The handling and preparation of fuels for gasifiers in the form of
wood chips is a stumbling block in the utilization of gasification
technology, both in industries and in the domestic sector. This situation
ismore serious if we have to put gasifier systems in remote rural areas
where they are really needed. These are the regions mostly suffering
from power shortages or absence of power. Feed stock preparation is
thus an important aspect of designing a gasifier system. Saravanakumar
[1] reports that the cutting of wood involves sizable amounts (10% to
15%) of wood wasted as dust.Where cost of wood is high, this wastage
will be a major cost addition. For these reasons we have designed, built
and tested gasifiers that can use long-sticks.
Wood was the primary energy source for cooking, heating and
metals production fromthe opening of recorded history until the time of
the industrial revolution. At the end of themiddle ages, wood was used
across India in smelters producing iron, copper, lead, and other
materials. Industrialization continued and demand growth for these
products. The demand for wood exceeded availability, causing the
shutdown of many smelters, shortages of wood for cooking and
deforestation. Woody biomass is considered the renewable energy
source with the highest potential to contribute to the energy needs of
modern society for both the developed and developing economies
world-wide (European Commission [2] and International Energy
Agency [3]). Woodchips is one of the sources of biomass renewable
energy that can produce gas from gasification. It has the greatest
potential of any renewable energy option for base-load electric power
production for electricity generator and heating. High penetration of
biomass technologies shall require abundant supply of biomass
resources. Wood shavings in fine form from wood process industries
and agricultural wastes have also been used to augment the supply of
heat both in domestic and industrial situations. Hislop and Hall [4]
reported that the third world where the availability of industrial
electricity is seen as a key factor in assisting development in rural areas,
gasification can provide a local source of electricity using local woody
biomass.