Jaybird's wood gas thread

Jaybird

Wood gasification is a fairly simple way to convert biomass into working fuel (very similair to natural gas). We are farmers of 6 generations and my grandfather collects antique tractors. As I came to be older I asked him what was hanging off the front of several old tractors and he described it to me. Thus the wood gas journey began. We held a workshop here last year and some very famous people in the woodgas world attended (wayne keith, Mike larossa) and learned ALOT. They all use what's called a "Imbert downdraft" gasifier. Mike makes his stuff out of duct tape and bailing wire while wayne's is professional and easy on the eyes. He drove here on zero fuel from alabama and is the current holder of the world speed record for woodgas powered vehicles. Today's fuel injected engines provide automatic adjustment of timing and fuel mixture so Woodgas has came back into the spot light. Generally speaking on a small engine you simply advance your timing 15 degrees and attach the output of the reaction unit on the carb (or take the carb off entirely and use a valve to adjust fresh air mixture. I can go into a great deal of detail on construction and operation, but it would be simpler if you did a little research on the matter. Victory gas works makes a nice prebuilt unit that's pretty straight forward. The "Gek" or gasification experimenters kit is also a good one. But if your any at all handy with a welder and have alot of scrap junk laying around it's much easier (and cheaper) to build your own.

For a small engine, an air bomb, some brake rotors from a 3/4 ton chevy, a metal 35 gallon drum, 5" steel pipe, Metal conduit and pvc pipe, Some pipe fittings and furnace cement can provide you with a way to make fuel to run any small engine 20hp or lower. The engine provides vacuum to create a fire that burns at 2000 degrees F or hotter. In essence boiling the wood above instead of burning it. All the gas is then forced to go through the pyrolisis zone and breaks down tars. A simple grate(preferably stainless) provides a shaker grate for ashes which fall down into the bottom (must clean out) Once the gas is cooled and filtered down to around 130 degrees or lower you can safely put it in a gas engine. The trick is to have a hot enough zone to take out all of the tars. You will derate your engine 25% and not expect to run at high rpms.

Join the woodgas group on yahoo if you desire to learn more than I can ever teach you. I have a firm handle on it but am always tweaking things trying to determine the best restriction size and nozzle configuration and sizing. Once you've got one that don't make tar your in business. my next project will be a 66 ford f 250 to gasify.

Youtube and google woodgas. Wayne Keith is considered the king and is on youtube. He's got some footage at my house too.

If you want to get your feet wet without trashing an engine build a coal gasifier first. hint hint...

Cariboocoot

Re: Jaybird's wood gas thread

Jaybird;

I've moved this post to its own thread in case people wish to discuss the wood gassifiers further. We have had some posts regarding a commercial one made by Garringer: http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?10680-Garringer-Gasifier-I-think-this-would-work-good-to-back-up-my-solar (The OP seems to have been a company shill. Both have stopped posting.)

Talk of the old tractors brings back memories. Sometimes I wish I had one of my dad's hit-or-miss engines and the 90 VDC GE generator he had. It would be fun to experiment with, other than weighing too much to move.

Jaybird

Re: A little advice perhaps?

I'd be glad to tell you what I know. I've farmed all my life and grandpa collects antique tractors. As I got older I noticed a few of them had gasifiers on them which sparked my interest.

First off. All firewood is the same BTU. It is its cured density or weight that make the difference. For instance. I burn nothing but hedge "osage orange". It's considered the hotest burning firewood. Remember, 16 lbs of firewood make a gallon of gas in wood gas assuming you've built an "Imbert downdraft" style gasifier. So wood is not an issue really. It just might visually take more if you use poor wood. My friend uses wood chips from a pallet factory.

The basic concept of woodgas has been around for a very long time (pre WW).

Essentially you are boiling the wood instead of burning it. then forcing the gasses through the pyrolisis zone (2000 degrees f or above) to break down the tars and impurities and the end results are carbon,hydrogen, and a few others. You must cool and filter the gas before piping it into the intake of an engine. A carberator is not necessary as you can alter your fresh air mix with simple valves. Your timing must be advanced by 15 degrees and you'll derate your engine 25%. When all is said and done it's alot like running natural gas in a vehicle.

With todays fuel injected engines woodgas is very simply a matter of building a reactor that don't make tar and the electronics will do the rest. Right down to shutting fuel off and advancing your timing, air mixture can be manually adjusted by attaching a meter to your O2 sensor.

We had a workshop here last year and was honored to have some of the famous woodgassers come and teach us a thing or two (along with about 30 others). Wayne keith is the king of wood gas. He makes it simple, reliable, and is tested with time. He drove across the country on wood and holds the world speed record for a woodgas vehicle. Mike larosa is the duct tape and bailing wire kind of guy, but one of the best nonetheless.

With Brake rotors as a restriction, an air bomb with an end cut off, some basic steel plumbing, a 30 gallon drum, 4-6 inch diameter steel pipe, and some furnace cement you can start a simple build that won't gum up engines with tar and use firewood for fuel.

If you are really interested in woodgas, join the yahoo woodgas group and you will learn more than I could ever teach you. I highly recommend the Imbert style gasifier.
Victory gas works builds a nice unit.
The GEK is a good starter gasifier.
Building your own yeilds very good results if you have the time and want to save a bunch of money.
When your ready to get your feet wet start with a coal gasifier..... Hint, hint..

Cariboocoot

Re: A little advice perhaps?

I'm going to add a little local note here, as you mention "it's alot like running natural gas in a vehicle."
Here in BC we have quite a lot of vehicles running on propane, and a few running on CNG. The propane ones should be fairly easy to get a hold of and would lend themselves to wood gas conversion fairly easily I should think.

Here's a chemistry hint: natural gas is mostly methane. We used to get methanol (methyl alcohol) by destructive distillation of wood. That's why it's sometimes called "wood alcohol".

Jaybird

Re: Jaybird's wood gas thread

I read through some of the other posts on here on woodgas and it would seem most people aren't educated about it very well.

Yes you can blow stuff up if you don't have a degree of common sense.
Yes you can die from fumes (that means you didn't build your unit correctly as a good gasifiers exhaust will not harm you)
The wood gassers would laugh at bills post about a last ditch kind of deal.

DO NOT FOLLOW FEMA's DIAGRAMS......... We call them FEMATARS.

Here's wayne at my place with mother earth news

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tTqnkv_bEE&feature=related