Hey All,
I finally got some hours in the shop. I’ve just about got the 2 rows boxed up. I’ll fit the bottom manifold drains, etc. before I make the final assembly. No time for mistakes however, as I build there’s always an os moment, lol.
Pic 1 General layout with tall inlet pipe in row 1 and a short outlet pipe in row 2. Short pipe will lead to filtering unit. With a shroud I could pull cool air over the tubes and send the resulting heated air to the cyclone preheat inlet shown at the lower right side of the white cyclone preheat shroud.
Pic 2 General layout of top manifolds with cross over pipe.
Pic 3 Another view of the top manifolds showing the linear flow design. It’ll be interesting to see how it pulls. And cools, of course.
My drain system will move to the outsides of the bottom manifolds.
Pepe
Hi All,
I made the final welded connection today. I also added 6" flanged legs to make room for the condensate sump. Now I can bolt the unit down. Cooler foot print is 20" x 25 1/2". The cooler is 79" tall. Burner, cyclone and cooler foot print is 38" x 43".
Pic 1. Final pipe weld is the cross over pipe. Then I buttoned up all the chambers.
Pic 2. Flange legs also add a bit more lateral stability. Free standing it’s quite stable.
Pic 3. The condensate drain system. I had to be able to drain all 4 chambers due to the linear flow I am using That made a bit more work, for sure, but I’m really anxious to see how it performs. The bottom 4 chambers are isolated by shutoffs. I used gate valves for the shutoffs. Open valve 1, drain chamber 1, close valve 1. Open valve 2, drain chamber 2, close valve 2. Continue to valve 4. After all 4 valves are closed you may safely open the boiler drain to drain the condensate sump. Close boiler drain. The sump and associated plumbing up to the unions can carefully be removed as a unit. Then unscrew the valves, stick a high pressure hose to it, suck it clean with a wet vac via custom tubing nozzle and reassemble. It seemed agonizingly slow getting going, but it’s ready to interface. I have to pick blueberries tomorrow for sure.
Pepe
Good Morning Pepe
Yep blueberries are on for sure now. Pick n’ freeze ‘em here. Then while picking I distract myself thinking how to be damn sure those freezers will STAY powered up and frozen when our “Hundered Days of Summer” goes away and we are locked back into the perpetual no solar energy blocking clouds.
AND it’s that dreamin’ scheming’ that gets me whacked by the berry field master my wife!
I tell her truefully I should be out cutting and squirreling away more now finnaly sun ripened wood fuel for those other 250 days of needing heat and power.
Your cooler rack should be wringing out the heat for sure. You are only going to be able to hearth pull-in a small amount of that with your small systen required airiin flows I think. If you do not let the excess cooler heat out then you will not have the gas cooling occuring. So think also ways how to put this heat into the fuel wood also. Crowded, shrouded up next to your hearth/hopper will do some of this. And those combined heat sources rising will create a strong natural rising heat plume. Once you feel this try and think of ways to shallow basket set a whole hopper’s worth over the top in this plume of next to be used pre-prepped fuelwood to be warmed and de-humidified. Nothing perks up a gasifiers performance like a fresh batch of dried warmed woodfuel. Like a kid on fresh out of the oven still warm cookies.
“Let no BTU’s Escape Free, Un-Worked!”
My next tee shirt.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Hi Steve,
When I first thought about shrouding the cooler, it did come to mind about how much space to use. You’re correct, a cooler must first cool. Well, at least I was thinking about those BTU’s. Got me thinking now about a shallow saddle bag type cage above the cooler to catch that updraft of heated air for drying a batch of fuel. I’ll remember to measure a full load and see if I can make a cage that big or not.
Pic 1. Front view of condensate sump. It just lays in a small cut out in the support brace with a 3/8 inch space above it for ease of removal. The sump has a 3" d and is 18" long. This is 127 in3. At .554 fluid oz per in3, that’s 2.2 qts of condensate. Big enough for a full run I think.
Pic 2. Rear view with boiler drain in sump.
Pic 3. This will be my basic foot print, 38" x 48". The filter has to fit in here so as not to block any operational control or access to interfaces.
I think I will set it up now with my milk can filter and shop vac blower, whilst I work on a space efficient filter.
Pic. 4 My old hinged dome top will be bolted shut increasing hopper size. I will make a simple airtight puffer top something like Dan Cox’s.
The vibrator will have to wait. I have a 2 pound hammer for an occasional unbridging. Do this as soon as you detect a decrease in gas production, ie engine starts slowing down, losing power.
