Hello whozat

You could look here:

Heat and electricity, could be scaled up:

http://www.green-trust.org/2000/enginetechnology/biowatt.htm

Heat:

Could have Stirling Engine added for Electric Power generation:

http://www.earthplatform.com/tracker/8a56656d2ef0ffbdf08d26cd9fdf1192

http://www.bioenergytrade.org/downloads/ieatask40pelletandrawmaterialstudynov2007final.pdf

See how you go with those....reply with .....

Both excellent sites! Thank you very much. I left my corn/pellet stove at my 100 year old drafty house with no insulation in the walls. Now burn natural gas in a brand new home.

I am very big on biomass heating. I question the need for always pelletizing though. That processing uses a lot of energy, expensive equipment and adds another middleman.

When I first started burning corn it was $1.85 a bushel. Three years later it is pushing $5.00 a barrel. Unfortunately pellets are about the same. I now recommend wood, wood chips, straw, nut hulls, cherry and olive pits etc. They all require specific home stoves however. An outside boiler is better. I am technically in a city now, but if rural would like to have an outside boiler connected to a Stirling engine in a well insulated shed. I would grow trees which I would pollard annually for fuel. Probably hybrid poplar.

Thanks for the response.

All the best,

Ron Wagner

The Sterling Engine is certainly a possibility for smaller units. (Producing power in the 1 - 4 MW range european companies use the Organic Rankin Engine).

There is one Steling Engine made in Austria designed to work with Pellets.

A company in California is also developing a Sterling Engine that should be on the market in the very near future.

Also check out the energycabin at ernergycabin.com this is a unique heating system and they have in development a unit that will also produce electric power with a bio diesel engine.

Regarding the benefits of Pellets verses Wood chips.

Pellets have standards, are consitent and are easy to transport

Wood chips have no standards, and one needs to define the condition of wood chips specilly if they are burned iin a pellet type of appliance.

Hope this is of help

Fritz Weirathmueller

Go to gocpc.com Community Power Corporation. I don't know if they have one small enough for you. They are all electric, I think, You could certainly tap the heat though.

Wood chips are a lot cheaper than pellets.

Ron Wagner.

From what I gather from around the web, most of the time people look at steam production and think what a wonderful idea, until they get to the part about fueling the boiler - it will a full time job, cutting timber (stealing it, getting it for free etc), drying it and stoking the fire etc....there have been people (on some Blogs but don`t ask me which ones) who have actually "been there, done it and got the T-Shirt and corns...".

It would appear that it is not really a practical solution, unless you have nothing better to do......or you go through the whole lighting and heating process only for when you need electricity of heat....What if you only want one without the other - summer for example......

I personally would love to see a way beyond these problems and hopefully the people here on CR4 are clever enough to get some good ideas.....

I personally would prefer a Stirling engine for electricity as then all that trouble with water, steam Boilers etc. are not needed......but even Stirling engines need maintenance and looking after.....

Check out freeenergy news.com for more ideas.

Ron Wagner

hi there ;

generator heads typical run at 1800 rpm / for a 4 pole unit \

one that my railroad buddies set up is coupled to a 10 hp diesel \

wet steam for piston engine , superheated steam for turbine \
design and build at its best \