Charcoal bell nozzle

Fantastic book!
I found this and have been reading it online now.

Thanks Koen!

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Wow!! If you think you have a NEW idea for a gasifier === read this and you find someone has already tried it. TomC

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I just skimmed it but wow there is a lot of information.

I keep see the same graphs and pictures recycled into other peopleā€™s booksā€¦

OK, let me call the question, Max, have you built and run the type of charcoal bell nozzle set up you are advocating? (or anyone else you can refer us to) Or, is this a design you think will work based on knowledge of charcoal gasification? As you know, there is a big difference between what you think will work and what actually works. Have units like this been made during the war years or is this something more recent?
Your idea has generated a lot of discussion which is GREAT. I love to see charcoal get some of the attention, but I want to see practical results that can help move our gasification efforts forward. I know you have me thinking and ready to try something different but donā€™t feel like chasing rabbits down holes if that type of gasifier has already been tried and abandoned.
Gary in PA

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You been noseing around my shopā€¦ :wink:

Practice makes perfect.

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Just throwing this out there. Didnt know if this has been though of. You can use JIC compression fittings to put this all together.

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good find Matt, looking for it nowā€¦

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Hi, Gary!
3.3.2016
No, not yet! We have humbly to see who is going to wait the tableā€¦

Max

Weā€™ve used alumina-based TIG cups for all our nozzlesā€¦ Never any problems. They look identical every time we take them out. Of course, they are rated for heat that 1,000-2,000 degrees hotter than our oxidation zoneā€¦

If the idea is to prevent nozzle melting, this is one solution that works, and works brilliantly. They are available at any welding store or online, in various sizesā€¦ The threading is not NPT, itā€™s machine threading, so, all you need is an NPT-to-machine thread adapter (preferably stainless), and youā€™re good to go.

Ask Koen for his nozzle velocity calculator to match the right TIG cup size to your gas flow needsā€¦

Again, this is just one solution.

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Just a thought looking at the chemistry involves.
We want to get up too but hold no less than 1000f but not more than as yet an undefined operating temperature.

We use better materials to run higher temperatures.
But what is the advantage when most of the chemistry is running at an ideal around 1000+f.
Does 1200F make for better conversion rates?
I do not think so.
In fact I think this is a waste of energy.
We are trying to conserve the energy from the exothermic combustion zone to be used to reduce CO and H2O to CO and H2. ( endothermic )
Hotter does not improve this reaction, it simply transfers heat to the output gas that has to be cooled and wasted.
In a dry systems we can best manage 1/3 of your producer gas as usable non inert product.
If we get the temperatures right with the right amount of carbon + heat + steam the theoretical number could be 50% burnable gas.

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Wallace,
as you can see in the conversion table, it is selfexplaining why to choose for the higher temperature, the conversionrate is better.
further: every % Co2 in the gas is a loss of input energy in the system.
Also, drawing your gas thru the charcoal in the entire hight of our gasifier, gives cool gas, no need for extra cooling tubes or systems, the heat stays in the feedstock, thus reducing losses by heat transfer with 20-25%.
Keeping the temperature in the zone between 1200`C and ashmelting pointby either administering waterdrip or otherwise using the exhaust gas return gives the best results, that was already in the good old days when all started and is also now still workingā€¦

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Koen:
I am still researching this and trying to understate the science.
Thanks for your input.

I still struggle with the efficiency pull to updraft and the low restriction of trying ti cross draft.

ADDED:
Long day up since 3 am.
tired and not thinking straight.

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Wallace I think any loss in pressure due to pulling through the column is compensated for by the increased dwell time/conversion rate and the dramatic cooling of the gas. I understand the reactions and it still seems like magic. The end of run is fascinating and a little scary when you start running low on charcoal and you see that temp Guage start shooting up. It goes from this perfectly balanced endothermic/exothermic reaction to just a hot gas in matter of minutes. Play the game itā€™s lots of funā€¦

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Hi Wallace,
The best way , also the shortest, to understand and doing research at the same timeā€¦ : start building :wink:
Its simple and its magicā€¦

Once started with charcoalā€¦ your keyboard will get the same colorā€¦

Building without measurement tools will improve your observation skillsā€¦
100 years ago, they did not have thermocouplesā€¦ they used their eyesā€¦

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Ha ha!

Koen:
You know I carry a bottle of Graphite with me at all times to loosen up stiff door locks.
We call Graphite where I work " Ukrainian Pixy dust "
I am well familiar with coal dust, during strikes I would pick up coal on the railway tracks to feed the fire where we kept warm.
One year I heated my home with wood and pails of anthracite I picked aropund the tracks at workā€¦

carbon black or graphite turns your fingers black when it rubs off the keys in your pocket.
It also turns my key board silvery gray ( but I am not allowed to use a Computer at work except to look up company important details like health and safety data, or read the company news letter. No email for me I am not a boss lol )

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