Can’t wait to set this baby up outside!
Pepe
Hi Pepe; Glad to see you almost have it finished. Really looking forward to watching the video of this radically redesigned gasifier running. I think the improvements that you have made will insure you will be pleased with the results. I have not been doing much lately cuz of the overwelming florida heat and humidity that that we love(YEA RIGHT). Good luck with your fire up and run. Dan
Hello Fellow Gassers,
I’ve started work on my new pressure relief lid. I found an old top cut out from the same style tank so the curves match up great(pic 1). There is a 3/4" overlap (pic 2), plenty of room for a gasket (s), one on the hopper and a mating one on the lid. Both will use Dan Cox’s high temp silicone impregnation method. Dan uses a different substrate, but, I’m trying this stuff. Pic 3 shows a beveled edge so that condensate will hopefully flow down the dome rather than drip back onto the fuel as it did in my last lid assembly. Pic 4. I ended up cutting this 8" d neck out.to get to Pic 1 configuration.
The next 4 pics show how I made my condensate channel from layout to forming the channel to the finished channel. The old dome lid will be gasketed and clamped in place instead of welded. Last, the unit drains continuously, but can be emptied while operating. Close valve, unscrew PVC tube, empty tube and screw back on, open valve. I could put a boiler drain on the bottom of the PVC tube.
Coming soon, the lid seal and operating mechanism.
Pepe
Wow Pepe, nice work doing,…
Hi All,
I got my lid seal started and it went well.
Pic 1 I skim coated the board to help hold things in place while I smeared a full coat on.
Pic 2 Gasket fully impregnated. This will be cut in half for 2 gaskets. one for the lid, one for the dome.
Pic 3 I set the gasket to the outside edge.
Pic 4 I set the dome gasket to the line drawn to the outside of the lid.
Pic 5 I put a layer of waxed paper on the dome and set the lid on premarked index marks. When it was set I gently but firmly pulled the lid up. It held on and then popped off. OS, I thought, but the lid came clean off the dome and the remaining waxed paper peeled right off. Thanks for the tip, Dan.
I’ll add a couple more smoothing layers of silicone, then onto the hinge/latch mechanism. The old gas shutoff will be removed.
Pepe
EDIT: I scrapped this method and followed Dan Cox’s method. I used an 18" square piece of fiberglas mat and will cut my circular gaskets from it. I also made some small rectangular gaskets to use on my interface connections.
Hi Pepe; Your gasket sheet is looking good and thanks for the Acolades. When I was new on this site not so long ago I received help from many others including yourself. I said at the time that someday maybe I could contribute back to everyone as my experience grew. Makes me feel good to know that I am able to help out with something useful. Thanks to you and all on DOW that shared their knowledge with me. I am working on a new Ejector that won’t need compressed air and hopefully work very well. I will share here and on Youtube when done. Dan
Hi Dan and All, The spirit of sharing here is such a positive experience, a real connection and quite uplifting.
Here’s a few pics of some finished gaskets. Pic 1 the layout compass. I used a T-pin for a center pivot(1/16" d), and a Sharpie pen to draw the circles. The Sharpie bib fits a 7/32" hole just tight. Pic 2 I laid out all the gaskets I needed (the hatched areas) Note all the radii holes drilled in the paint stick… Pic 3 These metal cutting shears cut this stuff like paper. Blades are replaceable. Pic 4 Hopper dome to hopper body flange. Pic 5 The lineup, 3 of the 5 will be used here. Pic 6 The gasket was glued to the under side of the lid with a thin coat of high temp red RTV and left to set. I drew 2 sets of positioning marks on the lid and dome. This is where the gasket was formed, this is where it should stay for the best fit. The lid feels solidly sealed with just its own weight. I’m encouraged. Pepe
Hey everybody,
I finally made the cyclone to cooler interface. I used some obtanium weightliftium ($6 tag sale) and extracted 6 Lf each of 2" and 1 1/2" square tubing. Progress has been like a guy running in slo mo in a dream, lol! Tomorrow I’ll work on the pressure lid hinge and latch assembly. I’m hoping to finally fire it up this weekend. Whoops, lost tomorrow, I have to go to the burg. Drat. Maybe Monday or so.
Pepe
Hey Gasifier Enthusiasts,
Last weekend I attended a pork roast and got a lead on high temp thermometers from the roaster, who built the smoker/roaster on a model T Ford frame. Best pork I’ve ever tasted, took 16 hrs to finish. Yeah, they fired up around midnite for dinner the next day.
