Wacky idea but hey, I'll throw it out there.

[EricV]

Anyone ever thought of making some sort of steel bin, cage, container or some sort of pot to hold pellets in a gasification boiler?

My idea is if someone ran out of wood could we make some sort of container to hold a pot of burning pellets in the boiler?

Don't flame me too hard, just thinking out loud.

 

[pybyr]

wacky ideas sometimes lead to useful innovations, so I don't think anyone should flame anyone over them

I remember a few years ago, when I was first reading up on pellets and other altfuel devices, at the time, someone was manufacturing and promoting a "retrofit pellet pot" that you could place in a woodstove or an old-tech updraft wood furnace or boiler, and allow you to burn pellets (although of course without the automatic pellet feed of manufactured pellet burning appliances)

It _seems_ like you could develop a device that migth accomplish a similar function for a downdrft gasifier, although it'd somehow have to hold the pellets in while still allowing the downdraft to function- more complicated than the other thing I saw that just sat on the bottom of a combustion chamber to hold the pellets, which burned upwards

I agree your idea might be a comforting fall-back to have, as long as it was relatively certain to not mess up a gasifier, and was also relatively simple and cheap to make or buy.

"bio bricks," though I am not familiar with them personally, sound like they'd be another "off the shelf" thing someone could have or buy if they run out of cordwood- and I recall mention that they are considered OK in a gasifier boiler. For a non-auto-feed system like a gasifier, they might be easier to handle than pellets anyway

 

[Titus]

Like these?:
(broken link removed to http://thepelleteer.com/faq.htm)

these?:
http://burnwoodpellets.com/
(nice instructions on use)

these?:
(broken link removed to http://www.energex.com/common/product_prometheus.php)

or these?:
http://www.ravenfirewood.com/alternative_fuels.htm

I'm sure there's more. But, the big question: These are designed for wood stoves and fireplaces. Is the burn chamber of the wood gasification unit too hot? Would it weaken/soften/damage/melt the basket?

You could get really big pellets and skip the basket.
http://www.biopellet.net/ (Lists NE dealers.)
http://ecologicalwood.com/ (Lists NE dealers.)

(broken link removed) (I bought some of these in Maine.)
http://www.mainebiomass.com/products (Sells Bioflamme in Brunswick, ME. With prices. Manufacturer says 350# biobricks = 1 cord BTU equivalent)

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.... wish that I were!

 

[EricV]

Yea, that's the idea. I think the heat would be ok because it doesn't get real hot until the smoke passes into the secondary chamber.

 

[Titus]

True with your Tarm, however many people have single chamber Seton designs.

Highlights are mine.
http://www.rohor.com/
"This boiler is the result of an extensive three year R&D;project completed over twenty years ago. First we discovered that the heavier tars and creosotes start burning above 1200° and steel starts to break down at 800°. This is the reason steel wood stoves burn dirty and do not last long. If you surround the fire with a steel fire box and water you remove the combustion heat before it reaches the temperature necessary for a clean burn. We burn the wood in a six inch thick refractory fire chamber surrounded by three inches of high temperature insulation and an airtight steel skin. The fire box temperature exceeds 1800° and the skin temperature is less than 100°."
http://www.greenwoodfurnace.com/products.html
"As the fire grows, fresh air flows in through the air intake manifold (B), fanning the flames in the ceramic firebox. The gas reaches 2000º F before flowing out of the firebox and down the flame path toward the exhaust vent (C)."

 

[EricV]

Yep, on those designs the basket would probably melt down into a pool of slag.

 

[Bad Wolf]

I was wondering if you could burn wood chips in that basket. I have a TARM so hopefully the box dosen't get that hot. I've heard others say that its hard to get them dried out, but I figured that if I only burn one load a week, its that much less cord wood I have to buy, and chips are free.
Say take a couple of 5 gallon buckets, spread them out in the basement next to the furnace and stir them each time I go down, they should be fairly dry by the end of the week.

Greg H