Hello Cody, based on previous posts, I can conclude that you build a gasifier by “classic” supply of fresh air through the nozzles in the fire hose, so the air enters the glowing area in the gasifier part, where the cross section of the fire hose and heat determine higher gas velocities and slightly higher vacuum than at the top of the hopper. Based on these facts, we can conclude that the steam and other gases rising to the top could easily travel down the pipe and mix with fresh air, and then this mixture would enter the glowing area through the nozzles. The goal is to achieve a suitable mixture of fresh air and water vapor and bring this mixture to the center of events, which is probably the key to a strong gas.
For this one it will be a ring of nozzles, but yes it will have fresh air delivered by one pipe however it will be entering outside of the hearth. I havent finished welding it together but here is how the nozzles come in.
I doubt much preheating will occur although the fresh air will be in the outer jacket. I don’t think there’s enough dwell time with the hot exiting gas to preheat much.
My idea is to weld in a small venturi like I will also do with the exhaust, the incoming air will induce vacuum on the venturi and suck moisture through the fresh air and to the nozzles.
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At his Škoda, Kristjan has a supply of fresh air through a pipe from the top, as he says he uses a little moist charcoal, or adds wood to the charcoal, in my opinion, it is best to capture steam from the top of the interior and run it on venturi and nozzles. I am of the opinion that it does not make sense to lead the exhaust to the gasifier, as there is already too much inert gas nitrogen, co2, water vapor.
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Sorry I should have been more specific.
The exhaust venturi would be a different mode, for pure ejection. The fresh air venturi would only be connected to the hopper venturi.
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Also since Marcus brought up a good point I’ll add some inspection ports. One obvious location could be right at the grate. Not sure where else I could place one.
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Cody, I’ve philosophized here about mixing steam / pyrolysis gases with fresh air,
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Currently welding up the hearth. I had to cut open the bottom to reach the bottom weld seam for the air ring. I have a spare propane tank bottom that I can weld in, may even lengthen it some and add more charbed, if but only a little bit. Letting the welder cool off some because the fan made a funny noise.
Also making the lid gasket like how @Bobmac makes his. Red RTV impregnated fiberglass rope. I laid down 3 layers of plastic wrap on the barrel lip so I don’t glue it together accidentally. I have that clamped down and will wait a day or two for that to cure. I only used one big tube of RTV so hopefully that was enough. I’ll edit in some photos but I need to charge my phone first.
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While I’m testing on the system I’m just going to use the whole 30 gallon drum for my hopper. When I decide it’s running decent I’ll cut it down and add a 55 gallon barrel width monorator extension and use the lid portion like how Wayne does his. I will most likely keep the filling lid as my puffer lid, copying Gary Gilmore’s coil spring loaded lid so I’ll also have a lever for better opening.
Considering how efficient the Mazda ran on charcoal I may only need 30 gallons of hopper space at any given time, I already got 2 miles per pound on charcoal and I don’t see wood being much less efficient than that. Less welds equal less leaks.
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Got the new welder in yesterday. Very nice from first looks. It’s a DC inverter welder and they included a stick welding stinger. Ground clamp is a good one with copper jaws and the braided copper band to connect the jaws. Very strong spring. Going to use up the included 1mm wire and then switch back over to my .035" wire I’m used to.
My only complaint is it can only use 1kg/2lb spools but the welder is very small so at least it’s handy sized. I may drill a hole and put in a spool holder for my regular 10lb spools and fasten it all to a welding cart for my big projects.
The welder is also dual voltage, will accept 110v or 220v AC mains.
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Also forgot to mention I’m going to do a leak down test of the hearth. Tape over all of the nozzles except one, spray some soapy water and blow air into the exposed nozzle. Cross my fingers and hope I don’t have holes.
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I have a Lincoln flux core welder that only takes 2 lb spools Cody. I just cut the center out of an used up 2 lb spools and stick it in the 10 pound spool. Runs with no issues. How about linking the welder you bought.
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It’s a Chinese welder but the space is too small for a 10lb to fit in. Basically a lunch pail. The spool spindle is horizontal. Luckily the friction wheel points directly to the back and the back is just a piece of sheet metal, so I could drill a hole and put in a grommet and just run the 10lb spool outside of the welder.
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I’m going to want to see that if you do it. Do a review on this machine after you have used it for a while please. Also how well it runs rods.
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I have their little bitty baby lunch pail stick machine and it works great once you hook it up to a 20amp 110v plug or any 220v plug. I’m not good with stick but I let my dad borrow it for some repairs and he loves it.
Ok so first impressions it already sounds like it should. Sounds like frying bacon. Beads look super good on my test runs with some thick stuff at full power. My transformer harbor freight 120amp sounded like angry bees in a coffee can when it welder so maybe that’s a AC/DC difference
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Tom here’s a good litmus test. I just did a funsies weld by butting a regular pipe to the side of another pipe, no coping. Seems like with this welder if I can jump a dirt bike across it I can weld it. You can variably adjust the wire speed and the power with two knobs. My HF I just had wire speed and Hi/Low
I’m pretty sure the 140amp rating is true. I set the machine to half on both knobs and instantly burned through 16ga sheet.
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Got the leaks tested and fixed in this hearth. I think next time I’ll go for an air jacket that is around the firetube than inside of it like this car rim.
Adding the air inlet for the jacket. Using 1" pipe I think it will be sufficient since the air isn’t being preheated. I can always expand it a bit more if I have to.
This new welder is awesome. It really makes a difference when it runs in the right current.
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Got the hearth done as far as I’m concerned. Going to leave the old propane tank ring to attach chains for the grate.
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When I attach the hopper to the hearth it will be relatively thin material, so I plan to bolster it with angle iron supports to distribute the weight a little better. I’ll do the same when I weld the hopper to the 55 gallon drum lid.
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Hey @don_mannes how do you set up those quick detach pipe unions? I’ve been thinking of utilizing that for my fresh air intake so I can disassemble it easier for maintenance. Tried looking through your posts but didn’t see any clear pictures showing how it worked.
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