Date of Graduation

1983

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The problem of the research was the technical application of a fixed bed coal gasifier as a secondary fuel source for a cupola, designed for the village level in the Philippines. The purposes of the study were: (1) To determine if a small scale cupola could be used as an essential tool in the development process of a less developed nation. (2) To determine if a coal gasifier would make the process more resource efficient. (3) To determine if a low cost efficient way for the LDC's to create a foundry industry was identifiable. (4) To determine if a cupola-gasifier combination which was structurally simple was feasible. The procedure involved the construction and testing of the cupola-gasifer system. The results indicated that the use of a gasifier as a secondary fuel source in a cupola increased the melting efficiency by 31 percent. The increase in melting efficiency was the result of hotter blast and carbon monoxide from the gasifier injected into the combustion zone of the cupola. The melt rate was lower than expected which appeared to be caused by the larger individual pieces of metal charged. The gasifier did function minimally but the gasifier hearth diameter, grate and the bottom lid seal require further design modifications. The cupola tuyere area, the size of the individual pieces of metal charged and the length of the heat exchanger also need modification. The manpower allocation was one skilled person and two unskilled laborers for the operation of the cupola-gasifier. The payback period for the gasifier was calculated to be four months.

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