Australia, Oceania, New Zealand

Charcoal Gasification No. 5

Doug Willams, Fluidyne, August 23, 2007

Charcoal Gasifier No. 4: Operating the Charcoal Gasiifer
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, New Zealand, August 13, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

Ultimate test for Producer Gas
Doug Williams, Fluidyne Gasification, New Zeaqland, August 5, 2007

Gasification Colleagues,

Biomass Gasification Using Solar Thermal Energy (pdf)
M. Munzinger and K. Lovegrove, Solar Thermal Group, Department of Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA, ANZES 2006
Courtesy of Peter Singfield July 2007

Hydrogen from Biomass as an energy carrier has generated increasing interest in recent years. There are several different technologies to convert solid or liquid Biomass into a gas mix consisting of mainly hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Up to 30% of the energy stored in the product gas would originate from the sun by using solar thermal applications to source the conversion while the equivalent of 30% of the product gas would have to be burned using conventional approaches. This paper explains the principles of the main technical pathways for biomass gasification and shows their advantages and disadvantages especially in connection with the use of solar heat as energy source for the conversion reaction. Biomass gasification in supercritical water appears to be a simple and efficient and thus most convenient approach for solar thermal applications.

Charcoal Gasifier No 2
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, July 24, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

While charcoal gasifiers are as simple as desperation determines, the choices as to how they are designed is very much a factor of applied knowledge, using the materials that might be available. In the main, we will only be using components made of steel, and using basic welding equipment for assembly.

What is not discussed in literature on the subject of gasifier design, is the philosophy behind the design, and the phenomena created by that design. It is very clear that far to many people are locked into a mind set of chemical equations, and mathematical calculations before first being able to creating the correct phenomena to achieve the desired results.

Charcoal Gasifier No 1.
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, July 21, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

Back in June, I promised to give you some basic lessons on how to make a charcoal gasifier, and to explain some terminology. This is for those who understand nothing about gasification in a practical sense, so should kick start those with less ability or resources. It does not cover gasifiers that use raw biomass.

Conference Announcement for the International Agrichar Initiative (IAI) April 29-May 2, 2007 Terrigal, New South Wales, Australia

What is the International Agrichar Initiative?

The International Agrichar Initiative is an informal, newly-formed coalition of research, commercial and policy-oriented people and organizations devoted to the sustainability of the world’s soils, and to sustainable bio-energy production. Agrichar production and utilization can renew the world’s soils
through the addition of organic carbon, which can help solve the pressing problem of global climate change. The Agrichar production process also converts agricultural waste into valuable bio-fuels.

What is the ‘Agrichar process’?

Agricultural feedstocks such as animal manure, rice hulls, peanut shells, corn stover or forest waste are pyrolized at low temperatures to produce a char product (“Agrichar” or “biochar”) and separate bio-energy streams, in the form of oils and/or gases. The biochar captures about 50% of the carbon in the feedstock, and can be used as a soil amendment to improve soil fertility, stability, and productivity, and to store carbon in the soils, as a means of mitigating global warming. The use of Agrichar in soils mimics the Terra Preta (“dark earth”) soils of the Amazon Basin, which have sequestered high quantities of carbon for thousands of years, and have dramatically improved soil fertility and sustainability without chemical inputs. The bio-energy produced, which accounts for the other 50% of feedstock carbon, can be used to fuel a variety of energy needs.

During the 18th World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) in July 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a group of scientists, business interests, policy experts and others met to discuss the research priorities and challenges of this important area. The result is the International Agrichar Initiative, a movement to pursue a more organized research, development and commercialization effort to further the promise of Agrichar.
For information on the July 2006 meeting in Philadelphia and some current Agrichar-related projects and activities, go to: http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/WCSS2006/WCSSmeeting2006.htm

Conference Objectives

In follow-up to the July 2006 meeting, the 2007 conference will review progress achieved in the field of Agrichar production and utilization in the following areas:

Research, Development, and Deployment:
- Review the results of research and development work in the field of Agrichar and energy co-production
- Review demonstration and commercial programs that have been operating in the field
- Identify barriers to commercialization of the Agrichar product and technology, and methods to overcome these barriers
- Visit sites where Agrichar R&D is underway in Australia

Policy and Education Development
- Review new policy and educational initiatives in the field
- Review economic and environmental studies on the costs and benefits of Agrichar production and utilization

Organizational
- Review the goals and tenets of the International Agrichar Initiative
- Review initiatives and progress to establishing an International Agrichar Organization
- Prepare a business and development plan for the International Agrichar Initiative, including specific funding and development proposals, and stated programs goals, timelines
- Prioritize key management questions to be resolved in order to bring the Agrichar agenda to the next stage

IEA Task 33 Thermal Gasification of Biomass: Technical Presentations from the Fall Meeting Oct 30-Nov 2, 2006 Chicago, Golden, USA