A very interesting review and more or less the impression I had gained
earlier. This is indeed the book that I have got ( or at least I think
I have still got somewhere...)- The closing paragraph about there
being a place for the device in other circumstances is apposite.
Have you come across any other links? I have been googling until I
drop but all I found was an organisation listing the book as out of
print.
I have already written to FAKT and asked them for Mr Metzler's contact
email but I have no idea whether he is still involved with them.
GB
--- In [email protected], "Steven Schoeffler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> I found this review interesting, maybe others will too.
>
> Steve
>
> http://www.villageearth.org/pages/AT_Library/atsourcebook/chapters/
energygeneral.htm#The%20Heat%20Generator
>
> The Heat Generator, MF 19-437, book, 108 pages, by Reinhold Metzler,
1983, Swiss Francs 22.00 from SKAT.
>
> The heat generator is essentially a fan turning in a closed box,
converting mechanical power on the shaft into heat as it stirs up the
air. In small water powered mills this may allow some very interesting
possibilities for small industry applications for drying crops or
boiling liquids. This book reviews some heat using small industries in
Nepal, discusses the economics of the heat generator as compared to
several alternatives, and provides construction drawings of the
equipment. The author concludes that under certain circumstances a
heat generator would have the lowest unit cost of energy.
>
> The technical attractiveness of this technology is unfortunately not
matched by its financial appeal, at least for Nepal. To make his case
that the heat generator would provide low-cost energy, Metzler assumes
the following: it will be used with a turbine mill that is already
installed and underutilized, full capacity utilization of the heat
generator will be achieved, maintenance costs will be low (3.5%),
fuelwood for small industries will all be purchased, and a low real
interest rate (after inflation) of 5.5% can be achieved on the
invested capital ($800 plus 30% of the mill investment- $2100-for a 5-
kw output). He neglects the facts that local firewood consuming units
are often built at virtually no cash cost by family members, that in
the rural areas firewood is usually gathered rather than purchased,
that these small industries are usually seasonal and part-time, and
that small investments in design improvements in small industry stoves
and kilns can yield large fuel savings (e.g.. 33%). When all of these
factors are taken into account, the heat generator is likely to
produce energy that costs at least twice as much and requires an
investment at least 10 times as much as the fuelwood alternatives.
>
> In other countries and under other circumstances, there may be a
place for this device, and therefore we include it here.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: georgewrbaldwin
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 2:44 AM
> Subject: [microhydro] Re: Heat Generator
>
>
>
>
> Carlos!
>
> Thanks for the come-back. Even after all this time I have not been
> able to locate anybody who has given as much thought as he to the
> heating of air by mechanical means. I am aware of several patents
> going back to the 19th Century but it was the thoroughness of his
own
> approach that interested me and that fact that the units had been
> installed and were working correctly - at least they were at the
time
> his book was written in the early 80's. Somewhere I still have a
copy
> - which I got from the ITDG bookshop in London.
>
> Would you (or anyone else) happen to know where Reinhold can be
> contacted? I would very much like to see a unit in operation,
wherever
> that may be...... except perhaps for Nepal, where I understand
that
> the political situation is deteriorating on a daily basis.
>
> Regards,
>
> GB
>
>
>
> Carlos Bonifetti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Yes, I know Reinhold also. The problem seems to be in the
practical
> > application of the heat generator.
> > The machine is for generating hot air is a "bad centrifugal fan"
> with so
> > high internal losses that the air became hot. We are fan
builders
> and
> > reinhold's and so find design is very good.
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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