Wood Fired Microturbine

[Radam]

Aside from running internal combustion engines on woodgas, there is a possibility of using a turbine. The only drawback is that its running at hurricane speeds. But you have fewer moving parts.

I found this: http://www.gas-turbines.com/t98-nt-xx/index.html
A cool site, lots of pictures and videos. These guys are actually running and making electricity. But it seems the last update is about 2 years old.


Wild stuff:

[Kyle McNamara]

Someone mentioned turbines being inefficient for mechanical power. That is wrong. They are the most efficient type of engine. Less friction losses than piston or rotary. I have seen sites like those mentioned, they are burning the gas as one would burn jet fuel. The expansion from the combustion creates the motive force to turn the primary. Also using turbochargers reduces the corrosion problems associated with "real" turbine engines because of the steel blades. Soot and ash can be a problem because of buildup. Think about this: do jets pre-heat their fuel? If you did want to preheat your fuel you could pass a tube through your hearth zone being careful not to cool your hearth too much. Cooler gas/air supply=denser charge for combustion=more gas/air=more power. That is why intercoolers are used in turbocharged engines. I have looked into this before but didn't have time to play with it. The combustion temp in the turbine may be high enough to crack the tar if it doesn't just build up on the blades.

[john wayne blount]

A turbine (other than tesla maybe) derives its power from the momentum (mass x velocity) of the particles of said gas. The hotter the gas the more boogey-scoot those molecules of gas will have. You can't change their weights, so the only way to optimize would be through heat, and that limit will be determined by the materials in the turbine. That being said, any filtering of gases will lead to cooling and less available energy. ANY heat added to the gases will add available power to the turbine as long as it holds up to the higher temps. One could perhaps filter the gases then pass them through another heat exchanger to achieve the limits of acceptable temperatures. Nothing wrong with doing that.

[Radam]

Every drop of tar not combusted means less heat from the fuel. And cyclones have been mentioned here already.

[Chris M.]

With a CYCLONE the tar issue might become less of an issue.

[Chris M.]

Gasification looks like a perfect mate for a CYCLONE engine. Now we just have to get one.

[Glenn A. Warren PE]

I would agree that researching the technology and it's application would be useful. To present a accurate description, in a format such as this blog could be useful to many. I have just returned from the NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) conference and trade show at the World Trade Center in Boston. Three days of 8 workshops and walking through 160 booths representing the solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and conservation energy sectors. I attended several workshops which discussed the topic of biomass gasification: Woody Biomass Energy Market Development and Strategic Plans" and "Of Crops and Cows: Researching Biofuels in New England". More to follow.

[Paul Fennema]

Hi, im new here,
I think it would be worth looking into tesla a little further, as far as I know there are companys successfully running tesla turbines burning a variety of different fuels! from gasoline to oil. in fact it may have been one of Tesla's goals when he inveted it. might be a very good prime mover for a genset, forced air, vacuum/blower motor or other

[Bill White]

, I'm new to the list , I'll be lurking and learning and contribute on occasion. Bill White

[Glenn A. Warren PE]

Ok Glenn; be critical about terms and spell "careful" wrong.

[Glenn A. Warren PE]

For the benefit of the understanding of all, we must be carefull to accurately describe and define the subject of our conversation. I am assuming that the discussion is about the Tesla (not Telsa) turbine. For readers not familiar with the technology, a basic introduction can be found in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_turbine
which begins:
The Tesla turbine is a bladeless centrifugal flow turbine expander patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. It is referred to as a bladeless turbine because it uses the boundary layer effect and not a fluid impinging upon the blades as in a conventional turbine.
This early technology is significantly less efficient than the modern axial flow gas turbine technology. My personal preference would be to find solutions for syn gas cleaning so as to provide an alternative fuel for the "off the shelf" gas turbine gen sets.
Pressurizing the gasifier, is another interesting concept. In my experience the most challenging issue would be to provide wood loading and ash/char removal from within a pressure vessel. There are rotary valves which I have used in the past to feed bulk solids to pneumatic conveying systems, which might be applicable with little modification.