GAS-L: Gasifiers and engines

["Graeme Williams" <graeme@powerlink.co.nz>]

Dear Gasification Colleagues

I have watched with interest the latest round of enthusiastic discussion on
cheap gasifiers and even cheaper engines. Its even more interesting to read
the conclusions of these exchanges, particularly when so few have even seen
or operated a gasifier.

The difficulty of actually purchasing a gasifier from a manufacturer by an
individual is no indication that an untapped market exists.  Compared to the
manufacturers difficulty of finding an individual customer with money in a
market assessed to be large is a different story altogether.

Some of you seemed impressed by the cost of Indian gasifiers even though to
me their cost is far in excess of their worth if we built the same thing in
New Zealand.  Have a look again at the Pacific Class gasifier on the
Fluidyne archive (www.fluidynenz.250x.com) and see what you could have
bought in 1998 for US$15,996 FOB Auckland.  Freight to almost anywhere
averaged US$4,000 and for this amount you also got 2 years consumable spare
parts and a 1 year warranty on our components.  We also included 2 weeks of
training and installation assistance to the customer in his country of use,
although he had to feed and house us once we arrived.  Did that sound like a
good deal?

How about adding a Lister Dual fuelled generator set with a power supply
stability factor that exceeded the regulatory specifications, complete of
course with the Lister guarantee if used on our gasifier?

Even with price, service, and equipment like this we still couldn't sell
them!!

I feel quite stupid really when I read how easily it is proposed to convert
this or that engine for use with producer gas, and read a book or two on how
to eliminate tars, particularly when I think of the hoops we jumped through
to meet Listers' and other engine suppliers specifications.

 Possibly the ease of driving around Australia and cutting your fuel from
the roadside has appeal, but accessing these web pages from another country
doesn't enable it to be duplicated easily outside Australia.

Dead wood in the Australian bush is unlike anything I have seen on my
travels (I grew up there), in hardness, brittleness, dryness and quality in
its conversion to charcoal.  Its possibly the only fuel type where you can
add steam to improve the hydrogen content as there isn't much moisture left
after baking in the sun for untold years.  Don't take my word for it
however, and try adding steam to the next wood gasifier that comes your way!

For those of you who have only recently joined this forum, I would recommend
that you take time to read the early Gasification Archives.  It does take
time but you will have quite a lot of good solid information and comment on
most of the current subjects being discussed.  There is a lot more to
gasification than enthusiasm.

Regards
Doug Williams
Fluidyne Gasification.


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