Energy Storage Problem

[Pal]

About 18 months ago, I went as part of a volunteer work party, to one of
the islands in Vanuatu to help repair cyclone damage to a local high school.

Shortly before we arrived, their primary energy source (a diesel
generator) died beyond economic repair. Another group back here in
Australia started a fund raising effort to get them a new gen set, which
resulted in a new one being installed about six months ago.

Problem is, the new one is five or six times the capacity of the old
one, and their diesel costs have skyrocketed.

As the school is primarily for teaching boys carpentry skills (although
they do also have all the general classes one would expect), my
suggestion was that another fund raising effort should target getting a
big compressor, and an air storage tank, and a bunch of air driven tools
for the carpentry workshop, so that their excess electricity generation
currently being wasted in electric heaters so they don't under-load the
generator, can be stored for productive use as required. Maybe the
product of their workshop (furniture or building frames etc.)could even
be sold to the local community to fund the diesel costs.

What other suggestions do you guys have? A friend of mine is the
Director of an Australian overseas aid organisation that has done a lot
of work in Vanuatu, and I'd love to pass onto him the best of your ideas
as well as my own...


By way of background:

The school has ocean on one side and jungle on the other. The entire
island is the result of volcanic activity, and the volcanoe is still
active although quite some distance away (20 miles or so as the crow
flies). The climate is tropical, mostly moderate, with only a few
degrees variation between the wet and dry seasons.

They also have extensive PV lighting that was funded as foreign aid from
the Japaneese government, but most it doesn't work as there is no local
servicing capability, and the nearest capable technician to too
expensive to bring to the island.

The Vanuatu government pays the teacher's wages, but doesn't provide
anything for maintenance or infrastructure costs, all of which the
school has to arrange itself - mostly by foreign donations.

Regards,

Pal

 

[sno]

Do they have fairly constant wind....waves....??

Any stream close....??

Cannot speak to the compressed air idea....

Do you have any idea of their actual KW usage....??

With battery storage they could run the generator at maximum efficiency
to charge the batteries....and then use them to provide the power when
needed....may be able to run generator few hours each day....

However batteries are expensive...but maybe you could get them
donated....
and you would need controller, etc......

The problem with all locations such as you describe it the maintenance/
upkeep problem....with no one knowledgeable on site, as you mention,
things tend to break down and not be repaired....

thank you for listening to my thoughts....sno

About 18 months ago, I went as part of a volunteer work party, to one of
the islands in Vanuatu to help repair cyclone damage to a local high school.

Shortly before we arrived, their primary energy source (a diesel
generator) died beyond economic repair. Another group back here in
Australia started a fund raising effort to get them a new gen set, which
resulted in a new one being installed about six months ago.

Problem is, the new one is five or six times the capacity of the old
one, and their diesel costs have skyrocketed.

As the school is primarily for teaching boys carpentry skills (although
they do also have all the general classes one would expect), my
suggestion was that another fund raising effort should target getting a
big compressor, and an air storage tank, and a bunch of air driven tools
for the carpentry workshop, so that their excess electricity generation
currently being wasted in electric heaters so they don't under-load the
generator, can be stored for productive use as required. Maybe the
product of their workshop (furniture or building frames etc.)could even
be sold to the local community to fund the diesel costs.

What other suggestions do you guys have? A friend of mine is the
Director of an Australian overseas aid organisation that has done a lot
of work in Vanuatu, and I'd love to pass onto him the best of your ideas
as well as my own...

By way of background:

The school has ocean on one side and jungle on the other. The entire
island is the result of volcanic activity, and the volcanoe is still
active although quite some distance away (20 miles or so as the crow
flies). The climate is tropical, mostly moderate, with only a few
degrees variation between the wet and dry seasons.

They also have extensive PV lighting that was funded as foreign aid from
the Japaneese government, but most it doesn't work as there is no local
servicing capability, and the nearest capable technician to too
expensive to bring to the island.

The Vanuatu government pays the teacher's wages, but doesn't provide
anything for maintenance or infrastructure costs, all of which the
school has to arrange itself - mostly by foreign donations.

Regards,

Pal

--
Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it

This tag line is generated by:

SLTG (Silly Little Tag Generator)

 

[Pal]

Do they have fairly constant wind....waves....??

