Right, where overhauling on motorways with the Volvo can be embarrassing sometimes, it can be done by the Chevy pulling a heavy trailer at 70 mph. Just do not do that when your exit is only a minute away. The excess heat will stow the mixture overrich, stalling a low idling engine…
Traffic jam or prolonged idling is no problem. Gasifier keeps its temperature at very comfortable levels. The hearth insulation is paying off.
Still driving without any mixture control, not even any manual choking. Flaps are always fully opened. Just can’t find out why this setup seems to do it by itself, just asking for a tender right foot, following the acceleration. Need a way to lean the mixture on long cruising distances. Got the impression the mixture is always on the rich side. Fuel consumption is high too.
On idle after a drive, I see exhaust fumes. Unburned carbon black? Exhaust pipe is black with carbon. Never observed that with the dry filtered Volvo. It also could be caused by the overrich mixture.
The new grate in combination with a high gas speed is a dream. It just doesn’t ever ask for scraping, despite a for an Imbert very long reduction zone. The spilled fine char is swept from the generator bottom to the cyclones.
Good reporting DJ.
Bleed some extra air in through the Impco with the propane electric gas lock off and the manual valve just cracked open?? Just for testing.
Have you done anything with the ignition timing yet?
Steve, a manual ignition control is on the wish list for this week.
Checked the wet filter today. The hay seems to filter fine, the shavings not, they pack and channel. The oily household fiber filters well, but is not self cleaning. To bad, since the carbon dust sticks easier to oil than to water. On high outside temperatures the precooler lacks capacity. The lower part of the filter is a dry filter then…
The mixture control still puzzles me. I first have to drill several vacuum measuring points in the mixer tubes to find out what is wrong. Or perhaps it could turn out to be something very good. I mean, 80+ mph without choking air…
Didn’t touch the scraper for 300 miles now and still no increasing pressure drop over the hearth. Eeri.
So a mix of very good, good and less good experiences. Stepped over a few borders again, which is always good. Take that experience to the next systems. We have a saying that one needs to build a house three times to be satisfied. To be completely satisfied about a gasifier will take 6, 7, perhaps even more.
Hi DJ,
Nice work on the twin cyclones ! The SS work is really a showpiece and the photos show your work really nicely. Would like to hear the growl one day !
How did you size the twin cyclones, just use half the CFM of the engine for each ?
I am still a beginner at WG, but i can shed some light on performance gains to early GM pick ups. The rear end in your truck is a 14 bolt Corporate. The factory ratios available were 321, 342, 370, 410,456. The housing is identical to a 1 ton duallie housing except for outer hubs & backing plate anchor location. This rear end, although extremely durable, combined with 16in wheels & tires is overkill, very heavy & extremely energy inefficient. The frame rails are the same as a 1/2 ton. A complete 1/2 ton front end is a bolt in to your chassis. !/2 ton rear end is also a bolt in with 3/4 or 1/2 t springs. Your complete cab w/ nose, radiator support, radiator, hood & bumper weighs approximately 1200lbs.
Years ago, a very common conversion was the installation of a big block into a 1/2t pick up. The performance level between a 1/2t & 3/4t was night & day. I know you are not building a hot rod, just food for thought.
The quality of this machine is every bit as high as it looks. Probably higher. I was absolutely blown away looking closely at the attention to detail of both this and the Volvo setup. Very inspiring indeed.
Hey DJ, I’m drawing Imbert plans for my 1977 GMC C15 with the 350 engine, and your pics are so helpful! I wonder if you could share some dimensions that would help me immensely. See the drawing for what I’m looking for. Let me know which is most critical. (Are you happy with the power or amount of wood gas you’ve attained? What kind of temps are you getting at the reactor or the gasifier exhaust? Did you have problems with the leaf spring bracket beneath the bed? Should I build the same size reactor or scale it down according to engine size?)
You cannot use my 454 dimensions for your 350 engine. On my website http://woodgas.nl/ you find the calculations for an Imbert. You might use slightly lower gas speeds in the reactor than mentioned. I find lower speeds work as well when the hearth is well insulated. Lower gas speeds add to the power of the engine because of less restriction.
Power is very good. Wet filtration sucks, your engine will be partly coal powder powered. I have no idea of temperatures in the hearth. The bracket was no obstacle.
Wayne,
My apologies for answering so late. No updates yet. I hardly drive these days. Besides that, driving oldtimers has always been affordable in the Netherlands. But meanwhile we have a government desperately looking for income. It could very well be that in the nearby future the truck will be taxed as if it were a youngster, adding 2,000 euro annually. If so, I will have to take it from the road. That’s is the main reason why I am not putting in much effort at the moment.
John: I just picked up an 87 C30 flatbed with the 454, throttle body injected. Definitely plan to convert it, as soon as I get the project funded (its for a biochar group I support) Any chance of getting your gasifier and engine conversion design for my project?
Very nice DJ I have that ss taste but the rusty recycled budget very nice to see the gm stuff. Burnen wood and rubber is in my future. I want to thank everyone for sharing your knowage so we can all become more energy independent.
I hope you are well DJ. Don’t know if you are cruising through these parts anymore, but I’d be interested to know if your government did end up making things difficult for you, and exactly how they went about it.
I also live under a broke government so desperate for funds Pot is being made legal (so they can tax it). They also tend to copy what goes on in the EU and the US.
