I have been thinking perhaps Blaugas might be produced in small enough quantities for ordinary people to make it in a shed behind the house. Perhaps there are now no more patents or restrictions like that? Can something like it be made from wood?
Rindert
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I think it could although mineral oil will run in a diesel. I wonder what a cheep source would be?
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I returned to my old calculations, found an error, made new math and came to the conclusion, that DME synthesis is not so bad as one may think. At least at prices.
700kg of ODW could produce 850 Nm3 of syngas with proper H:CO ratio. This could be converted into 250 kg of DME which is an equivalent of 200 l of common diesel fuel. So 2 meters of soft wood with cuurent price 1000 CZK could give 200l of diesel fuel with price 7000 CZK.
Definitely, construction of plant and catalyst are enormously prohibitive, but one may try to think the way.
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Another, related process, is Pintsch gas. It is even older than Blau gas. If I understand correctly various kinds of oils are heated under pressure. My question is whether charcoal can be mixed with old motor oil, antifreeze, and perhaps other wastes and heated under pressure to produce an easily storeable liquid or gaseous fuel. Off gasses from charcoal making could be used as a heat source.
I suspect that charcoal contains much less sulfur than wood. Can someone confirm this?
Rindert
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The chemistry to convert wood gas into safely compressible or liquid fuels is not easy at all. If it was the Germans and South Africans wouldnāt have struggled as much turning coal into fuel and feedstock.
The only viable routes I can see are methanol conversion and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. Both are on the brink of possible in a home lab.
Methanol has an easier catalyst (I think) and the process is highly selective so that most of what comes out is methanol. The temperatures and pressures are challenging: 250-300c and 50-100 bar (~atmospheres or ~700-1400 PSI)
FT has fussier catalyst preparation but slightly easy engineering: similar 150-300c temperatures but pressure can be lower. Higher temperatures favor shorter carbon chains, the shortest being single carbon Methane (CH4).
This is a good paper on FT/Methanol/DME synthesis: Power-to-liquid via synthesis of methanol, DME or FischerāTropsch-fuels: a review - Energy & Environmental Science (RSC Publishing) DOI:10.1039/D0EE01187H
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None seems to have mentioned production of methanol (MeOH). Itās my understanding that the production of methanol was a cottage industry. However, during combustion in engines it produces formic acid which causes increased block block wear. Methanol is also very poisonous to humans. I would suggest that it should be used only as a precursor to other organic compounds such as DME or synthetic fuels.
Rindert
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Whats the method? Apart from wood destilation. I looked in to that once but found it not worth while, a tone of wood only producing l think 17l of methanol.
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If I remember correctly the syngas to methanol reaction can easily be catalyzed with brass scrub pads that have been treated with amonia. In fact dangerous amounts of methanol can be catalyzed in the copper coils used by ethanol distillers if they are not carefully cleaned with vinegar first.
Rindert
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Fascinating. I did not know that. Will look in to it.
Btw l did dive in to methanol production once and it required some crome (the nasty one, forgot the valence number) based catalyst and north of 50 atm pressure, not a diy first choice. Yours sounds much better.
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Ok l did a fast search and indeed, this shows promise. It apears the catalist isnt so hard to make diy, all thats left is the pressures. Found conflicting resaults ranging from 1 to 100 atm. I do however like the high selectivity wich a Fischer Tropsch lacks. Methanol has its drawbacks for sure but also potential.
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Since typical catalyst is based on Cu/ZnO formula, brass makes good sense. At least brass wool could be cheap enough to give a try to this solution.
Methanol could be blended into gasoline with not too much problems. As well as ethanol. Some tinkering on engine setup is necessary, but doable even DIY.
Devil is in bureaucracy. I donno how it works elswhere, but here one must pay taxes for alcohol or motor fuel no matter where it comes from.
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I donāt think ATF (US regulator) cares about methanol (confirmed below) but they may not like you having an unlicensed still that could make drinkable spirits. You might want to keep your distilling to yourself and your stills tucked away.
Bulk production of methanol for an off-gridder probably doesnāt make much sense vs wood/char gasing. Production of a few gallons might make sense to run a chain saw and startup/shutdown of gasifier fed engine.
ATF form saying explicitly that methanol does not require a permit:
https://www.ttb.gov/images/pdfs/forms/f511074.pdf
It was said above but Iāll say it again. Methanol is nasty, nasty stuff. Your body converts it to formic acid which then attacks your nervous system. It is known to blind and kill people at low concentrations. Please respect the danger.
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I distill methanol with an old water heater. I use the safety valve to tell me when the run is over. It opens at 180F and the methanol boils at 160F. Methanol is not miscible with oil or gasoline, once it gets water in it. Wet methanol floats on diesel and gasoline. Get it Wetter and it sinks.
Alone itās a good fuel for a small engine running rich. Donāt mix it with gasoline. (Do whatever you want, I donāt really care, just relaying my empirical experience.) Methanol that is clear is dry or neat enough to use, cloudy and itās wet and needs distilled. You will never get it totally dry, I donāt remember the azeotrope, but even with reflux, I never got better than 95%. You can check it with an antifreeze prism.
It has good volatility, like gasoline, but with high vapor pressure. For me, and Steve the hydroscopic aspect makes it nearly useless in an open or vented fuel tank.
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And woodgas may kill you if you put your nose into your gasifier. And gasoline would blow you up if you try to check your tank with light of the match. Even egg might be dangerous in the hands of crazy fool. You must always know what you have in your hands and how to deal with. Typically, more you can get from stuff, more dangerous or laborous it is.
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Here, in Czech Republic, you may have a still big as a house if you want. Until you drop first drop of ethanol from it. Than you get customs guys breathing to your neck 
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Here you can have a still up to 40l for private use, but you cant sell spirits.
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God blessed country.
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