When we think of air pollution in Vietnam, we normally think of outdoor air pollution in heavily populated urban areas.

However some of the worst areas air pollution occurs indoors in rural areas. The burning of biomass such as wood, coconut coir and other crop wood residues as a source of fuel generates smoke, particulates, carbon monoxide, methane and hundreds ti l t b id th dh d d of organic compounds including many carcinogens. As a result, thousands of people in Vietnam die each year. lt th d f l i Vi t di h
Technologies for Vietnam 2

According According to World Health Organization estimates, more people in the developing world die each year from conditions related to indoor air pollution mostly pollutionmostly from inefficient, solid-wood-burning stovesthan tuberculosis or malaria. malaria http://www.newsweek.com/id/226941/page/1

Technologies for Vietnam

Indoor cook stoves cause two million deaths per year in India alone. Also the soot from cook stoves has even been linked in a major way to the faster-than-expected rate of global warming and glacial melting. One might argue that many people cannot afford kerosene, LPG or kerosene propane, and that little can be done to stop the burning of low-grade bi fl d biomass fuels. f l

Technologies for Vietnam

Ultimately the answer does not lie in abandoning low lowcost biomass fuels, but in extracting from them a gas that burns as cleanly as propane or any other fossil fuel fuel. Perhaps there is no fuel that burns as poorly and generates so much smoke as rice hulls, and yet Alexis hulls Belonio, an agricultural engineer from the Philippines, did what all the experts said could not be done. h t ll th t id ld t b d

* http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/air-pollution/opinions/put-an-end-to-indias-cookingstove-pollution.html Technologies for Vietnam 5

Professor Belonio was able to produce from this difficult material a gas that is free of tar, a gas that produces a distinctly blue flame and consequently a flame, gas that produces no smoke, no particulates and no carcinogens. carcinogens For this he won in 2008 the prestigious Rolex Award for Enterprise. His invention will have a great i t impact throughout Vietnam. t th h t Vi t

Technologies for Vietnam

One ton of rice husks has the same energy as 378 liters of kerosene or 415 liters of petrol, easily supplying the fuel needs of a Vietnamese household for up to a year year. The same gas could be used in larger commercial operations: e.g. roasting coffee beans, preparing fresh eg beans noodles, cooking pho and so forth. The highland areas of Vi t f Vietnam produce a lot of coffee bean husks, d l t f ff b h k and this waste can also be processed in the Belonio gasifier, as our t i l have demonstrated. ifi trials h d t t d
Technologies for Vietnam 7

harvested and milled not yet harvested

Technologies for Vietnam

Technologies for Vietnam

Therefore with the help of Alexis Belonio, we will soon begin fabricating in Dalat top-lit updraft batch gasifiers for the gasification of rice and coffee bean husks. In all husks of these designs, air is blown in at the bottom underneath the grate, and gas exits at the top. A fan or grate top blower supplies air to the reactor, and the speed of this fan is f i controlled by a rheostat. t ll d b h t t

Technologies for Vietnam

10

The following pictures show the first prototype stove in full operation. It produces a bluish flame that is barely visible. Since then many improvements have visible then, been made.

Technologies for Vietnam

11

This picture was taken when the stove was in full operation. The hot flame from this stove is barely visible under normal lighting.

Technologies for Vietnam 12

Technologies for Vietnam 13

Technologies for Vietnam 14

Three models of stoves are foreseen: 1. model 150 = 2 kg to 4 kg of biomass per hour 2. model 250 = 5 to 10 kg of biomass per hour 2 3. model 500 = 20 to 40 kg of biomass per hour

Technologies for Vietnam

15

In operating the stop, ones removes the burner and fills the reactor with hulls. The hulls are lit, and the burner is hulls lit put back in place. It take about 15 seconds for the stove to b f ll t be fully operational, and over 45 minutes to gasify all ti l d i t t if ll of the hulls in the reactor. Generally this is enough time to cook a meal. This quantity of hulls costs in Vietnam k l Thi i f h ll i Vi about 210 VND or about 1.1 cents of a US dollar. Thus we have an affordable fuel that produces no pollution or health problems. The following drawings depict a new design of the 150 mm cook stove.
Technologies for Vietnam 16

Reactor OD is 150mm, and the reactor height is 700 mm. The reactor is nothing more than a stainless steel tube with a grate at the bottom.

Technologies for Vietnam

17

Housing OD = 200 mm

The reactor protrudes upward from the housing by 25 mm.

