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wood gasification or steam

tobyS

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Are you currently working on, running or thinking about a wood-gasification system for an alternative fuel? Does anyone have a wood-gas military vehicle? Or steam?
 

tobyS

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Thanks for the links Porkysplace. Years back, I had associations with Wayne Kieth, Jim Mason and many others but mainly lurk on the gasification website, just to keep up. I've been a member of the "gasification" website for quite a while. My interest comes and goes.

Being the inventive type, I saw a problem of wet wood fuel and set out to make the moisture content into an advantage. I'm not sure anyone else had quite looked at the issue of water in the fuel, except from the standpoint of drying it.

I no longer post my work on the open forum after some members were using information to build products that they were selling, claiming "open source" and one mentioned patenting "his" technology (using others work). Also, there was an issue of some members calling producer gas.... synthesis gas....which it is not.

Real synthesis gas is made by splitting water. Normal gasification, like a downdraft gasifier does not have the energy required to do very much of that, instead H2O cools the reaction (mostly turning to steam), contributing to tars and smoke that has very low energy content and makes a mess in engines. Most people use dry (wood) fuel to solve this. My work went a different route...having a second stage reactor that is fed dry fuel and putting the first stage fuel gas thru it, cracking the water into H and O.

This method supplies the O for carbon in the second stage fuel to bond to, but not so much that it makes CO2 (a high temp reaction starved for O). The important thing is that it has released the hydrogen. The resulting gas is around 50% hydrogen and 25% CO..which are the building blocks of the four alcohols. It's true synthesis gas, not hydrogen poor producer gas. The energy content of the gas is "supercharged"...and it's all done with wood fuel, no external inputs of energy. I call it the next generation of wood gas. And as an added benefit, because of heat recycling from the extremely high temp gas coming from the second stage reactor, the first stage is heated with recovered heat and needs very little atmospheric (air) that has nitrogen, a contaminant in real synthesis gas (or any energy gas).

Now for the disclaimer. I've collected parts to build a prototype and worked closely with a couple of chemical engineers that I met on the Gasification website...but not built it yet.
 

CMPPhil

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Hi

Have I got a document for you it was put out by FEMA back during the energy crisis to show farmers how to convert tractors to run on wood chips. Here is a link to web site that is talking about it and at the bottom of the first page is a link to down load the entire FEMA report quite a interesting read. http://www.build-a-gasifier.com/fema-gasifier-plans/

This is something I've always wanted to try, there were a lot of vehicles convert to run on wood gas or coal gas during the WWII.

If you move forward on this please keep us posted.

Cheers Phil
 

tobyS

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Hi

Have I got a document for you it was put out by FEMA back during the energy crisis to show farmers how to convert tractors to run on wood chips. Here is a link to web site that is talking about it and at the bottom of the first page is a link to down load the entire FEMA report quite a interesting read. http://www.build-a-gasifier.com/fema-gasifier-plans/

This is something I've always wanted to try, there were a lot of vehicles convert to run on wood gas or coal gas during the WWII.

If you move forward on this please keep us posted.

Cheers Phil
Thanks Phil, I've seen several of the docs attached to that. Good reading!!

Fuel preparation is probably the biggest issue with them. I've seen some interesting designs for "chunkers" too.

As for engine, most take a spark. I have heard some diesels replace up to 90% of the fuel, but not completely. Are any of the HMMWV's gas engines???....one would look right at home in the back of a Hummer.
 

wreckerman893

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It's been a couple of years since I saw Wayne Kieth. I assume he is still doing the wood gas thing.

He lives about 40 miles from me near Springville, AL.

My neighbor and I have discussed building a wood gassifier but we both have projects that over ride doing it right now.

We were going to try to run a spare multi-fuel he has on wood gas but Wayne advised against it.
 

Beyond Biodiesel

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This is an interest of mine, which I have been working on in stages:

1) Blending solvents with waste oils to make diesel fuel, which requires solving a number of filtration, and solubility problems. This has been built, and running for 10 years.

2) Fractionation, built about 5 years ago.

3) Wood gasification, which is straight to Fractionation, then blending. This phase is waiting for time and money.
 

tobyS

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Hi BB. My goal is to make in the correct quantity H and CO with very low N to directly condense alcohols..or at least have the building blocks to do it. It's a combination of making wet producer gas and in a second stage, X flow reactor, put it through a bed of hot coals (dry materials)...supercharging the gas with an input of about 10,000 btu /lb of water. It's true synthesis gas...in a thru feed, low pressure 2 stage system. Been collecting for a while now.
 

Beyond Biodiesel

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Interesting concept, tobyS. Alcohol becomes problematic in an engine that was designed before 1996, when alcohol first showed up as a fuel additive; because the seals and hoses that were used before that can only handle alcohols at 3% or less in the blend.

My interest is in blending the light fractions with the heavier fractions to make diesel fuel, then cracking the heaviest fractions, such as gum, to hopefully end up with more usable fuel.
 

tobyS

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Recycle wood from old house

Posting this here because the wood that I recycle can be used in a gasifier or a boiler. And potentially the gas fed into an engine (not there yet, but the purpose of this thread).

The pictures attached of the house is a property that I just bought...well was paid to take. Much of the wood will be recovered, separated for wood fuel. The former owner rented the house out and there was a fire that did serious damage (nobody was hurt). It is on a double lot at the corner of 2 highways, now zoned for commercial. He didn't want the hassle of the clean up.

I mentioned to him that if he chose to take the insurance settlement, I'd take the property for cleaning it up. He called me and after looking at it, I requested some help with the cost of disposing of the personal property, but would take the property by quit claim deed if all and every lein or tax was paid. He paid me to take the place and we recorded the deed Wednesday.

I have a friend with an excavator (Bob) that has a "thumb" in it. His control is amazing. He keeps it on my farm and we recycle some materials...wood...concrete....brick...steel, from demolition, then send the debris to the landfill.

The pictured site is about 12 miles from my farm and the landfill being 5 more, mas made me decide not to haul more than a few loads with my 929 and instead hire a local trucking company with 2 tri-axles and highway gearing. Bob will sort and make piles for about 10 days, then load on trucks. Trash goes to the landfill and wood fuel and concrete comes to the farm. The foundation of the older part of the house is large split stone and after the small basement is out, I have a great gravel source at my place, then will make my retaining wall from the concrete and stone I salvage.

I would like to make machinery to process clean demolition wood into gasification and boiler fuel. Toward that goal I took out a nice sectional cast Weil-McClain boiler from a local school, so am a step closer. Now all I need is a shop to heat!
 

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