Big Wind Biochar Dump Load Regulation

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Comment by Eric Koch on October 12, 2009 at 11:23am

Hmmm...it sure would be nice to route a cyclonic combustor to a turbo impeller with the compressor end replaced by a pm alternator and develop the high tension screal that the plasma jet wants strait off....

but that takes the heat load away from the wind source..

but what if i tap the wind unregulated ,post rectifier, into a small LiPo dc cache that sources the 60 cps inverter...then use the dc as a control voltage to throttle the cyclonic combustor and engage and disengage the microwave pre-dry to sink under high voltage conditions and use a paralleled schottky rectifier to source current from the cyclonic turbine under low voltage conditions.

Oooooooooo........ darn it...that's still not enough power sinking capacity..and a possibly unattended auto feeding chipper shredder sounds really troublesome....still thinking.

Comment by Eric Koch on October 12, 2009 at 7:40am

thanks Erich,

for the yahoo group link.. a wealth of information and knowledgeable contacts (including a means to contact Erich for the PDF)
if there is a way to get a PDF into one of these boxes it's beyond me as well..

since charcoal production for the exclusive purpose of gasification yields a carbon neutral power source,i would consider topics pertaining to gasification to be fringe,however acceptable,topics....the GEK 3.0 experimenters format seems to be becoming very popular and gives experimenters an "all on the same page" platform from which to compare notes..

http://www.gekgasifier.com/

the site holds a wealth of information...this page on gasification gives some hand holds on the processes involved....a newcomer to biochar (such as myself) can easily identify at what point the biochar objective requires refineing the targasses by a means other than reduction, or combusting the targas directly as a means of obtaining pyrolysis heat.

http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-basics/how-it-works/

the GEK 3.0 gassifier has seemingly reached a very refined state as per

http://gekgasifier.pbworks.com/Tower-of-Total-Thermal-Integration

however, i personally; am hanging off the edge of my seat on the latest incarnation:

http://www.gekgasifier.com/reactor-options/pyrolysis-biochar/

and so now the cyclone genset Erich had previously mentioned finds it's place in stead of the cyclonic pyrolysis combustor,which is then replaced by a plasma arc....( i've crumpled up allot of sketches...but feel i'm on the verge of a breakthrough.

Comment by Erich J. Knight on October 11, 2009 at 10:27pm

Here is the latest paper , but I don't know how to download to your forum here.

a group effort by Paul S Anderson, Ph.D. -- aka Dr. TLUD ("Dr. Tee-lud")
Biomass Energy Consultant with BEF, & Partner in Chip Energy.
Specialist in micro-gasification. Office & Res: 309-452-7072
www.chipenergy.com
www.bioenergylists.org/andersontludconstruction

And;
Dr. Hugh McLaughlin (Alterna Energy), ,
Dr. Frank Shields
Dr. Tom Reed (Biochar Systems)

Some one send an email and I will forward the pdf.

Erich

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/message/8857

Comment by Eric Koch on October 11, 2009 at 8:23pm

ummm....ok, must be some trade secrets he doesn't feel inclined to discus.

i'm going to guess it has allot to do with porosity of the carbon structures...kinda like making little carbon bird houses...sept not for birds but for soil organisms...like the door holes and the houses need to be of a somewhat particular size so as to be found acceptable to these tiny creatures.

Comment by Eric Koch on September 28, 2009 at 5:09pm

I do have some questions for our resident expert Erich J Knight..

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node

obviously there are some distinct differences between your run of the mill charcoal and quality biochar...any tips on what to look for, structure wise on the microscopic level, for the experimenters amongst us.

Comment by Robert Schultz on September 28, 2009 at 5:03pm

Thanks Eric!

I just dug up my 6x6' potato patch this weekend. Dumped a bunch of biochar mixed with chopped sunflower stems and some other garden waste into the hole, then covered it all back up with the dirt. Hopefully the soil produces a bit better than my little Spo-tatoes. Nobody in Idaho is worried about losing their market share from those little tater tots.