Technologies for Vietnam

18

The reactor, operating at 1000 C, emits a lot of gy gy radiant energy. When this radiant energy strikes the housing made in ordinary stainless steel, the housing absorbs this radiant energy and becomes quite hot. Inserting insulation between the reactor and the housing has little effect Therefore the best procedure is effect. to construct the housing of a stainless steel of a low emissivity and to keep it well polished. polished In this way over 90% of the radiant energy from the reactor can be returned to the reactor. t b t d t th t
Technologies for Vietnam 19

Technologies for Vietnam

20

An 80x80x38 mm DC fan (depicted in black) delivers air underneath the grate. The cost to operate this fan for one hour is about 23 VND or $0.0012 USD.

The bottom of the th reactor is a t i bit higher than the top of the fan. bottom of reactor

Technologies for Vietnam

21

This fan is powerful enough to handle most types of un-densified biomass such as rice hulls, coffee bean husks, sawdust, coconut fiber, the shells of husks sawdust fiber various nuts and so forth. Mounted near this fan and on the gasifier itself will be a small battery pack. There pack will be a rheostat to control fan speed, and this rheostat will operate by remote control. In this way there will ill t b t t l I thi th ill be no wires connected to the gasifier. This will make it much easier to empty and reload the gasifier. h i t t d l d th ifi
Technologies for Vietnam 22

This fan is powerful enough to handle most types of un-densified biomass such as rice hulls, coffee bean husks, sawdust, coconut fiber, the shells of husks sawdust fiber various nuts and so forth. This fan will draw power from the mains via an inverter. If there should be a inverter power failure, the fan can be connected to a motorbike battery. The cable running from the fan t bik b tt Th bl i f th f to the motorbike will be supplied along with the stove. A rheostat to control fan speed will also be supplied. h t tt t lf d ill l b li d
Technologies for Vietnam 23

The air from the fan comes in below the reactor. This t Thi gives unimpeded air flow and no blow-back.

Technologies for Vietnam

24

For the easy evacuation of any solids that might fall through the grate.

Technologies for Vietnam

25

Technologies for Vietnam

26

Fabrication cost = $44.05 or 837,000 VND 837 000 VND, all in stainless steel. This unit weighs less than 9 kgs.

Capacity = p y 2 to 4 kgs per hour.

Technologies for Vietnam

27

The use of a radiant barrier does not keep the housing sufficiently cool. Therefore air must be circulated between the reactor and the housing. This air exits at housing the top of the gasifier via two horizontal pipes. These pipes are equipped with butterfly valves. In spite of the valves fact that both butterfly valves can be fully open, the fan is f i powerful enough to supply whatever air the f l ht l h t i th reactor might need. A simple turn of the rheostat is all that i th t is needed. d d
Technologies for Vietnam 28

The hot air from these two horizontal pipes can be directed to stove grates. There is enough heat here, for example, to fry an egg or to finish cooking a pot of rice after it was brought to a boil. In the following boil picture we see an egg that was fried with residual heat from the housing:

Technologies for Vietnam

29

Technologies for Vietnam

30

The following drawings depict a stove top with three grates. The main middle grate is powered by the combustion of syn gas, and the two grates on each side are powered by hot air from the housing. housing

Technologies for Vietnam

31

Rheostat Fabrication cost = $33.55 USD $ or 640,000 VND.

Technologies for Vietnam 32

Technologies for Vietnam

33

Technologies for Vietnam

34

Technologies for Vietnam

35

Warmer

Burner

Warmer

Technologies for Vietnam

36

Note blue flame

Technologies for Vietnam

37

Blue Flame

Click on picture to play movie clip.

Technologies for Vietnam

38

The 250 mm diameter gasifier follows the same logic as the previous stove. The same 80x80x38 mm fan used in the 150 stove is also be used in the 250 stove. stove The 250 stove can gasify from 5 to 10 kgs of rice hulls per hour. The fabrication cost of the 250 stove (all in hour stainless steel) is $93.56 USD or 1,777,000 VND. This Thi gasifier can supply ample heat to very large pots. ifi l l h tt l t Here a stove top becomes an essential element in providing stability. idi t bilit
Technologies for Vietnam 39

Fabrication cost = $93.56 Capacity = 5 to 10 kg/hour

Weight = 18.7 kgs.

Technologies for Vietnam

40

Technologies for Vietnam

41

Technologies for Vietnam

42

Technologies for Vietnam

43

Technologies for Vietnam

44

Technologies for Vietnam

45

Technologies for Vietnam

46

The 500 gasifier (supplied with 2 fans) can gasify from 20 to 40 kgs of rice hulls per hour. This gasifier is too heavy to lift and turn upside down Here the char is down. evacuated by pivoting the gasifier.

