Answering Doug and Greg, on the topic of getting your gasification
produced power on to the grid, I use an Inverter that is a combination
of Stand-alone and Grid connect, - this draws from a battery bank, and
when the bank is full, legally (yes, approved) exports the incoming
power to the grid. - It is a response to customers who want their
Solar input to continue when the Grid is down, and also those who want
to use their own power when the Peak grid power charges are occurring.
This sort of system is also a whole house UPS so delivers very high
quality power to all your appliances without spikes.
Yes, it is more expensive, the Inverters are more expensive than a
straight grid connect inverter, and depending on the size of the
battery bank, the batteries can cost a lot as well.
(Just to pre-empt a discussion on batteries, I use high quality 22
years design life lead acid Tubulars, 16.4 years life if you cycle 20%/
day, they are not expensive and the manufacturer will take back any
old batteries and re-cycle them, - lead acid battery technology has
come a long way the last few decades).
The point of this system is you can use it for any input at all, your
electrical output from your gasifier only needs to be put into the
battery bank, - ideal for batch gasifiers, and other intermittent
renewables such as Wind or Solar, raining time only Hydro, (run of the
river, er um gutter:-) and the Inverter can also charge up the
batteries from a petrol, diesel or gasifier genset or even use the
grid power at off peak times.
This is like putting an incredibly flexible gear-box between your
power usage and your generation system.
Obviously, for a gasifier it takes all the worry out of meeting
specific demand criteria, changing generator speeds and the like, all
you need is a maximum power tracking type of rectifier, several now
widely available, and you are ready to roll.
Hope that helps,
Geoff Thomas.
Australia.
On 19/11/2010, at 6:00 AM, [email protected] wrote:
From: "doug.williams" <[email protected]>
To: "Pete&Sheri" <[email protected]>, "Discussion of biomass
pyrolysis and gasification" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Gasification facilitates Biochar
Message-ID: <06cb7f62104e49e7bfe5ccc685585...@dougspc>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi Pete,
You ask:
How much power are you feeding into the grid?
The Tecogen puts out 60 kwe on LPG, and from memory, I calculated we
would get around 47 kWe on producer gas. As my job is to supervise
the producer gas interfacing, (I'm still in NZ) next week, I can be
more specific in my next report in December.
If its more than 5 or
10 KW, please tell me about your grid connecting controller: cost,
mfr, etc..
All this stuff is built into the Tecogen CHP system, not clobbered
up with off shelf componentry. These package plants are fully
certified to meet Californian regulations, and came with a hefty
price tag in the region of $80,000. I do know that there would have
been some big charges from the power company to supply relay code
settings if we had not had them fitted into the Tecogen.
The economics of doing this power generation module are certainly
outside of commercial realities, but my associates are looking for
answers to questions, and prepared to pay for the experience. As the
second objective of this particular project is to replace LPG as a
heating source for glass houses, the gas has greater commercial
value than for electrical generation, but we still have to meet all
the emission regulations for it's combustion.
Because the issues of grid connections can only be discussed in
general terms, my opinion for what it is worth (nothing) , tells me
that DIY gensets and grid relay connectors, will not be approved by
most line companies, unless they can be certified appropriately,
hardly economic for a few kWe. If that's all you can offer, then you
are best suited to either use gasifiers for stand-by, or use all the
power yourself on site.
Doug Williams,
Fluidyne Gasification.
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:01:41 -0600
From: "Greg Manning" <[email protected]>
To: "'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'"
<[email protected]>
Subject: [Gasification] Electricity Generation: > was Gasification
facilitates Biochar
Message-ID: <1cd72801b42049fd906cd97565266...@a31new>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hi Pete, Doug, and list.
Electricity Generation:
Here in Manitoba, where Electricity is the cheapest in North America
(0.06
kwh) it IS still feasible, the key to this is using 2 engine/
generators. Two
you say....
Let me explain, the interconnect equipment is the cost, the
generators are
cheap in comparison, one way to get around the high price of
synchronous
generation (the type of generator that produces simply by spinning
it's
shaft), is to use an "induction generator" when connected to the
grid, and
THEN, if the power fails use the synchronous generator as a stand
alone,
until grid power resumes.
Induction generators ONLY make electricity IF the GRID is working,
once the
grid goes down, the generator simply spins, and no output; However,
they are
really easy and cheap to interconnect because of the non-need for
synchronizing.
On the other hand, Synchronous generation required VERY costly
interface
equipment, BUT as a "stand-alone" they generate when no other
electricity is
present.
kindest regards,
Greg Manning,
Canadian Gasifier Ltd.
Building Hi-Performance Gasifiers, Since 2001
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
1 (204) 726-1851
_______________________________________________
The Gasification list has moved to
[email protected] - please update your email contacts to reflect
the change.
Please visit http://info.bioenergylists.org for more news on the list move.
Thank you,
Gasification Administrator
