We’ve completed the GEK assembly work, please find attached the picture of the assembly and the GEK itself. Please comment where applicable.
We try to run the GEK unit but somehow nothing comes out except for the air from the air compressor. From my observation it seems the charcoal is not burning enough probably due to not enough air (oxygen) inside the reactor. Please advice. We used wood pellet for the biomass, in between coal and biomass we pour in diesel to help with the burning, I use charcoal dust for the filter housing with a cloth as the top cover (under the perforated screen), I use perlite as the insulation material between inner stainless steel and reduction bell, we burn through the ignition port for about 15 minutes using torch,
Also, please advice the thermocouple for the top of the reduction bell, where should it be installed from?
http://wiki.gekgasif...BLY PICTURE.pdf
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JayAlchemAPL
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Posted 08 July 2011 - 11:00 PM
Ahmad,
Thank you for shooting me another email, for we have been changing our email system and I did not catch this email until now, but we now have this sorted out. I apologize for the delay.
About the questions in your email:
If you are only getting air from the air compressor coming through the flare, you might want to check to see if you have the gate valve (or ball valve) open that is between the flare and the filter. If this is the case, check to see if your ignition port and/or your air port is open on the reactor. These are the only openings you should have when starting the reactor.
You will want to fill the charcoal up to about four inches from the top of the reactor. This will provide for an easier start. You will want to still put diesel fuel near the nozzles and the ignition port inside the reactor for starting.
Check the media in your filter housing, make sure that it is not clogged. The reactor and filter pressure should be no more than 2''H2O difference. If it reads a difference greater than this, you may want to clean out the filter media. What is the particle size of the media that you have in the filter? You might not want to go any finer than a 1/16th'' for the particle size, any smaller facilitates clogging or choking of the gas flow through the filter media.
When lighting, sometimes I will add a little more diesel fuel through the ignition port along the way, to ensure that it is enough to light the bed. You will also want to start with dry feedstock, anything over 15% moisture content by dry weight is a little on the high side for a fast start. You should be able to light it under 10 minutes.
The thermocouple for the top of the reduction bell will pass through the instrumentation port (refer to our online instructions: http://wiki.gekgasif...-the-GEK-v4-Kit) and snake down the side of the reactor wall (make sure it is out of the way and does not impede the flow of feedstock), and terminate inside the thermocouple protection tube that is attached to the reduction bell. Make sure it is all the way through to the tip of the tube. Use some high temp mortar to seal it into place.
To answer the questions in the pictures:
In your second picture you have the air inlet of the reactor appropriately labeled as the air opening. The top most opening with the square flange is not actually an air opening. The black component that sits on top of the reactor is the Pyrocoil. This is a heat exchanger to scavenge the heat from the exhaust of the wood gas engine. There are two square flanges on this component one for exhaust in and one for exhaust out. You do not have to worry about attaching anything here unless you are running an engine.
If the barrel is damaged to the point where it is leaking or the flange is severely bent and you are not able to run the GEK with it in this condition let us know and we will send a replacement component to you. We will have to have the damaged item sent back to us so we can file a report through the shipping company. Let me know if you want to procede with this, I'll be glad to help.
In the next picture of the filter housing, The threaded bung on the top of the filter lid should be populated with the brass barb which, you are right, will connect to the manometer tubing. This will be the filter pressure reading. The 1/2 bung at the bottom of the filter will just be plugged with a 1/2'' plug. This 1/2'' bung is used to drain out any condensate that may collect in the bottom of the filter barrel.
Also in this picture is a lighter, hopefully you are not using this to light the GEK or the flare! It is best to use a hand held propane torch, these allow the distance needed to light both of these things as well as a constant flame for longer amounts of time. Just checking!
The auger runs simply off of the paddle switch on the reactor lid. This circuit has a breaker switch in line to trip if the auger experiences resistance with the feedstock. You will just need 12vDC (car battery or power supply) for the auger motor. In your case, the GCU does not control the auger. The GCU is most likely set up with the Datalogging Code which will read all of the sensors and ports and give a value. You can set the GCU up to datalog these values via PuttyTel. More information on the GCU here on our website: http://wiki.gekgasif...er-Control-Unit
The manometer readings that you are reporting are within range.
In the photo you have right after the manometer pictures, you have then ignitor port labeled correctly. The air opening, or the air inlet is the threaded 1'' port on the reactor. The other smaller thread-less ports are not intended as air inlets. These are instrumentation ports that are populated and sealed with 1/2'' pipe ~2-3'' in length. These are sealed in with the high temp mortar. You will want to plug one up entirely, while using the other to feed in the thermocouple probe for the top of the reduction bell. In this same picture, yes, you will drill an 1/8th'' hole in the 1/2 cap to insert the 1/8th'' thermocouple into the bottom of the reduction bell, be sure to seal this with high temp mortar. The manometer tubing also connects to this port as well. There is a 1/2 T-fitting that will thread onto the gas cowling which will accomodate these two sensors. For more information refer to the assembly instructions on our site: http://wiki.gekgasif...-the-GEK-v4-Kit
I see that you have a shorter length of the silicone tubing, I will make a note here to send you a length that will fit without raising the height of the filter barrel.
