Hallo Christa,
thanks for your interesting comments.
The PM 3.0 was an early prototype, manufactured in + 300 units most of
which are still in use.
It gad a vertical axis design and only one motor which drives both the
rasping shaft and plate and the koller/die below.
The problem was that it needed often "help" to draw in some kind of
voluminous feedstock.
The new machines are very different and have solved many problems learnt
from the previous.
Also, there are three versions, all of them more productive than the first.
The principle and the high quality is still the same.
Rolf
Am 01.10.2012 00:57, schrieb CHRISTA ROTH:
Paul, you should have just asked me for info. The Pelletmaker 3.0
from Ecoworxx is the one that I have, it was the only one available
from Ecoworxx in 2010. It is featured in the GIZ-HERA manual
microgasification
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/giz2011-en-micro-gasification.pdf, see
photos and link to their website on page 90. that unit is now doing
work in Malawi, though not for fuel processing. but for waste
management. In 2010 I paid less than 5,000 Euro for the machine,
including a 6 mm and an extra 20-mm die (which is 60 mm thick!). I
don't know current pricing.
there is another unit in Senegal making Typha-grass-pellets. both
machines were airfreighted to Africa, increasing the cost, but
speeding up the process (220kg). The challenge to get it to Malawi was
that the pallet where the machine is mounted for transport could not
go upright as they only have small cargo planes flying into the
country, so they had to make a special double pallet and lay the
machine flat on the side for the transport. it still worked. and
Ecoworxx handled it all.
For a trial machine to prove a concept it is actually ideal to have
the shredder and the pelletiser in one machine. it is probably not so
appropriate to go on a commercial scale, there it makes sense to have
the two steps separated, depending on your setting. Ecoworxx has since
developed larger capacity products.
but if you are not sure that you will actually succeed and have a
market case for pellets in a certain area, that small machine, that
was developed for the German home-owner for private use is the best
you can get. Added advantage is that you only need 3 KvA, but
tri-phase power. But it can do maximum 50 kg per hour, depending on
the material.
and because it is a flat-die machine, it is easy to exchange the dies
to work with different diameters. I have 6, 14 and 20 mm dies,
depending on material and what you want to use it for.
the dies are good quality, but also wear out with time. The
deterioration rate depends again on the material that you put through,
but the dies last far longer than the chinese versions that you can
get relatively cheaply on the market.
Yet if you want to go to scale, there are ring-die machines for larger
volumes made in Africa, see again the manual, next page with photo and
reference to website.
hope that answers most of the questions.
Christa
Am 30.09.2012 um 15:55 schrieb Paul Anderson <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>>:
Rolf,
Yes, we would like to know the prices. This Listserv is not for
commercial purposes, but you can certainly inform us of the prices
here because so many people want to know. And not all want the USA
prices. Basic price where manufactured. And I want to know about
getting units in eastern Africa (specifically Uganda).
Question: Wouldn't it make more sense to have the
chopping/shreading/grinding to be done separately from the machine
that does the pelletizing? That would allow the user to make
appropriate mixtures for the pellets.
So I ask: Can you make and sell the pelletizer unit separately?
Prices please.
I like the ability to have different diameters of pellets!!!
Finally, where can we see independent reviewer comments about your
machines? And comparative info with other pelletizers?
As we (generic we because there are several efforts) advance with
TLUD stoves in eastern Africa, there could be considerable market for
appropriately priced and reliable pelletizing equipment. Small
units are fine. Labor costs are so low, so it is vastly different
from the USA and Europe situations. Do you have any representation
in Africa?
Paul
Paul S. Anderson, PhD aka "Dr TLUD"
Email:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Skype: paultlud
Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:www.drtlud.com <http://www.drtlud.com/>
On 9/30/2012 4:35 AM, Energies Naturals C.B. wrote:
Hallo Paul, Ron and others,
uniformizing low density fuels and uneven size fuels has always been
a problem.
I found a good solution in the Ecoworxx all-in one pelletizer.
This is a unique device which has a big hopper on top and a rasping
drum underneath it.
It will reduce virtually any feedstock less than 12 cm diam to
particles between 1 and 6 mm.
These fall into a mixing chamber below where the moisture content is
measured and -if too dry- water is added by an automatic pump.
A second moisture sensor at the entrance to the dosifying screw
regulates the addition of water.
The ground biomass is fed into the flat die press underneath and
leaves it as prime grade pellets.
You can change the die in 10 minutes and have the choice to produce
6 -8 -12- 16 -20 -and 25 mm pellets on the same machine!
It doesn´t come from China, though because despite the price
advantage, all the units I saw never met the quality standard for
trouble free use. And you cannot move away from them because they
have to be fed continuously.
Our machine is entirely designed and manufactured in Germany, meets
the CE requirements and really works!
If you are interested, come to the Expobioenergia fair in
Valladolid/Spain on 23-25.Oct. this year where we shall expose two
working units.
