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........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND .......................................................
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jon
Joined: 04 Feb 2007
Posts: 26
Location: South of Cork
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 Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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Just an up date on the pellet situation. Apparently there was and is plenty pf pellets in Ireland, it was a distribution problem. There is also five pellet processing plants in Ireland which are due to come on line this year. So we may well be ok. It will be a good idea to buy in bulk this summer and get the best prices. 
Jon
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wayland
Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 1171
Location: Campile. Wexford
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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I was reading in the farmers journal about a farmer who has set up the first Irish wood pellet manufacturing enterprise. Good luck to them. It may well be a possibilty for local lads to do, supplying local needs. This may well keep the price in check also 
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JayBee
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 21
Location: Kerry (but really a Kilkenny Cat)
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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If I may put the cat amongst...
I am against wood pellets because of the oil and natural gas used to produce them.
If you can afford it then a wood chip boiler is better because you can chip your own wood.
This is what turned me on to another system called wood gasification. 95% plus efficiency, no smoke, DIY chipping and DIY built gasifier.
There are gasifiers on the market and I believe a German fella in Donegal sells them if you don't fancy the DIY approach.
I am anti-middlemen so prefer DIY as my first port of call with everything.
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James
http://the-goodlife.blogspot.com |
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Paddy
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| JayBee wrote: |
This is what turned me on to another system called wood gasification. 95% plus efficiency, no smoke, |
I am interested in your remark here of 95% efficiency and how that is broken down, could you explain please.? |
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JayBee
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 21
Location: Kerry (but really a Kilkenny Cat)
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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That particular efficiency level is determined by how much of the wood (by weight) is converted to heat/work and not soot/ash/tar etc.
A gasifier is enclosed. Automotive ones do not have chimneys as the gas is scrubbed and fed into an engine. A stove style gasifier consumes tars/creosotes within itself and then the gas is ported to the burner.
I have weighed the chips going into my gasifier and after a burn weighed the ash. The ash to chip ratio gives the efficiency of the burn.
A pellet stove achieves a similar efficiency but as I mentioned an awful lot of oil and gas goes into their production so their efficiency and green credential is affected through that.
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James
http://the-goodlife.blogspot.com |
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Paddy
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| JayBee wrote: | That particular efficiency level is determined by how much of the wood (by weight) is converted to heat/work and not soot/ash/tar etc.
A gasifier is enclosed. Automotive ones do not have chimneys as the gas is scrubbed and fed into an engine. A stove style gasifier consumes tars/creosotes within itself and then the gas is ported to the burner.
I have weighed the chips going into my gasifier and after a burn weighed the ash. The ash to chip ratio gives the efficiency of the burn.
A pellet stove achieves a similar efficiency but as I mentioned an awful lot of oil and gas goes into their production so their efficiency and green credential is affected through that. |
I understand and agree with that Jaybee but just because you can burn with little residue doesnt mean you have an efficient burn, you would have to test your products of combustion gasses to see how much carbon monoxide you are spewing out.
Also that conversion into heat has to be recovered efficiently and unless you have a very good efficient heat into water ratio then it all becomes pointless but a very good step in the right direction.
All fuel which has to harnessed or harvested and then transported will consume energy in the form of electricity or oil, i am interested in why you say chippings use less energy, is it because they dont have to be processed??? |
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JayBee
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 21
Location: Kerry (but really a Kilkenny Cat)
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Paddy wrote: | | I understand and agree with that Jaybee but just because you can burn with little residue doesnt mean you have an efficient burn, you would have to test your products of combustion gasses to see how much carbon monoxide you are spewing out. |
Wood gas is carbon monoxide. It is the main combustible ingredient. A gasifier turns the wood into charcoal which reacts with water to give CO and H2 with a few alkanes, alkenes etc. That is why it is so efficient. The wood gas does not get the chance to escape into the atmosphere like it does in a ordinary wood stove.
| Paddy wrote: | | All fuel which has to harnessed or harvested and then transported will consume energy in the form of electricity or oil, i am interested in why you say chippings use less energy, is it because they dont have to be processed??? |
That would depend on your source of fuel and how you chip it. At the moment all the wood is mine and I use electricity to chip it. In time I will use renewable energy to produce electricity. In fact I will use a wood gas powered generator.
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James
http://the-goodlife.blogspot.com |
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Paddy
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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| JayBee wrote: | | Paddy wrote: | | I understand and agree with that Jaybee but just because you can burn with little residue doesnt mean you have an efficient burn, you would have to test your products of combustion gasses to see how much carbon monoxide you are spewing out. |
Wood gas is carbon monoxide. It is the main combustible ingredient. A gasifier turns the wood into charcoal which reacts with water to give CO and H2 with a few alkanes, alkenes etc. That is why it is so efficient. The wood gas does not get the chance to escape into the atmosphere like it does in a ordinary wood stove.
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That is not in question, it depends how you burn the gas that determines how efficient the burn was, and the only way to test that is to analize the products of combustion ( flue gas ). Then you will have the result of how efficient your system is at burning gas.
But that is only part of the problem...the next step is to convert the energy you have produced into heat for your home and the transfer of heat into say your hot water or central heating system has to be done in the most efficient way possible. |
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JayBee
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 21
Location: Kerry (but really a Kilkenny Cat)
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Paddy wrote: | | But that is only part of the problem...the next step is to convert the energy you have produced into heat for your home and the transfer of heat into say your hot water or central heating system has to be done in the most efficient way possible. |
Now, that's a heat transfer efficiency problem and not efficiency of energy release as my post first stated.
It was also efficient on my wallet. I didn't open it. Just picked up the necessary scrap and got stuck in. I do so hate paying those middlemen.
I think that is the real reason why UCC turned down my application to do their MSc in Sustainability. I proposed a research paper investigating the sustainability of wood pellet manufacture!
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James
http://the-goodlife.blogspot.com |
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Paddy
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| JayBee wrote: | | Paddy wrote: | | But that is only part of the problem...the next step is to convert the energy you have produced into heat for your home and the transfer of heat into say your hot water or central heating system has to be done in the most efficient way possible. |
Now, that's a heat transfer efficiency problem and not efficiency of energy release as my post first stated.
It was also efficient on my wallet. I didn't open it. Just picked up the necessary scrap and got stuck in. I do so hate paying those middlemen.
I think that is the real reason why UCC turned down my application to do their MSc in Sustainability. I proposed a research paper investigating the sustainability of wood pellet manufacture! |
 not one to rock the boat then.
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