Let me know if you have any further questions,
Cheers,
Jay
ALL Power Labs
Thank you for shooting me another email, for we have been changing our email system and I did not catch this email until now, but we now have this sorted out. I apologize for the delay.
About the questions in your email:
If you are only getting air from the air compressor coming through the flare, you might want to check to see if you have the gate valve (or ball valve) open that is between the flare and the filter. If this is the case, check to see if your ignition port and/or your air port is open on the reactor. These are the only openings you should have when starting the reactor.
You will want to fill the charcoal up to about four inches from the top of the reactor. This will provide for an easier start. You will want to still put diesel fuel near the nozzles and the ignition port inside the reactor for starting.
Check the media in your filter housing, make sure that it is not clogged. The reactor and filter pressure should be no more than 2''H2O difference. If it reads a difference greater than this, you may want to clean out the filter media. What is the particle size of the media that you have in the filter? You might not want to go any finer than a 1/16th'' for the particle size, any smaller facilitates clogging or choking of the gas flow through the filter media.
When lighting, sometimes I will add a little more diesel fuel through the ignition port along the way, to ensure that it is enough to light the bed. You will also want to start with dry feedstock, anything over 15% moisture content by dry weight is a little on the high side for a fast start. You should be able to light it under 10 minutes.
The thermocouple for the top of the reduction bell will pass through the instrumentation port (refer to our online instructions: http://wiki.gekgasif...-the-GEK-v4-Kit) and snake down the side of the reactor wall (make sure it is out of the way and does not impede the flow of feedstock), and terminate inside the thermocouple protection tube that is attached to the reduction bell. Make sure it is all the way through to the tip of the tube. Use some high temp mortar to seal it into place.
To answer the questions in the pictures:
In your second picture you have the air inlet of the reactor appropriately labeled as the air opening. The top most opening with the square flange is not actually an air opening. The black component that sits on top of the reactor is the Pyrocoil. This is a heat exchanger to scavenge the heat from the exhaust of the wood gas engine. There are two square flanges on this component one for exhaust in and one for exhaust out. You do not have to worry about attaching anything here unless you are running an engine.
If the barrel is damaged to the point where it is leaking or the flange is severely bent and you are not able to run the GEK with it in this condition let us know and we will send a replacement component to you. We will have to have the damaged item sent back to us so we can file a report through the shipping company. Let me know if you want to procede with this, I'll be glad to help.
In the next picture of the filter housing, The threaded bung on the top of the filter lid should be populated with the brass barb which, you are right, will connect to the manometer tubing. This will be the filter pressure reading. The 1/2 bung at the bottom of the filter will just be plugged with a 1/2'' plug. This 1/2'' bung is used to drain out any condensate that may collect in the bottom of the filter barrel.
Also in this picture is a lighter, hopefully you are not using this to light the GEK or the flare! It is best to use a hand held propane torch, these allow the distance needed to light both of these things as well as a constant flame for longer amounts of time. Just checking!
The auger runs simply off of the paddle switch on the reactor lid. This circuit has a breaker switch in line to trip if the auger experiences resistance with the feedstock. You will just need 12vDC (car battery or power supply) for the auger motor. In your case, the GCU does not control the auger. The GCU is most likely set up with the Datalogging Code which will read all of the sensors and ports and give a value. You can set the GCU up to datalog these values via PuttyTel. More information on the GCU here on our website: http://wiki.gekgasif...er-Control-Unit
The manometer readings that you are reporting are within range.
In the photo you have right after the manometer pictures, you have then ignitor port labeled correctly. The air opening, or the air inlet is the threaded 1'' port on the reactor. The other smaller thread-less ports are not intended as air inlets. These are instrumentation ports that are populated and sealed with 1/2'' pipe ~2-3'' in length. These are sealed in with the high temp mortar. You will want to plug one up entirely, while using the other to feed in the thermocouple probe for the top of the reduction bell. In this same picture, yes, you will drill an 1/8th'' hole in the 1/2 cap to insert the 1/8th'' thermocouple into the bottom of the reduction bell, be sure to seal this with high temp mortar. The manometer tubing also connects to this port as well. There is a 1/2 T-fitting that will thread onto the gas cowling which will accomodate these two sensors. For more information refer to the assembly instructions on our site: http://wiki.gekgasif...-the-GEK-v4-Kit
I see that you have a shorter length of the silicone tubing, I will make a note here to send you a length that will fit without raising the height of the filter barrel.
Let me know if you have any further questions,
Cheers,
Jay
ALL Power Labs
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