Village Power, CCHRC 25kW Gasifier Demo (Biomass)

This project was canceled because the vendor could not deliver. Here are some background information:

The Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) was engaged in a biomass gasifier testing/demonstration project with a proposed 25 kW gasifier that is being manufactured by Crorey Mechanical in Oregon. It was designed to run on wood chips. The target delivery date was set for October 2008, but the manufacturer is behind schedule. The next targeted shipment date was after January 1, 2009. The manufacturer has previously successfully field tested units using wood pellets and coffee waste as fuel, but their product has not yet been commercially installed.

The intention was to run the gasifier in tandem with a diesel genset displacing a portion of the diesel fuel. Success with this first test could have led to pairing the gasifier with a spark ignition genset and eventually a microturbine to demonstrate other available options potentially appropriate for specific applications.

The gasifier would have been operated and assessed over a testing period and, if successful, CCHRC would have developed a feedstock conveying and drying system appropriate for the Alaskan environment. This would have facilitated the subsequent placing of a unit in another remote location for further testing and demonstration.

The first phase of this project was funded by the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the State of Alaska DCED at a level of $300,000. Additional funding was required for development of feedstock conveying and drying equipment. In addition to this project, CCHRC continues to search for a residential-scale biomass CHP system for testing and demonstration at their Fairbanks facility.

  • Proposed system: 25 kWe gasifier
  • Manufacturer: Crorey Mechanical (Oregon)
  • Fuel: wood chips
  • Schedule: tentative delivery date of January 2009
  • Budget: Phase 1: gasifier and testing ($300,000)
  • Source: Fairbanks North Star Borough
  • Phase 2: fuel handling ($$ unknown at this time)
  • Source: Unknown
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