[Gasification] Running a vehicle on wood gas

[Doug]

Hi Paul,

Yes, this is what I have read and lost, but why would I want to keep it?

On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 21:37:29 -0400
Paul McCullough <happimac at mac.com> wrote:

> Is this what you're looking for?
> 
> http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/energy21/woodfire.htm

A few pointers: 

Dead wood in Australia is almost dry as a bone, the moisture probably came from white ants. It makes charcoal that can incandescence to smelt any metal.

When he used Gidgee, in the size he quoted, it made tar because like I said previously, you can only use it in very small chips to get the surface areas right. It is incredible dense, so great fuel if used correctly.

The cone burnt out repeatedly because his single nozzle was flush with the metal face. The oxidation temperatures are pulled onto the face of the cone, so when he put a SS inset in, it performed better.

He used steam with good results, but only to replace the normal moisture and reactions that fuel of <15% MC create.

In Australia if I were building this in much the same way, instead of a cone with a hole, you are only interested in the hole. Make a plate the size of the outer drum and weld it in at your selected height, and weld a short bit of pipe on to form the throat tube.  Then go and dig up some white ant mounds, mix it's rock hard dirt into paste and make your cone with that. It used to be used for lining blacksmiths forges and is a fantastic refractory. Or you can make just a thick lined case around the walls, and just fill it with charcoal to about 6" over the nozzles, then put your wood on top. That way the cone forms within the bed itself and is self regulating.

If you use a single nozzle, mount it in a sleeve so you can fiddle with sliding it in and out a bit from the wall.

It really can be a fun project.
Doug Williams,
Fluidyne.