Troy Martz Gasifier

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Communications

Marcin,

My name is Troy Martz, and I am a long-time gasifier enthusiast, permaculturist, and natural farmer. I’ve built several gasifiers over the years, and recently started a new company, Off Grid Pro, to capitalize on all things “alternative energy” for the small guy.

I’ve been following OSE for several years now, and I wanted to reach out to you about a possible collaboration with us. I want to see if you have any interest in adopting our brand new charcoal gasifier… But first, let me give you a little background…

In the gasifier world, 95% of gasification enthusiasts consist of “biomass” guys – people who put wood chunks into a hopper, and press the “go” button. The other 5% are the charcoal guys – pure carbon. I started out as a biomass guy, spent a few year tinkering around, and then switch to charcoal after many problems. I’ll never go back…

There really isn’t a flame war here. It’s not like Mac vs. PC, or Internet Explorer vs. Netscape… Both camps exist peacefully, and exchange information. However, there are some arguments on which is better. Here are a few:

The biomass guys say:

· Charcoal has less BTU’s than biomass

· We don’t have to deal with breathing in charcoal dust/powder

· We don’t have to make charcoal to run our systems

The charcoal guys say (including me now):

· Sufficiently drying wood/biomass to an appropriate water content % takes days. Charcoal can be made and used in mere hours.

· The byproduct of charcoal sizing (anything under 1/16th of an inch) just happens to be perfectly sized for biochar… what a great byproduct to have J

· We don’t have to worry about tar! Thus, filtration in the down line is relegated to ash and dust… easily done.

· Pure carbon is a perfect catalyst for the reduction process… You never really get 100% there with biomass.

· We eliminated “pyrolysis” from the problem we’re trying to solve, so the gasifier design becomes infinitely more flexible than the “imbert” design

· We can scale gas production with the same system by merely swapping out a single nozzle size – we can go from 2kW to 50kW with the same machine!

· Yes, charcoal has less BTU’s, but we can also utilize those BTU’s by capturing and using that heat with a smart charcoal retort design

· Charcoal gasifiers have the potential to produce far more powerful gas flow than biomass gasifiers... Cracking steam is the key.

I can’t seem to grasp why more people aren’t moving toward charcoal… The case seems clear to me. At any rate, I intend on capitalizing on this market niche by releasing our brand new OpenFire gasifier. We will follow All Power Labs business model by releasing the CAD files as “open source,” but will also manufacture them for those that want to buy it pre-made… my partner is a master fabricator, and served as an underwater welder for the US Navy.

Build it, or buy it.

We’re in the final phases of fabrication, and should have it running in 2-3 weeks. Our prototype was a smash hit at the Baja Permaculture Convergence, which was the catalyst to take it mainstream. It all sits on a 4 x 4’ metal pallet (for easy shipping), and contains the following components:

· Charcoal hopper

· Regenerative blower

· Filtration and flare system

· Quad-fuel Honda generator (propane, gasoline, natural gas, wood gas)

· Small propane tank back-up

· Deep-cycle gold cart battery

· Battery charger

· Inverter

I am very interested in seeing what we might be able to do with the power cube. In fact, the assembly above is merely the fabricated units we’ll build and offer for sale. Other people may decide to build it differently. Perhaps you and the OSE team might consider adding our product to your ensemble.

If you’d like to discuss a collaboration, please call me at your convenience. I look forward to a future discussion. Thanks Marcin!

P.S. I’ve attached a photo of our very first prototype, which worked brilliantly, but was made of plastic and other materials that would degrade if left out in the elements… The new version is a true fabricated beauty (very industrial).

619.365.9109

Regards, Troy Martz