I got them at Lowe’s. The roaster said he got his at Walmart. Here’s a good look at them. Now I can get an idea of the temperature and efficiency of my cooler, can’t wait. The unit measures to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The probe is 1 1/4" long with a 1/8"base with 3/8" of 5/16" x 18 threads, perfect for my 2" square tube. I need to get a third one to see what the temp is straight out of the burner shell, then the one just before the cooler will tell me the temp drop through the cyclone/preheat shroud. One in the SPAI manifold would tell me temp increase above ambient and tell me how much heat the incoming air is pulling from the cyclone. Guess I need several more probes.
Lid time, lol.
Pepe
Hey Folks,
I installed some thermometers in the gas stream today. I drilled a hole, welded a nut over it and screwed the thermometer in. The thermometer in the SPAI will show the temp increase (from ambient) as the inlet air picks up heat from the cyclone.
The gas temp exiting the cyclone is essentially the temp of the gas entering the cooling stream.
The thermometer at the end of the cooling stream will tell me the temp change through the cooler.
Still fiddling with the lid seals and latch.
Pepe
Hey Everyone,
Here’s my lid and latch assembly. I still have to fine tune the sealing. After the silicone sets from gluing the 2 gaskets to the metal, I will spread a thin layer of silicone on one of them, spread oil on the other and loosely clamp it shut until it sets. That should fill in any irregularities for a complete seal. It’s time consuming because I allow 48 hrs for a complete set of the silicone. Meanwhile I’ll chunk fuel.
Pepe
Hi All,
I did some fuel prep for the big day.
I finally finished my hearth and cooler and set my unit up on a 4’x4’ pallet. Decent footprint. Here are a couple of my new vids, complete with another flashback and ??? reaction, lol. Part 1 5m 20s, is a walk around my setup. Part 2 6m 53 secs, is the start up and run with temp monitoring.
I’m quite pleased with the high quality gas and the efficiency of my new cooler. Well worth the effort. I’ll be working on a valving system around the vac, so I don’t have to pull hoses apart and interrupt the engine start procedure.
This is the best gas I have produced.
Arvid, I love the vacuum cleaner for starting.
Matt, So far that gasket material seems to be working OK.
Dan, Your gaskets seem to be working OK, as well.
All time savers, Thank you.
Pepe
Part 1 Oct 16, 2013 http://youtu.be/aVyiQNlJ8uQ
Part 2 Oct 16, 2013 http://youtu.be/NLOVejGLBf8
Thanks Pepe, Enjoyed the videos !
BBB
Very nice Richard.
Now is it one more step to making some electricity from you gasifier and engine.
Then comes the 75 % learning to operate, observe, smell and listen to the system.
All great fun 
Have fun
Patrick
Ha! Ha! See, Pepe I am not the only one crazy operating by senses and feel!
PatrickJ I use taste too. Just be super careful with the hopper juice. Tiny, tiny bit on the tip of the tongue as it will leave a cell killed dead spot until cell regrowth replacement ~3 days for me. Why it is such a good bug killer.
S.U.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for commenting. I’ve fiddled around for several years now from Fema, fluidyne and present imbert style with hour glass hearth. I finally have a design, albeit bulky, that is producing a nice clean gas. The temp drop incident was part of my 75% operator experience. I remember also hearing the engine backfire a couple of times minutes before the engine died. Now with this unit I can do more operating and less fabricating changes although I still have a few ideas to implement. More wasted heat use/ conservation of heat and after watching your videos an inner cone for my drain channel and a double shell for the hopper(good ideas) in my next design. Did I say less fabricating?? lol.
I lent out my great running old 5 hp BS generator and it got left out uncovered so when it came back I had to pull the head, free up valves, drain water out of sump, carb, fuel tank and lines, etc. Can’t wait to get it back on line. Been think about feeding exhaust into my SPAI (single port air inlet) preheat shroud, insulating certain areas and putting a fuel drying rack over/next to my cooler (it’s 7’ high now).
Yes, it is all fun and I’m determined to implement it all, Lord willing.
Pepe
Hi Steve,
It took me a while to put the senses thing together, but I’m paying more attention to sights (smoke, flare color) and sounds for sure. I think it was you who first alerted me to the other 75% rule. I’ll be operating this unit a lot more in the coming months and sitting at the drawing board for a size wise more efficient/effective unit.
Pepe