KIA Sorento SUV Conversion

Projects
#1

Well all… It appears I have the bug, but I am too cheap to go buy a new vehicle. With 3 street bikes, 2 dirt bikes, a boat and the KIA… The last thing I need is another vehicle to put in the driveway. :slight_smile:

So here is the plan:

  1. I purchased 12 old police cages from cruisers. Great source for grates, scrap steel and thick walled pipe.

  2. I am following the instructions from Mr. Tesolonian on youtube. Using old propane tanks.

  3. I finally have the reactor built (including gravity fed hopper).

  4. Will be using a small propane tank for the cyclone.

  5. Will be making a sled like contraption using two roll bars upside down to mount unit to… Those will also serve as cooling pipes with condensation at bottom.

  6. Skid contraption will slide into a 2" receiver (class IV) hitch. (Vehicle is rated for 550 lbs tongue weight)

  7. Have old ammo box for final filter.

  8. Tons of xtra propane tanks for filters or bladders.

  9. May use PVC and bicycle inner tube for pressure container to equal things out.

Vehicle info:
V6
2WD
100,000 + miles
Previously had HHO installed
ScanguageII for OBD2 stats

Still must do:

  1. Build carb unit for woodgas.
  2. Figure out how to pipe gas from rear to front.
  3. Temp guages and electronics.
  4. Cyclone
  5. Cooling rack.

I will post pics soon. Any input on foreign vehicles would be appreciated.

++Todd

#2

i like your thinking, but heres a few things to think about

the reciever hitch will work fine, but if you want to tow or open the back, 500lbs is alot ot deal with, im still looking for the best way to rear mount a system, anything from hinges to drawer slides or two pieces of different diameter pipe, as an engineering student theres many ways to skin the cat but what will work best for you? since you can weld i say go for a custom bumper, 3 pieces of c channel or angle iron 1/4- 3/8 is adequate, but your hinge is the weak point, on ebay 1000 lb rated hinges are 75$. just fyi

youll find you wont need an innertube or pressure adjustment system you just want the vacuum to deacrease to nothing from the engine to the gasifier air inlet. engine vacuum does all the work. but pvc is a cost effective way to pipe the cooled and filtered gas to your engine

since you have obd2 im guessing a significant portion of your intake could be plastic. this is problematic, since i found that info in the premium side i dont think i can talk about it here. but you really need an ally intake or steel otherwise you could have some real problems later. i was stubborn to buy the premium info section of the site, but theres a whole other side to this site, and no censoring on the details, just fyi

also sean french probly knows what you need to know about obd2, im still playing with obd1

the smaller the filter the more it will need to be changed. id recommend one of the ammo cans for rocket grenades or such, its like the same as 3 or 4 50 cal cans together. media of any sort of variety is used, but hay seems to be the norm for cost and effectiveness and moisture in the gas

also based on your engine size you can calculate your gas demand at any rpm, the 1:1 ratio of woodgas and air is needed, aswell as using this info to size the inside of your gasifier correctly, drawing on a small gasifer too hard will burn it up and not pulling a gasifier hard enough will result in dirty gas, the math will save you, and you can look at what others are running on 4cyl to v8’s

most important to consider tho, is that your “type of engine” has a lot of cons when it comes to woodgas, newer overhead cam small displacement ect, where as the older big lung engines suffer less power loss and can run a happy life on woodgas due to a variety of things. you can weld and you have the materials, i would just do a bit of research and i bet youll find that you can make this work, but another vehicle might be easier.

happy wrenching and i look forward to seeing your rear mount system

#3

Brent… Thanks for the response brother! It really helps when us folks stick together and share what we have learned. :slight_smile:

Below are the responses:

[the reciever hitch will work fine, but if you want to tow or open the back, 500lbs is alot ot deal with, im still looking for the best way to rear mount a system]

I was thinking about doing two right angles on a hinge system and weld up a hole for a large crank bar. This would allow me to insert the two inch receiver while the unit sits on the ground… Then crank it up into position and slide the pin in to lock it.

Another thought was placing good wheels on the rear skid… So I could actually release it and roll it into the garage or another location. These would have to be large hard rubber tires or pneumatic.

My concern with any hinches, pins, etc… Just extra weak spots and places for movement to occur.

[youll find you wont need an innertube or pressure adjustment system you just want the vacuum to deacrease to nothing from the engine]

I read that there are some concerns with switching from idle to drive w/ woodgas. I was going to place the pressurizer on the idle circuit to make sure there was a constant flow/mixture. Not sure how to keep that under pressure… Will have to research more.

[since you have obd2 im guessing a significant portion of your intake could be plastic.]
My biggest concern w/ OBD2 is how to actually write to the brain. I can get the coding in open source from sourceforge… One can even get OBD code in Perl language that doesn’t have to be compiled.

What I want to find out from computer is:

  1. How far can I tweak timing on the fly?
  2. Want to be able to read oxygen sensor on gas VS woodgas… So I can use this data to control servos for air intake, etc.
  3. I also want to learn how much I can control fuel injectors… As I want to explore running mixtures of gas and woodgas/oxygen… Especially for in city driving and uphill.

The other simpler option is to detect what gear the vehicle is in… And only use woodgas @ crusing speeds and keep gas for get’y up and go city / emergency scoots.

[happy wrenching and i look forward to seeing your rear mount system]
Yeah… I like most guys on here keep thinking “I will be done THIS weekend”… But it never seams to end. LOL

Keep up the good work men! Because the oil company stuff is a major racket!!! Here in Ohio we have about 1,500 registered oil wells with the state DNR… Most of them are owned/operated by out of state entities! :frowning:

Based on the population of Ohio minus unemployed… If each person gave 100 per year into a co-op, we could build two state refineries using those wells and provide discounted fuel to citizens participating in the plan. BUT… That will never happen because Govenors no longer have the manhood to stand up to fedy EPA folks.

#4

Good Morning Mr. Todd,

Thanks for sharing the following info.

“2) I am following the instructions from Mr. Tesolonian on YouTube. Using old propane tanks.”

My Dad always thought me if I couldn’t say something good about someone, say nothing at all.
I try to bring those same principles to this site. I doubt you will ever hear me criticize anyone’s gasifier or design and if I say anything it will be positive.

I got a chance to view Mr. Tesolonians video. WOW what a great speaker and video person. I wish I could talk while filming without getting all tongue tied and be as articulate as he. Also his gasifier can be built a lot faster, cheaper and easier than mine.

Now with that said I’m about to break my own rule (sorry Dad) I am jumping up and down and waving a red flag.

I would never route any plumbing through the cab much less have it vented into the cab!!

If the motor is drawing on the gasifier there is little danger of CO entering the cab but when the motor is turned off the pressure in the gasifier will push gas out any where it can. Mr. Tesolonian has not one but TWO valves in the cab that vents and it is so easy to forget and leave one or both on at shut down. I and every gasifier driver I know forget and leave valves open or closed and it will cause the vehicle to run rough or not at all and we learn from it.

Operating a wood gas vehicle is lots of fun and hoping it stays that way…

Please don’t take this a criticism but I had to speak up.

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