We just pelletized whole canes of Arundo Donax in one go into
wonderfull hard 6 mm fuel pellets!
Many more samples have been tested successfully. We would be happy
to test yours!
No time to visit the fair?
Check www.ecoworxx.de <http://www.ecoworxx.de/> and if you call or
write in my name they will know your problem !
Rolf Uhle
Energies Naturals C.B.
(sober again, Ron?)
Am 30.09.2012 05:39, schrieb Paul Olivier:
Ron,
You bring up a very good point here. If the biomass is uniform,
granular and dry, it becomes very easy to process in a TLUD. That
is why it is so appealing to work with biomass that is already
uniform, granular and dry, such as rice hulls and coffee husks.
But if we have biomass that is not uniform, granular and dry (such
as straw, pine needles or sawdust), then we might think about
drying and pelletizing it. In this way we have a top-quality
gasifier fuel. This allows us to take full advantage of both the
biochar and gas. In the case of rice hulls and coffee husks, the
gas has a much greater commercial value than the biochar. In making
biochar it is such a pity to waste the gas.
Also when we pelletize biomass, the bulk density can reach as high
as 600 kgs/m3. This means that if we use a gasifier for purposes of
household cooking, the height of the reactor has to be only a
fraction of the height of a reactor utilizing undensified biomass
such as rice hulls (of a bulk density of less than 100 kgs/m3). If
we do not change the height of the reactor, then cooking times per
batch can last three or four hours. When we have thousands of
households and small business using gasifiers, then we do not have
to think about making biochar as an independent activity.
I really like small pellets of a diameter of about 6 mm. Of course
there is the cost of buying a pellet machine. But they are quite
cheap out of China. And there is the cost of electricity or fuel to
make the pellets. But this cost is easily offset by the value of
the syngas produced. Even in a poor country such as Vietnam, it is
easy to buy pellets in local markets.
Thanks.
Paul
On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 9:48 AM, Ronald Hongsermeier
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Dear Alex,
I haven't carefully read the whole thread but haven't seen
granularity of fuel addressed. Isn't that what makes a lot of
difference in the flame/gas quality ( along with the moisture
content, of course ) and determines the necessity of either
using or not using forced air? Regarding Dr. Karve's drums I'm
wondering how careful everyone is in emphasizing fuel moisture
and particularity/uniformity issues in using these tools.
I think my first sentence above applies to both DD (Imberts or
others) and TLUD's.
regards,
Ronald von der Oktoberfestnähe
(mein heutiger Name wird nur dann getragen bei einer
Bierleichensichtungsrate von > 1 / Tag ;-) )
On 29.09.2012 20:55, Alex English wrote:
Tom,
I guess it may depend on what you consider a clean burn. My
experiments focused the gases through a smaller out let pipe
and then added the secondary air. So for a two foot diameter
drum the pipe was three inches in diameter. Air was
introduced near the top having only half that distance to
penetrate, and combustion occurred in a six inch diameter
chimney , six feet tall above.
Combustion was measurably good to very good nineteen times out
of twenty.
So, what indeed is the limit?
Alex
On 2012-09-29 11:47 AM, "Tom Miles" <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
AD, Paul, Kobus and others. Many thanks for the suggestions.
What is the largest practical size (kg fuel/hr, kW) for a
single TLUD with a clean stack for heat recovery? There
must be a limit to the air penetration to get a clean gas
burn form a natural draft stack or even a fan driven TLUD.
Tom
*From:*[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
[mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>] *On
Behalf Of *Anand Karve
*Sent:* Friday, September 28, 2012 11:22 PM
*To:* Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
*Subject:* Re: [Stoves] Fabricated Burn Barrel TLUDS
Dear Tom,
we regularly supply charring kilns made out of used 55
gallon drums. The kilns are based on the TLUD principle.
The cost of a kiln plus an extra barrel for storing the
char, is about US$100. We have sold more than 100 such
kilns in India and have also trained a number of persons
from India and Africa. These kilns are so easy to
manufacture, that we ask the trainees to photograph and
take measurements of our kiln so that they can copy the
design. In many instances, people buy a kiln from us,
because they feel that their local fabricator would be
better able to copy the design from an actual object than
from a blue print or a photograph.
The advantage of using 55 gallon drums is that used drums
are available at a relatively low cost, and the kilns are
portable. Instead of transporting the biomass, one
transports the kiln to the location where the biomass is
available, and brings back only the charred material,
which weighs only a third as much as the biomass.
Yours
A.D.Karve
On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 11:42 PM, Tom Miles
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Am often asked if there is a burn barrel sized TLUD that
is commercially fabricated. We've seen some great DIY with
Doug's Jolly Roger and others. Is anyone fabricating a 55
gal drum sized TLUD that can be used for regular biochar
production? If so, what is the cost and availability?
Thanks
Tom Miles
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