1978 Dodge 360 power wagon

Charific-
OK OK after running the truck last Saturday I walked away thinking and pondering the test. I chewed on it all week and decided to add a couple more holes to the burn tube and run it again. I got a right angle drill to assist me in the precarious position I’ll be in. I’ll just tip the gasifier on its side and unload all the left over wood and drill the holes and run it again.
Now I know why I was loosing power near the end of my test. I was expecting to see a hopper half full of wood and it was empty.
What happened to my 50# of fuel? Well I did run the gasifier for some time b4 leaving the yard. The truck has low gears and I was pulling it hard. I didn’t quite get 20 miles on my test.
The previous test was on 50# of wood and it ran for 2-1/2 hrs and still has 5-7# of fuel left over. But it was a stationary test at constant gas flow. At the end of that test I emptied the char and got a 5qt pail full. It weighs 1lb10oz.
I was wondering on this truck test if I had char falling off the grate because of road vibration so I emptied the char and filled a 3gal pail. Just over 3lbs. Some of the pieces still had the molder profile though distorted.
So now the real questions-
Does any one have any data or experience on the amount of char for a given amount of fuel? One could use weight but that could be misleading because of wood moisture. Volume might be a better rule, I don’t know that’s why I’m asking.
In a gasifier don’t you want to strip as much fuel as you can out of the wood before in becomes dormant char?
Is it possible to move too much fuel through the burn tube and not utilize the reduction profile to its full potential?
The char I removed from the unit I throw in my wood stove and there is still a BTU value in it.
Is it possible in the size reduction zone to carry it so far as too turn it into dust?
What does char size tell a person?
I liken a piece of wood to a sponge soaked with fuel. Is it the goal to wring out every last drop?

Wes

As far as volume vs weight for wood feedstocks:

  1. Calculating volume of chunked wood is fairly difficult due to extensive and variable empty spaces between the chunks.
  2. At a given moisture level (say 20% for ease) different types of wood have roughly the same energy (BTU) content per pound. A pound of light, crappy cottonwood would take up much more volume vs a pound of dense oak but still probably have the same BTU value.

Here’s a good point to start: http://driveonwood.com/forum/591 I have recycled some, and am going to try more tomorrow to help me maintain the proper mix in my char bed. I suspect the multiple starts I do are taking a toll on the fine char in my bed. Also, do a search (upper left) on “char bed” lots of good stuff. Happy motoring the next time around.