I only spent a couple of weeks there, but it was fairly calm most of the
time. Obviously, it does get more blowy from time to time, hence the
cyclone damage I was there to repair...

Any stream close....??

No streams...

Cannot speak to the compressed air idea....

My thoughts were focussed on maximising the usefullnes of what they now
have rather than replacing it with an alternative. The school's
(volunteer)maintenance man is trained as a motor mechanic, and so seems
to be quite competent with the diesel gen set. He had repaired the old
one many times, but didn't have the equipment to rewind the armature...

Do you have any idea of their actual KW usage....??

I did have it in my head, but am struggling to remember which cerebral
file I put it in. Not large is the basic answer. While I was there,
they were using a small portable generator borrowed from a local church
- I think (may be wrong) it was a 3kW unit(?) at 240v. Their pattern of
use was to run it for a couple of hours after dusk to drive lighting,
predominantly of the fluorescent kind. I'd guestimate they had about 50
38w tubes across the campus. They also ran it during the day when either
the staff wanted to use office equipment (photocopier and/or a
computer), or when the computer class was being run (they had 4 pc's -
around the p3 vintage)

With battery storage they could run the generator at maximum efficiency
to charge the batteries....and then use them to provide the power when
needed....may be able to run generator few hours each day....

However batteries are expensive...but maybe you could get them
donated....
and you would need controller, etc......

Your point about the batteries being expensive is right on, especially
when you add freight, which is a killer on just about everything in
these remote island communities.

The problem with all locations such as you describe it the maintenance/
upkeep problem....with no one knowledgeable on site, as you mention,
things tend to break down and not be repaired....

They do have knowledgable people on site, just not knowledgable in the
more "High Tech" areas like electronics. Also, to the local mind, paying
for maintenance is seen as a salesman's attempted dirty trick. In their
culture, you make something (mostly from bamboo that you get for free
from the jungle), and use it till it breaks, then make another one! Why
would you waste time fixing an old one when you can make a new one with
the same or even less effort?! It's a hard cycle to break.

In part, that's why I wanted to look at low tech energy storage ideas.

They have access to just about enough tech savvy to keep the gen set up
and running (and could probably manage a compressor on the same basis),
but had problems with the fluro lights - most of which only needed tubes
and/or starters which they had in their storeroom! PV is clearly beyond
their skills, and I suspect that battery maintenance wouldn't happen
either. They have carpentry skills in spades, and enough nouse to figure
out just about anything that remains in the realms of that which you can
touch and see.

Whatever is chosen, I think it has to be physical - like compressed air,
or water in a header tank (although the only plentiful water is from the
ocean - full of salt and choral spawn - fresh water is in short supply)

Thanks for taking the time to think about it...

Regards,

Glen

 

[sno]

With plentiful bamboo...(dried bamboo has about the same btu
content as dried oak)....it might be possible for them to run
something like a steam generator.....rather then diesel....
but do not know of any low power units.....would be inexpensive
to run using bamboo as fuel....and is rather simple tech...your
diesel mech should/would have no problem understanding....

I imagine you showed someone how to replace the tubes and starters
on the fluorescents....do not know if there are any good enough led
lights out their yet that could replace them....their long life could
be an advantage.....and even with high costs their shipping cost would
be low.....and would be an almost one time thing....

thank you for listening to my thoughts.....sno

I only spent a couple of weeks there, but it was fairly calm most of the
time. Obviously, it does get more blowy from time to time, hence the
cyclone damage I was there to repair...

No streams...
My thoughts were focussed on maximising the usefullnes of what they now
have rather than replacing it with an alternative. The school's
(volunteer)maintenance man is trained as a motor mechanic, and so seems
to be quite competent with the diesel gen set. He had repaired the old
one many times, but didn't have the equipment to rewind the armature...

I did have it in my head, but am struggling to remember which cerebral
file I put it in. Not large is the basic answer. While I was there,
they were using a small portable generator borrowed from a local church
- I think (may be wrong) it was a 3kW unit(?) at 240v. Their pattern of
use was to run it for a couple of hours after dusk to drive lighting,
predominantly of the fluorescent kind. I'd guestimate they had about 50
38w tubes across the campus. They also ran it during the day when either
the staff wanted to use office equipment (photocopier and/or a
computer), or when the computer class was being run (they had 4 pc's -
around the p3 vintage)

Your point about the batteries being expensive is right on, especially
when you add freight, which is a killer on just about everything in
these remote island communities.


