[Gasification] Tom's Truck

[doug brethower]

Hey Tom, met you during a cold February in Illinois at stove camp with Dr.  
TLUD.

Sure enjoyed you, appreciate your knowledge sharing and enthusiasm there.   
You and the crew Infected me with the bioenergy "bug" and have not been  
able to shake the fever since ;~)

As the owner of Wayne Keith's original test bed 1984 460cid Ford that he  
converted about 2004, I can tell you it still runs great.  If I could only  
keep my mechanic buddy Ed from tinkering with it, it would be my daily  
driver.  Last update was an improved automatic tranny, E4OD.  For now,  
that requires a co-pilot to run the diagnostic computer because the 84  
Ford did not have a computer onboard.  There is an aftermarket computer  
strictly to run the tranny, but have had neither time nor money to  
implement.

Factory pellets turn to mush in Wayne's stratifed downdraft design, due to  
the moisture content of the pellets.  Small (fist sized) wood chunks work  
great.  Walnuts the squirrels leave behind over the winter (floaters) also  
work great.

The high propane prices this winter, started us converting hardwood  
pellets to heat and char in larger TLUD devices.  We ended up with char in  
excess of what we needed for gardening along with greatly reduced heat  
energy price V $4.65 per gallon propane.

Hardwood pellets make wonderfully uniform pelletized charcoal with low tar  
content.  Char sizing and tar content were the final known limiations of  
the Kalle charcoal gasifier.  The Kalle was reported to run a 3-4 liter  
engine 60 miles per charge in a bin sized to fit neatly below hood level  
on the front bumper of cars-o-the-day (early 1940's).

We tried the pelletized charcoal in a modified S-80 sawdust gasifier and  
they fired up an old Case tractor first lick.  After mounting the unit,  
and with the aid of a shop vac, it was 2 minutes from lighting char to  
letting out the clutch and driving the tractor on nature's finest.

Long way of saying taking the easy heat from pellets before using them for  
driving may be an appoach worthy of consideration.

Offset high propane costs with pellets.  Offset the high cost of travel  
with the char left over.

We suspect  the Wayne Keith design (a 200 liter barrel turned into a wood  
"hopper") filled with charred pellets instead of wood, will run the 460  
cid engine at least a few hundred miles between fill-ups with the improved  
tranny.

Char packs a lot more miles per weight than hardwood.  With a good use for  
the heat during conversion from pellets to char, we don't waste any of the  
energy.

If you are going to get the universiites involved, how about a Prius that  
runs coast to coast on just the char it can carry onboard with room for  
two passengers?

PS: if you are looking fora co-pilot, please put me near the top  of the  
list ;~)



On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:11:04 -0500, andrew schofield  
<scothebuilder at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Dr. Reed,
>
> On your way through, please visit Argos, Indiana if you can; because the  
> past two years in May, there has been a gathering of woodgas truck  
> >builders. Wayne Kieth of "driveonwood.com" fame has been teaching more  
> and more people to go without gas. He has driven more miles than >any  
> other wood fueled machine has logged on US highways, and will probably  
> motor there again all the way from Alabama.
> Wouldn't that be fun?
>
> Andrew Schofield
>
>
>
>
>> Dear Peter Davies and Al:
>>Thrree technologies are coming togethero. Wood pellets are widely  
>> available throughout the US, Europe and much of the rest of the world.
>>o. Wood pellets are an ideal oil substitute for running cars and  
>> trucks. Much better than the wood blocks used during WWII. The cost of  
>> >pellet energy is 1/3 the cost of gasoline.o. Biochar is a product that  
>> should become better known and well used, since it greatly increases  
>> soil productivity, while reducing the CO2 >burden on our atmosphere
>>I intend to buy a small truck when Spring comes, convert it to producer  
>> gas from pellets and drive cross country to see my son in Long Beach  
>> >(and other West coast friends)
>>Comments?
>>Tom Reed
> *****



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