Frank Shields Demonstrates the Gasifier Experimenter's Kit (GEK)
Tom Miles, August 8, 2008

Frank with GEK at ETHOS Stove Camp 2008

GEK and Burner

Frank Shields demonstrated Jim Mason's Gasifier Experimenter's Kit (GEK) at the ETHOS 2008 Stoves Camp in Cottage Grove, Oregon, August 5-9, 2008. Frank gave the gasifier it's first trials at the Stoves Camp which is held annually at Aprovecho Research Center to train people in making improved cooking stoves for developing countries.(See Biomass Cooking Stoves http://www.bioenergylists.org)

See the kit at All Power Labs: http://allpowerlabs.org/gasification/gek/index.html

Jim has done a very nice job of designing and fabricating an Imbert style gasifier that can be used for learning about gasification. The gasifier is larger than it appears on Jim's website. It is built so that it can be easily loaded, adjusted , disassembled, poked, shaken, and all the things necessary to learn about how fuel moves in a downdraft gasifier. It has a removable hopper for extended running. It's a great way to get a number of people familiar with gasifiers. I think Frank was pleased as he tried different fuels - chunk wood, chips, almond shells, manure - and different firing rates. He was able to easily stop gasification, disassemble the gasifier and inspect the fuel, charcoal and reduction zones after each run. The gas burner was simple and ran with a clear and self sustaining flame.

This is a great tool for anyone wanting to explore downdraft gasification. Thanks to Frank for trying it out for everyone to see at Stoves Camp.

Tom