They do have knowledgable people on site, just not knowledgable in the
more "High Tech" areas like electronics. Also, to the local mind, paying
for maintenance is seen as a salesman's attempted dirty trick. In their
culture, you make something (mostly from bamboo that you get for free
from the jungle), and use it till it breaks, then make another one! Why
would you waste time fixing an old one when you can make a new one with
the same or even less effort?! It's a hard cycle to break.

In part, that's why I wanted to look at low tech energy storage ideas.

They have access to just about enough tech savvy to keep the gen set up
and running (and could probably manage a compressor on the same basis),
but had problems with the fluro lights - most of which only needed tubes
and/or starters which they had in their storeroom! PV is clearly beyond
their skills, and I suspect that battery maintenance wouldn't happen
either. They have carpentry skills in spades, and enough nouse to figure
out just about anything that remains in the realms of that which you can
touch and see.

Whatever is chosen, I think it has to be physical - like compressed air,
or water in a header tank (although the only plentiful water is from the
ocean - full of salt and choral spawn - fresh water is in short supply)

Thanks for taking the time to think about it...

Regards,

Glen

--
Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it

This tag line is generated by:

SLTG (Silly Little Tag Generator)

 

[RF Dude]

Folks in this group have mentioned that diesel engines are fairly linear in
the fuel vs load that they consume. While the "wet-stacking" issue with a
lightly loaded diesel might eventually bite, I wonder just how often the
diesel can be loaded up *fully* to keep the issue in check? Certainly
keeping the diesel genny artificially loaded (partially) with heaters on an
ongoing basis is wasteful of the fuel and now part of the problem you are
trying to solve.

Would the economy of diesel engine size/fuel consumption issue go away if
they didn't use the heaters but were able to fully load up the genny say
once per week for an hour?

RF Dude

 

[Steve Spence]

Folks in this group have mentioned that diesel engines are fairly linear in
the fuel vs load that they consume. While the "wet-stacking" issue with a
lightly loaded diesel might eventually bite, I wonder just how often the
diesel can be loaded up *fully* to keep the issue in check? Certainly
keeping the diesel genny artificially loaded (partially) with heaters on an
ongoing basis is wasteful of the fuel and now part of the problem you are
trying to solve.

Would the economy of diesel engine size/fuel consumption issue go away if
they didn't use the heaters but were able to fully load up the genny say
once per week for an hour?

RF Dude

I'm interested in how folks get their diesels to "wet stack". I have a
68 hp Detroit with a 12.5kw gen head, and typically max out at 8kw
loads, so I'm well below the magic 40% load number. A prime applicant
for wet stacking, but have never observed the phenomena ....

Maybe it's because we use veggie oil and not diesel. There is no
carbonization on our injectors.

 

[Bruce in Alaska]

Folks in this group have mentioned that diesel engines are fairly linear in
the fuel vs load that they consume. While the "wet-stacking" issue with a
lightly loaded diesel might eventually bite, I wonder just how often the
diesel can be loaded up *fully* to keep the issue in check? Certainly
keeping the diesel genny artificially loaded (partially) with heaters on an
ongoing basis is wasteful of the fuel and now part of the problem you are
trying to solve.

Would the economy of diesel engine size/fuel consumption issue go away if
they didn't use the heaters but were able to fully load up the genny say
once per week for an hour?

RF Dude

Wet Stacking is more an issue of lack of Engine Operating Tempreture
than underloading. With the proper thermastats, and effectivly designed
cooling systems, wet stacking shouldn't be a problem. Ever wonder how
those diesel trucks can sit idling, at the TruckStops for hours on end
and not have a problem? It is because they are operating at Designed
Operating Tempreture.

Bruce in alaska

 

[Pal]

I suppose it is a contrary view, but rather than learning carpetry,
perhaps they should be learning PV, flourescent and Diesel repair...

How bad could it be if the stuff is broken now...

It's hard to imaging them having a sustainable economy if it is based
on inputs from abroad and non-local maintenance.

To what end are they learning to use the electric tools?
Are there employers on the Island seeking those skills?
Who will buy the products?

It sounds like a Paradise - except for the school and work...

