Gasifier Systems and Kits
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The Basic GEK
The basic GEK kit includes all the components needed for a full gasification system. Don’t be fooled that the reactor is the main issue and all the other components are minor details. A complete wood gas generator is as much a filtering, cooling, vac/blower, gas distribution and burner system as it is the core gas making reactor. The GEK kit gives you all needed vessels, accessories and details -down to the last nut and bolt- to get you up, running, and producing engine grade gas.Every kit includes the following:
Instruments are also included with every kit so you can use our “speedometer” and “tachometer” operating instructions and keep your GEK in the good gas making range. See here for more specs on the basic GEK downdraft reactor. The basic GEK kit is offered in both “you weld” or “ready for assembly” forms: GEK LEVEL IV: GEK® TOTTI™ 20kW, Level III, Weld-It-Yourself Basic GEK® 10kW, Level III, Weld-It-Yourself |
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GEK Add-ons and Performance Parts
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The modular design of the GEK lets you add important performance parts and process elaborations to the basic kit. The most important of these is the Hot TOTTI (Tower of Total Thermal Integration) – a total heat recovery and recirculation solution that solves many of the problems with the historic Imbert.The Hot TOTTI is a combination of Auger Feed Drying Bucket and Pyrocoil IC exhaust gas heat exchanger. The Auger Feed Drying Bucket uses output wood gas to dry your incoming fuel, while at the same time cooling the outgoing gas. The PyroCoil heat exchanger returns heat from the engine exhaust back into the reactor, further eliminating drying loads as well as most of the pyrolysis load.The result is higher combustion and cracking temperatures for improved tar conversion, increased tolerance for high moisture fuels, and increased gasifier efficiency. Putting these waste heats back into the reactor also eliminates the need for a radiator at the end of the system to dump otherwise useful heat.The Hot TOTTI innovations are the main reason the GEK can deliver unusually good performance on regular wood chip fuel, with up to 30% moisture content– and do so in a compact and minimized form factor. See here for more detailed info on the Hot TOTTI. GEK Tower of Total Thermal Integration (TOTTI): Includes Level IV GEK plus Auger Feed Drying Bucket & Pyrocoil (stainless steel reactor and gas cowling, not pictured) $5,585  |
The finer print on GEK kits and add-on parts
(IMPORTANT NOTE: Most of the images below are of the GEK v3.5 and previous versions. All parts in red below are now stainless steel starting with the GEK v4.2, April 2011 and beyond. Otherwise the kit types and parts included remain the same, just improved. Any order always gets our most recent version and design refinements. The current version GEK photosets are here in the gallery.)
Basic GEK Level IV
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Basic GEK + Auger
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Process Control Unit
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| Kit Levels and Cost | Parts Included |
| GEK LEVEL IV: Welded, Ready to Assemble, Stainless Steel, Everything Complete, with instruments. Item 2505 $2,995 GEK Tower of Total Thermal Integration (TOTTI) |
   The Everything Complete Kit The Level IV GEK kit arrives at your door with fabrication completed, ready for you to assemble and run. Assembly on your end is minor, requiring only basic wrench turning and plumbing. There is no welding or other metal work required. Every detail part, down to the last nut and bolt, is included.The formal Assembly and First Firing instructionsare here.The Level IV kit also includes good temperature and pressure instruments so you can understand what is happening in your GEK, test out your personal configurations and customizations, and share the knowledge with others. The instrumentation package is pictured above and includes: – two channel digital thermocouple reader (type K) – two type K soft thermocouples, each 40″ long – one type K hard probe of 24″ length, with handle (good Omega instrument) – low pressure inches of H2O manometer to read vacuum, and a digital fuel moisture meter tester. We now include a dual column manometer instead of the pictured gauges. The gauges are too easy to clog.    For a full photo set of the current GEK Level IV Basic, see here in the main gallery. |
| GEK LEVEL III: All Sheet metal, plumbing and parts. Not welded, you fabricate. Item 2501 $1795 |
   All vessel tubes, flanges and endplates, + plumbing, hoses, blower/vac, instrumentation, and other details.The Level III kit includes all the rolled tubes, flange rings and end plates needed to make all vessels, as well as all accessory parts required to complete the full GEK gasifier system. The Level III kit is identical in parts to the Level IV kit but the welding is left for you to complete. This will require a MIG wire feed welder and modest welding skills. All the sheet metal parts are precut on a CNC plasma table and professionally rolled. You receive a kit that fits together easily and accurately, without any additional cutting or grinding. Nonetheless, expect about 3 full days of work to weld together the vessels. 2 more days for other assembly details. The Level III kit includes many accessory parts past the obvious plumbing needs, as well as the temp and pressure instruments listed above.Plumbing and Accessories: – plumbing to make air inlets and nozzles – stainless steel air preheating / gas cooling tubes. 6′ long. – ash handling mechanical parts – gas cowling legs – output gas plumbing – cyclone and filter plumbing – centrifugal vac/blower and motor – 8′ soft hose to burner – burner nozzle and plumbing – hose clamps – filter packing – gasket material – pipe tape – nuts and bolts – etc etc. Instrumentation: – two channel digital thermocouple reader (type K) – two type K soft thermocouples, each 40″ long – one type K hard probe of 24″ length, with handle (good Omega instrument) – low pressure inches of H2O manometer to read vacuum. See the GEK wiki sandbox for the complete fabrication instructions. |