Technologies for Vietnam

47

A stove top can support pots and pans of all dimensions. In thi I this way one can move, empty, load and light a stove t l d d li ht t without touching the large pot above it. In this concept, there is no loss of heat associated with remote burners. Each gasifer has one burner, and if more burners are required, more gasifiers are incorporated into a stove top.

Technologies for Vietnam

48

The amount of biomass in a reactor can be adjusted to match the amount of time that a reactor must deliver gas. gas If continuous runs over several hours are required required, two gasifiers can be rotated under the same pot. It could even happen that several gasifiers could be operated at the same time to deliver large quantities of syn gas. f

Technologies for Vietnam

49

Yes, there is labor associated with a batch process, but labor in Vietnam is cheap, and a batch process is exceedingly simple and low-cost. The char produced in low-cost the gasification of rice hulls or coffee bean husks has a multiplicity of uses and has a much greater value in general than the original biomass material utilized to t produce it (including its delivery to the site). d (i l di it d li t th it ) In other words, a high-quality gas can be produced at a negative cost or profit. Each household or small ti t fit E h h h ld ll
Technologies for Vietnam 50

business operating a stove can sell bio char and, in so bio-char doing, completely offset the cost of gathering or purchasing the biomass it needs. If revenue from needs carbon credits is added to this strategy, then it is hard to imagine a cheaper form of energy that could be made available to the people of Vietnam.

Technologies for Vietnam

51

A 12 kg mixture of propane and butane costs in Vietnam about 270,000 VND ($14.21 USD). Some small pho shops consume this amount of gas every three days. Roasting coffee beans and boiling water in the preparation of fresh noodles are two more examples among thousands of commercial activities with a high demand for energy. At the same time huge quantities of d df th ti h titi f biomass are dumped in rivers or uselessly burned, giving rise to horrible levels of pollution. i i i t h ibl l l f ll ti
Technologies for Vietnam 52

The quality of air in Dalat is undermined by the use of dirty and inefficient cook stoves. It is also undermined stoves by the outdoor burning of biomass as a means of disposal. The air throughout D l t i typically quite di l Th i th h t Dalat is t i ll it dirty: it is filled with dioxins, furans, soot, smoke and other pollutants. Once people understand that most of h ll l d d h f the biomass that they casually set fire to could be utilized to generate a high quality syn gas, they will be motivated to stop this horrible practice.
Technologies for Vietnam 53

In many cases a gasifier cook stove, manufactured completely in stainless steel, even with a stove top, can be situated on the marketplace in Vietnam for a lot less money than a propane/butane stove top. An entire industry centered in the buying and selling of biochar could be created. Biochar is commonly used in Dalat in the lti ti th cultivation of certain flowers such as orchids and f t i fl h hid d lilies. Just as scavengers buy and sell recyclables, they could do the same with bi h ld d th ith biochar.
Technologies for Vietnam 54

Many industries that could never exist due to the high cost of energy will arise. Farmers will benefit from the production of compost laced with biochar biochar. Pig and fish farmers will be in a position to cook and prepare their own feeds. With the spread of this feeds technology in Vietnam, millions of households and businesses will no longer be reliant on fossil fuels. b i ill l b li t f il f l Energy, feed and fertilizer companies will suffer, as th rest of Vietnam prospers. the t f Vi t
Technologies for Vietnam 55

This same gasification technology can be used to generate electricity But before syn gas can be routed electricity. to a gen-set, it must be cooled and filtered. The equipment need to cool and filter syn gas is quite inexpensive, and the heat recovered from the cooling of syn gas can be used to produce hot water. The 250 water gasifier, for example, can easily power a 10 kW gen-set. If the principle idea is to produce electricity to t th i i l id i t d l t i it t charge batteries, then a batch gasifier is all that is needed. d d
Technologies for Vietnam 56

David Trahan of Lafayette, Louisiana, together with his team at 3R Sciences, has developed a small methanol Sciences synthesis plant capable of producing from synthesis gas about 100 liters of methanol per day. day
The R3 GTL Methanol process converts the biomass-generated synthesis gas into methanol. The modular system is designed to allow placement at remote locations to meet supply availability of biomass feedstock. http://www.r3sciences.com/biomass.html

Methanol can be utilized directly in motorbikes and , y automobiles, and it can be easily converted into a diesel fuel compatible dimethyl ether (DME) product.
Technologies for Vietnam 57

The cost of propane and butane in Vietnam will continue to rise. So will the cost of electricity, petrol and diesel. At the same time Vietnam has millions of tons each year of agricultural and forestry biomass that for the most part are going to waste. This simple gasification technology will allow the people of Vietnam to utilize this waste in the place of fossil fuels and to actually earn money in doing d i so. W have definitively entered a new era in fuel We h d fi iti l t d i f l production and consumption.

Technologies for Vietnam

58