Comment by Eric Koch on September 28, 2009 at 4:40pm

thanks Robert,

i hope every one can take a little time to contact their representatives...i just copy/ pasted the whole wright up Robert had on his action page, into the message box, and titled it WECHAR act of 2009

Comment by Robert Schultz on September 28, 2009 at 4:10pm

Call or write your Senators and Representatives today and ask them to support the WECHAR bill. Reduces water drain from invasive weeds, builds soil fertility with microbial growth, carbon sequestered in the soil, can also produce biofuel and syngas.

Support WECHAR bill to promote development of biochar

Comment by Robert Schultz on September 25, 2009 at 3:27pm

September 24, 2009: Senator Reid Introduces “WECHAR” Bill to Develop Biochar Technology

On Thursday, September 24, 2009, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and four cosponsors (Senators Max Baucus and John Tester of Montana, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico), introduced the “Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009.” The bill establishes a loan guarantee program to develop biochar technology, initiates a program of biochar landscape restoration projects on public land, and authorizes a competitive grant program to fund research on biochar characteristics, impacts and economics.

In the face of climate change, drought is an ever growing problem in the Western US, exacerbated by water-sucking weeds like tamarisk (salt cedar), which can consume 200 gallons of water a day, per plant. These invasive weeds, along with other excess biomass in the form of beetle-killed trees, forests with dangerous fuel loading, and dense pinyon-juniper thickets that have invaded native sagebrush ecosystems, are ideal feedstocks for biochar.

In addition to providing loans for technology development and grants for research, the legislation directs the U.S. Geological Survey to assess the amount of feedstock in the form of invasive weeds and hazardous fuels on the public lands, the amount of carbon and biochar production potential in that feedstock, and the potential for water savings if it were removed.

Senator Reid’s office indicates that water savings achieved through the bill could be substantial: “The potential for millions of gallons in annual water savings from the elimination of water-robbing invasive tamarisk will be particularly meaningful in Nevada. Elimination of this scourge in our watersheds can offset a significant portion of our water needs.”

By using Western invasive weeds and dangerous fuel loads as feedstock for biochar production, the bill seeks to match undesirable material on the landscape that would otherwise be expensive to eliminate with a process that requires a large source of woody material to make valuable products and provide critical ecosystem services like carbon sequestration.


Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009
For a summary of the WECHAR bill. The full text is available here.

For more information go to: United States Biochar Policy

Comment by Erich J. Knight on September 15, 2009 at 3:05pm

Hi All,
CALL YOUR SENATORS!!

Soil carbon as a sink Is critical in oh so many ways. First: across the political/energy/AGW spectrum all agree building soil carbon IS GOOD.


"Recommendations to Enhance the Biological Sequestration Provisions of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
25x'25 Carbon Work Group
Sept. 9, 2009
Introduction
The 25x'25 Carbon Work Group (CWG) has been engaged for more than a year in a process of identifying key policy options for delivering climate change solutions from the land and allowing the agricultural and forestry sectors to be rewarded for their contributions to emissions reductions via direct reductions, avoidance, and sequestration. One of the Work Group’s principal conclusions was that the agriculture and forestry sectors are well positioned to offer solutions to counter climate change and with the correct enabling policy farm, ranch and forestland owners have much to gain."


"Under the program design we envision, all three types of bio-seq offset seller risk discounts - unintended reversal, leakage, and temporal - would be folded into a single, simple percentage discount for each bio-seq offset project type. This allows an offset provider or potential provider to observe current and expected future market prices and be able to calculate the monies to be received as a percentage of that price. At that point, the seller’s sole responsibility is to meet protocol accounting rules for data collection, monitoring and verification, leaving them fully immunized against events outside their control."

http://advancedbiofuelsusa.info/25-x-25-offers-recommendations-to-make-cap-trade-work-with-biosequestration

http://www.25x25.org/storage/25x25/documents/Carbon_Subcommittee/25x25%20cwg%20hr%202454%20bio-seq%20recommendations%209_03_09.pdf



The reversal, leakage, and temporal risk discounts should be a walk in the park for Biochar
They list CH4 in the final line of Appendix as "uncapped sector", when to my mind there should be a mechanism for N2O & CH4 carbon equivalence. (maybe a validation bridge too far?)

Erich

And;

There are dozens soil researchers on the subject now at USDA-ARS.
and many studies at The up coming ASA-CSSA-SSSA joint meeting;
http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2009am/webprogram/Session5675.htm

Seen my field Trials? TP-REPP

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node

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