Everyman’s gas well in a can, a distributed solution
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jockgill
Jun 14, 2010, 1:18:44 PM6/14/10
to Grass Energy
Please check this out
Everyman’s gas well in a can, a distributed solution
http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/archives/983
This will certainly work with densified grass biomass as well. The
system will need to be tuned for each fuel and form factor.
Feel free to share as you see fit.
I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Everyman’s gas well in a can, a distributed solution
http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/archives/983
This will certainly work with densified grass biomass as well. The
system will need to be tuned for each fuel and form factor.
Feel free to share as you see fit.
I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
jockgill
Jun 15, 2010, 3:00:40 PM6/15/10
to Grass Energy
Today I made a nice batch of grass pellet biochar in the Everyman’s
Gas Well in a Can [the one quart model]. They sank in the quenching
water and they passed the soap test. I also tasted tested the grass
biochar pellets and they were good. Much less gritty than wood pellet
biochar and softer. With, as expected, essentially neutral flavor.
The grass pellets are several years old and are from Jerry Cherney at
Cornell. They were made from Reed Canary grass and tested out at 3%
ash, or about 6X the ash in wood pellets. I wonder if this extra ash,
which produce zero clinkers, adds agricultural value to the biochar?
To get slightly higher temperatures for the grass, and to ensure more
complete charing of the bottom of the outer ring of wood pellets, I
added 5 small holes around the outside of the base of the host can [3
lbs Costco coffee can]. I also had to reduce the load in the retort
by about 50% as densified grass tends to expand when heated. If the
retort is full, as in my first run, the grass pellets expand so much
they choke off the pyrolysis before it completes. By allowing some
vertical headroom for expansion, I cured this problem.
Times:
Outer ring of wood pellets only went 57 minutes -- extra primary air.
This is about 3 minutes less time than runs without the extra 5 small
holes.
First gas flames from the retort were in about 17 minutes, as the top
part of the retort was empty for expansion space.
The grass pellets in the retort continued to produce gas that burned
for 18 minutes after the wood pellet flames went out. This is about
half the extended time as with a retort filled to the top with wood
pellets.
All in all very satisfactory results.
Next test: grass tablets
Gas Well in a Can [the one quart model]. They sank in the quenching
water and they passed the soap test. I also tasted tested the grass
biochar pellets and they were good. Much less gritty than wood pellet
biochar and softer. With, as expected, essentially neutral flavor.
The grass pellets are several years old and are from Jerry Cherney at
Cornell. They were made from Reed Canary grass and tested out at 3%
ash, or about 6X the ash in wood pellets. I wonder if this extra ash,
which produce zero clinkers, adds agricultural value to the biochar?
To get slightly higher temperatures for the grass, and to ensure more
complete charing of the bottom of the outer ring of wood pellets, I
added 5 small holes around the outside of the base of the host can [3
lbs Costco coffee can]. I also had to reduce the load in the retort
by about 50% as densified grass tends to expand when heated. If the
retort is full, as in my first run, the grass pellets expand so much
they choke off the pyrolysis before it completes. By allowing some
vertical headroom for expansion, I cured this problem.
Times:
Outer ring of wood pellets only went 57 minutes -- extra primary air.
This is about 3 minutes less time than runs without the extra 5 small
holes.
First gas flames from the retort were in about 17 minutes, as the top
part of the retort was empty for expansion space.
The grass pellets in the retort continued to produce gas that burned
for 18 minutes after the wood pellet flames went out. This is about
half the extended time as with a retort filled to the top with wood
pellets.
All in all very satisfactory results.
Next test: grass tablets
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