Gasification PowerExchange Workshop #13: August 9-11, 2013
Gasification Workshop Weekend: APL 5th Anniversary Celebration, AR training, Reports from the field.
Gasification Lecture and Demo: Friday, 4:00-6:00PM
APL 5th Birthday Party: Friday, 7:00-10:00pm
Hands-on programs: Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 7pm
Authorized Representative info seminar and dinner: Saturday night, 7pm
Workshop Cost: Free for GEK or Power Pallet owners, otherwise $150 for Newbies. AR dinner not included.
RSVP and/or pay here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6812136283
Location: ALL Power Labs, 1010 Murray Street. Berkeley, CA
Additional Info for sign up, travel and accommodations at end of email.
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General Program
Our 5th Anniversary Gasification Workshop Weekend is coming up in a little over two weeks from now. We hope you will join us for more of the usual learning and fun, as well as some interesting new work we’ll be revealing at the event.
The workshop this round will focus on the three major areas of APL effort for 2013:
1. New features now shipping with the Power Pallet
2. Reports from the field: Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, Italy, Indonesia, and ???
3. Authorized Representative info and training
The workshop will offer general demos and instruction in GEK and Power Pallet systems, as well as the usual deep tour down the rabbit hole of biomass thermal conversion science. We’ll orchestrate our standard multi-track teaching program, but with the tracks this round focussed on the details of supporting commercial Power Pallet installations in the field. All topics and projects offered will also be of high relevance for DIYers, researchers, and home power enthusiasts. We’ll also continue our user group “by type” breakout sessions to help you find others doing (or wanting to do) similar to you, whatever your interests may be across the black arts.
We’ll have a special treat this time with two visiting students from Liberia. These are the star students from a biomass-to-electricity program recently started at Booker Washington Institute in Liberia by EcoPower Liberia. Jim and Bill visited for two weeks in July and were floored by how well the minutia of Power Pallet operation are being taught and transferred. The program is the most elaborated Power Pallet training program to date, so we decided we should fly the best students over for two weeks of additional learning at the factory. Willis and Howard will be the ones with the wide eyes, as this will be their first trip outside of Liberia. (The next GEKnews will be a report on the Liberia program, as well as other recent APL trips to Nigeria and Kenya).
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Schedule for the Weekend
Friday Afternoon and Evening- 3:00-10:00pm
Check-in from 3:00 – 4:00
Gasification 101 Lecture: 4:00-6:00pm. by Jim Mason, Founder and CEO of ALL Power Labs
APL 5th Anniversary Birthday Party: 7:00-10:00pm (Powered by Power Pallet)
– Music, Food & Beverages
– Recognition Award to APL by the City of Berkeley
– Machine Demos
The workshop begins with an evening talk by APL Founder and CEO, Jim Mason, on the science of gasification and a survey of its engineering history. Biomass thermal conversion is explored from the most simple introduction, to a highly technical consideration of the variable dynamics of our 4 core processes: Drying, Pyrolysis, Combustion and Reduction. A variety of reactor types are explained and critiqued, and the particular motivations of the GEK TOTTI architecture are illuminated.
The Friday afternoon program is the “Gasification 101” course of the weekend. It is the foundation for the rest of the weekend and should not be missed. AR candidates in particular need to make sure they are here for this intro talk or the rest of the weekend training will be compromised.
Following the lecture, we’ll retire to the yard for the APL 5th Anniversary party. Many things of interest will happen, but we’re still figuring out what those will be. More info later.
Saturday and Sunday: 10am-7pm
APL Product Development and Project Reports from the Field
Hands-on Projects and AR Operational Training
9:30 Bagels and coffee.
10:00 start time each day
Saturday and Sunday are full days of Power Pallet explanation and hands-on instruction. We’ll explore common issues of concern for creating biomass-to-electricity projects, and hear reports from those who are actually doing it in the field. Each day has a morning sit down informational session, with the afternoon devoted to hands-on wrench turning on relevant machinery.
One weekend is not enough to offer a full technical certification program. However, we attempt as dense and complete orientation as possible. You should expect to come away with a good core understanding of the machine, and be able to properly represent it to others. If you arrive technically inclined and fast learning, you will likely leave with enough understanding to provide basic support to new users in the field.
For a general introduction to our programs during weekend, here’s a video touring the show from fall 2012.
http://youtu.be/1-cFByJRtro
Saturday morning
State of the Power Pallet: past, present and future
We’re starting a new workshop feature of presenting the details of Power Pallet development: past, current and future. This is intended to help potential users better assess the current state of the product, and know the product development pathway going forward. Telling you the future “now” is important as we find many want to do demonstration and pilot projects as soon as possible, but equally want to know when x, y or z feature will be available that is critical to the later deployment stage of their project. Thus we do the unusual and tell everyone what add-ons are coming around the corner.
New Features update: Changes and improvements now shipping with the Power Pallet
Grid tie technical details and demonstration
CHP add-on system
Biochar and the Power Pallet
Saturday Afternoon
Hands-on Learning for ARs and others
GEK and Power Pallet assembly, disassembly and maintenance
Power Pallet start up, run modes and trouble shooting
Sunday morning
Reports from the field
We have multiple pilot projects underway to prove the details for large-scale deployments. To make things more interesting, we’ve decided to do all these in parallel, across highly diverse use situations, from Liberia and Indonesia, and Italy to Alaska. We have learned that things are very different in different places . . . Still, intense learning is passing between project sites and accelerating the refinement of particulars across the Power Pallet. We’ll explore what we’ve learned in a variety of reports from the field.
APL African tour in July and early August: Liberia, Nigeria, and Kenya
Results from Italian CE certification and emissions, efficiency and sound regulations
How to finance your APL gasifier: a presentation from the US Export-Import bank
ROI models for Power Pallet bassed biomass-to-electricity projects
Sunday Afternoon
Hands-on Learning for ARs and others
Gasifier fuel types and preparation methods
Power Pallet electronic control and self-diagnostic codes.
Offsite Authorized Representative dinner meeting: Saturday eve, 7pm
This is a special offsite dinner meeting for Authorized Representative candidates. The dinner will include a discussion about the program and networking opportunities among AR candidates. Who should attend this meeting? Current AR candidates or those interested in learning about the program in consideration of becoming an Authorized Representative.
Separate tickets are necessary for this event and the $75 fee includes dinner.
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6812136283
General info on the Authorized Representative program is here: http://gekgasifier.com/2012/07/announcing-the-apl-authorized-representative-program/
General Info and Signup
If you want to join us in any capacity, you need to RSVP (and potentially pay) before the event. You can do so via credit card here:
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6812136283 or to sales@allpowerlabs.org.
Information on local accommodation, maps and airports is here: http://www.gekgasifier.com/info/openhouse_workshops There is some camping space available onsite, but it seems to be getting more packed with each workshop. Tell us soon if you need sleeping bag space.
If you’re coming from overseas, or an institution that requires an invite, we’ll help with visa letters and other travel support as we can.