| ADD-ONS to basic kit | |
| Auger Feed Drying Bucket: Fully assembled unit with all needed motors and electronics. Item 3500 $1395 GEK Tower of Total Thermal Integration (TOTTI) |
  Auger feed and fuel dryer/preheater.The auger feed and drying assembly bolts on top of the standard GEK reactor and cylone without modification. This system uses an auger and under hopper bucket that are double jacketed so that outgoing gas from the gasifier is circulated through the assembly to give up its heat to the fuel. There is a series of internal baffles in the double jacket to create a criss-cross gas flow across the inner tube for better heat transfer.Fuel level sensing is via a simple mechanical plunger which directly controls the auger motor. The drive motor is a pdm controlled 12vdc brushless gear motor for rpm between 10 and 50rpm. The solution also incorporates a stirring rod down the center of the reactor to help reduce bridging. The v3.0 GEK will include this stirrer as a default part of the kit, but if one does not already have it, it will be included with the auger.More details on the GEK auger are in the wiki here.For a full photo set of the GEK with the auger feed drying bucket add-on, see here in the main gallery. |
| PyroCoil: Welded and painted. Item 3600 $1195 GEK Tower of Total Thermal Integration (TOTTI) |
   PyroCoil: IC Exhaust gas heat exchangerThe GEK PyroCoil is a gas circulating heat exchanger used to introduce external heat sources to the pyrolysis zone of a downdraft gasifier. An external heat source for pyrolysis can significantly improve pyrolysis dynamics, resulting in tars which are easier to crack, as well as eliminating the thermal drag of pyrolysis from the combustion zone. The external heat source of greatest interest to return to the gasifier is the exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine. The PyroCoil can also be used to return hot flue gas from an external tar burning circuit.Using external heat sources to assist pyrolysis is an old idea in gasification. What is new here is a method to implement it easily, as part of the modular GEK gasifier system. The PyroCoil is designed as a simple double-jacketed shell which inserts into the standard GEK downdraft reactor, and bolts to the reactor top flange. It can be used with or without the fuel feed Auger. When used with the Auger, the PyroCoil replaces the doghouse lid that usually joins the Auger to the Reactor. The auger attaches to the large circular hole on the side. The two square flanges and mamifolds are for hot gas in and less hot gas out (no, the cyclone does not go here, is just the same flange shape). Internal baffles are used to circulate this gas down and around the double jacketed shell. The small holes through the sides of the shell are for tar recirculation systems in the hearth zone.More details on the PyroCoil are in the GEKwiki here.The combination of the basic GEK with the Pyrocoil and Auger Feed Drying Bucket is what makes the “Hot TOTTI (Tower of Total Thermal Integration) full heat recovery system. The TOTTI is here in the main gallery. |
| Process Control Unit (PCU): Item 3700 Full fill $1395 |
 The GEK PCUis an open source sensing and control board specifically designed for the types of instrumentation and automation problems encountered in biomass thermal conversion. The board is designed for research applications which need integrated instrumentation and datalogging. It is equally relevant for industrial applications where sensor input is used to control various motors, solenoids, fans and other control devices. In both cases, our goal is to provide the type of expert sensing and control solutions usually only found for tens of thousands of dollars through scientific or industrial equipment suppliers.The board offers a generous number of thermocouple, pressure, analog signal, and rpm timer inputs, with a similarly generous array of PWM speed control, servo driver and higher current DC switched outputs. Networking to other devices is supported via USB, serial, SD card and CANbus (the networking standard for contemporary engine systems). These features operate on top of a powerful native processor for stand alone operation, with a 4 line screen included for in situ instrument reading without a computer monitor.The GEK PCU is based on an Atmel AVR processor, with Arduino compatible firmware and software installed on top. This allows us to leverage the tremendously large user base and code libraries of the Arduino environment, though deployed over a richer measurement and control base than typical Arduino projects.More details on the PCU are in the GEKwiki here. |
To place your order by phone, call 510-845-1500 during the hours of 11 AM and 6 PM Pacific Standard Time. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have before you order.
Orders can be placed using the “buy now” buttons above, or via check to:
ALL Power Labs
1010 Murray Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
If you would like to pay by wire transfer, or need a formal invoice, please write to us at gek_at_allpowerlabs_dot_org or call 510-845-1500 between 11 AM and 6 PM Pacific Standard Time.
All prices are freight on board, Berkeley, CA, 94710. California sales tax of 8.75% applies to all orders within California.
Shipping
All kits nest into their hopper and filter for easy and inexpensive UPS shipping. You can see how we manufacture, stock and ship the GEK in the Fab Shop and Shipping photo gallery.
Domestic shipping is via UPS ground. Level III or IV kits are $245 and $295 to ship respectively anywhere in the United States. Shipments to BC Canada are the same rate. Eastern Canada is a bit more. Write us and we can quote specifics. International shipping is via UPS air freight, with a 5-7 day delivery. It is often faster than our domestic deliveries, surprisingly. In general we can ship to Europe for US$430; India, Australia, North Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America for $650; and Africa for around $800. Canada is regular UPS ground. GEK units can also be picked up at the shop in Berkeley, California.
The weight for each kit level is approximately:
Level III: 180lbs
Level IV: 195lbs
Questions? Contact us here.
