
equipment. Ideas and advice are always welcome.
Since I became involved in gasification in 1975/6, I think it is far to
say that all your thought and aspirations have been shared by everyone
"touched" by gasification. My suggestion is to make it work for you, but
don't expect anything other than the satisfaction of chugging down the
road, with the knowledge that you did it your way.
Keep us informed of your progress.
Doug W.
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