It is pretty much a paradise yes, (but for the mosquitos that give you
malaria, and the numbalut plant that makes your skin burn if you
accidentally touch it!) and in spite of the economic limitations, the
locals are really happy people, and can't do enough for you!

Only about 5 - 10% of the population of Vanuatu participate in the
economy at all. Most have their family / village garden in the middle of
the jungle and grow what ever they need, and trade with surrounding
villages for whatever they cant grow or make.

On the outer islands, such as the one where the school is located, there
are no towns at all, and virtually no employment opportunities (at least
not in the sence that we would understand them). The school trains boys
in carpentry because that is the primary skill required in their
existing village way of life.

I was one of two electricians in the work party, and we did spend a lot
of time giving one of the graduating carpenters who showed an interest,
as much knowledge as we could about electricity while we were there
(focusing mainly on lighting, since that's what they have). The school
principle mentioned to us that the student in question was being
considered for a staff position at the school. Once I got home, I also
posted him all my old text books on the subject, in the hope that it may
lead to a new subject of study at the school.

There are no electrical regulations or licencing requirements outside of
the two towns (Port Vila, and Loganville), so basically anyone who can
get hold of a generator can do whatever they like with it. Some of the
results of this are truely frightening! I thought that if all the
capenters (who are the only tradespeople most villages would ever see)
had at least some idea of how to do electrical things safely it would
have to improve the situation.

As the economy on the island is based mostly on trade, the stuff they
could make at the school would have to be traded for whatever the locals
had in excess, which could then be taken as a bulk lot by some of the
students to the produce markets in Loganville (on the nearest island)
where they could be sold, and the cash used to buy whatever they needed.

 

[Pal]

I don't know what crops could be raised there, but a hundred acres of
any oil seed crop would furnish enough fuel to feed the generator. The
by product of seed cake would also feed a lot of animals. Folks,
biodiesel is not that hard to make.

www.biodiesel.com

Crops (in the commercial sence) are coconut. There are dozens of
varieties of cocnut, and it is used to produce a dazzling array of
different produce. Also they grow beef cattle. Beef, Copra (main product
of coconut), and Tourism are Vanuatu's main income sources.

As for what CAN grow there, I would be surprised if anything couldn't.
The soil is so fertile, and the climate so good... I literally saw fence
posts that had taken root and sent out shoots - No I'm not joking - I
can post photos if anyone is interested...

However, as most of Vanuatu is made up of small volcanic islands, there
are very few "hundred acre" lots that can be used for anything, and all
of what is, is tied up with strict ownership rules governed by a network
of village Chiefs who's word is law in their individual domains. Chief's
will grant rights to garden a small plot of the village's jungle, but
generally it is intended to support a village resident's family, not
engage in a commercial activity.

Biodiesel, sounds like a huge idea though. I know virtually nothing
about it... Can it be created from any waste crop material? My thinking
is directed to coconut milk, which is usefull at some points in the
cocnuts life cycle, but when copra is harvested, is just a waste product...

 

[Pal]

Perhaps this calls for a low-tech solution, Like...find a neighboring
village that has too small a generator and work out some kind of a
trade?

I had though of a simmilar idea. Runing power cables from the school
into the neighbouring village to run some communal lighting in return
for maybe excess fruit and vegies to feed the students (it is a "live
in" school). But then, given the skill levels at the moment, perhaps not
such a good idea - it would be bad form to accidentally electocute an
upstanding member of a neighbouring community.

To the best of my knowledge (which is not perfect in this regard) none
of the local villages have any generators. There is a Hospital a few
miles away which I would assume has the right generator for its needs,
there is a Church up the hill that has a small portable generator (the
one they borrowed while I was there), and the airstip about 30 miles
away has one to run their radios and the like. That's it so far as I
know. Even the one and only Restaurant in the local village where our
entire group had a celebration meal just before we came home, was lit by
a single hurricane lantern.

 

[Pal]

Wet Stacking is more an issue of lack of Engine Operating Tempreture
than underloading. With the proper thermastats, and effectivly designed
cooling systems, wet stacking shouldn't be a problem. Ever wonder how
those diesel trucks can sit idling, at the TruckStops for hours on end
and not have a problem? It is because they are operating at Designed
Operating Tempreture.

Bruce in alaska

That's what I love about this ng! There is always somebody who knows a
lot more about any subject than I do.

