New box for GCU mounting

[jimmason]

bear, jay, alec, and michael have been behind the soldering iron for a few weeks creating this control box for the 10kw gasifier genset skid. this is our solution for mounting the GCU to the skid in a manner that is both visible as well as protected for outdoor siting.

the solution uses a clear top NEMA box with two level parts mounting. the GCU is on a fold out plate on the top, underwhich is DIN rail for easy mounting of your other power components- relays, buss bars, etc. two holes are provided on the bottom of the box to route instruments/data and power in/out. reasonable separation between power and signal lines is maintained to minimize interference issues.

we made this box for the fully integrated skid solution, but we now think this packaging of the GCU will be relevant for research situations too. when using the GCU for testing, one usually needs to mount many related components, and deal with a tangle of wire and tube management issues (c.f bear's test bench hairball this last summer). this two level box solution keeps the mess well contained, and the viewables upfront for viewing.

[jimmason]

here's a wider shot that shows how the exhaust out attaches to the pyrocoil for externally heat assisted pyrolysis. the insulation is off the ss flex tube in this pix, but usually the tube is insulated. see seem to be getting about 500c at the inlet to the pyrocoil.

in the pix you can also see the bosch o2 sensor that is used for automated mixing. the sensor is read by the guc, which control a servo butterfly valve on the air intake for syngas/air mixing. the looping 1" tube on the left is for the air intake via the servo butterfly.

we've found the sensor will work while starting as well as running, thus we can control the mixture during startup via the same method.