GEK New PyroCoil Add-On
The 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 heat exchanger is a double-jacketed shell which inserts into the standard GEK downdraft reactor, and bolts to the reactor top flange.