If a propper design can eliminate the need to load the gen set up, then
that could be a fine short term solution to the issue, dropping their
diesel consumption back to the old levels.

I will make some enquiries and see if I can get the brand and model, so
the design can be assessed. Perhaps that "you have to load it up" advise
they got was generic rather than specific to their case?

 

[Pal]

Would the economy of diesel engine size/fuel consumption issue go away if
they didn't use the heaters but were able to fully load up the genny say
once per week for an hour?

Another excellent question...

Subject to Bruce's comment in this thread, I would also like an answer
on this point. It has the potential to make the short term issues
disappear all together.

 

[Steve Spence]

This site lists coconut oil and oil palm as very high in oil content
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html
I think the big generator would work great running in optimally loaded
spurts to keep a big battery bank charged. A Surette bank of 2V cells
will last 20 years if they arent discharged too deeply and the water is
maintained. But they are heavy and expensive unfortunately. Running the
gen on palm oil might be a winner.

Take a gander at http://www.green-trust.org. We document our off-grid
home running a wvo powered generator as our prime power unit.

 

[Steve Spence]

Boy, are you in luck. Coconut is the greatest producer of oil for
biodiesel that you could find. Look here for clues on processing.
All you need is Oil, methanol, and lye, and a small amount of simple
equipment.

www.biodieselgear.com/documentation/index.htm

It's not the most prolific, and it isn't the best.

 

[Steve Spence]

HelloSteve, you did not tell the man what he has on the island that is
more prolific and better quality than coconut oil.

There was no mention of an island in your post.

Try a little less snipping so folks know what you are talking about.

 

[Pal]

Theres also the possibility of a nodding wave machine directly
producing compressed air rather than electricity. I dont know how
useful a cmopressed air line would be though, given current electrical
tooling.


NT

Sorry, I'm not sure how I gave the impression that there was electric
power tools involved. To the best of my knowledge, they have and use
only manual hand tools.

My original suggestion was to use excess electricity to compress air -
with a view to introducing air powered tools to the workshop. This would
have little benefit in terms of teaching skills with wide application
(at least in the current situation), but would enable a higher rate of
production in their workshop, feeding into more product for a new
cottage industry to fund the diesel in the first place.

 

[Pal]

Boy, are you in luck. Coconut is the greatest producer of oil for
biodiesel that you could find. Look here for clues on processing.
All you need is Oil, methanol, and lye, and a small amount of simple
equipment.

www.biodieselgear.com/documentation/index.htm

This sounds really promising.

I'll package up all this info I can find on the subject (thanks for the
links) and get it into the hands of the people who make decisions for
this community.

Although, I have no knowledge of them, I believe there are a number of
other communities around the islands who would also like the idea of
producing their own bio-diesel...

 

[Pal]

why not expand the school and take in new students from other villages

The school already takes in students from right across Vanuatu, not just
the local area. To the best of my knowledge, it is "the" place for
trainee carpenters who can't afford to study in the capital. Their other
specialty, is a general office / secretarial course for girls. Both
courses do include most of the other general subjects one would expect
of a high school education. The cultural and economic situation in their
country just means that it is a little more of a blend of what I would
know as a high school, and a technical college or trade school.

It is also a residential school. There are four long dormitories (2 for
boys and 2 for girls). I didn't see inside the girls dorms, but the boys
were pretty primitive conditions. Both walls were lined with double
bunks less than an arms length apart, made entirely of bamboo. No
matresses at all, just woven palm frond bases, and very few had any sort
of blanket or sheet. A couple had mosqitoe netting but most didn't, and
since the windows were just open holes in the walls, I have no idea how
they aviod plagues of malaria.

Interestingly, during the recent volcanoe alert you may have heard about
on the world news, the school was housing a large section of the general
population of the island of Ambae. It was one of two sites deemed safe
(ie. less risky) by local authorities, and hundreds of village folk
camped out there until the mountain settled down again. I guess, if the
volcanoe had blown up, they would have had at least some time to
evacuate by boat from their location.

 

[Steve Thomas]

If you are thinking of using storage batteries, industrial lift truck
batteries may be a good choice. It depends on local availability, but
usually they are cheaper than other deep cycle batteries due to their higher
volume of production. They are also tough and designed for relatively high
rates of charge and discharge.