Question about downdraft systems

Good Morning JuliusH,
I had to sleep on it to go back and find this:

Lots of information and youtube, show and tells, on this topic.

The thing about both S.Abbadessa and GaryG of the charcoal Simplifier is they are both now College Professors. Both educated, degreed and with the actual real world doing-it, useing-it experiences for peer acceptance.
So they were able to carve off all of the froo-froo, woo-woo’s from their systems and simplify down to just the use-it, practical’s.
Enjoy the reading
Steve unruh

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Thanks Steven. I’ve seen Stephen A on YouTube and do like the look and design of his gasifier although his run times are a bit short at 45 mins under load. But his short air nozzles and long(just in case) air nozzle , makes sense.

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JuliusH the reasons his run times are short is Stephen is a very, very smart man.

Once you plunk a big many hours hopper on top of anyone’s gasifier hearth system they in hours choke up and stop performing.
Then the all-efforts, tail-wagging, becomes how to prevent this . . . by:
Offset fuel storage augured-in . . .
Hopper shaker motors . . .
Heated hoppers . . .
Condensing cooling hoppers . . .
Perfectly dried, sized: even pre-heated fuel particles going in . . .

And all the while realizing the engine generator will have a 30-50% power output de-rating compared to highly refined industry specification graded gasoline or propane . . .
so you really, really need as a practical matter; to 2X size that engine-generator system anyway.
And the larger engine system loaded down will actually pressures and flow suck, and heat up to better performances the gasifer system.
Then oversizing and hard running for short periods IS THE MOST DIRECT PRACTICAL approach to wood-for-powers.
Stationary. Collect. Store and useful use the heats. Lots of off-the-shelf and discarded systems for this. (already insulated hot water heaters as one)
Charge electrical storage for use between gasifer hard used cycles. Lots of off-the-shelf and discarded systems for this too. (old motor homes; fifth wheel trailers). A perfect tie-in to an only producing 4-8 hours day PV solar energy system.

Every person building from information’s that say, “Now make the hopper as large as you wish” has experienced the problems then once they hopper-up past 1-2 hours. Four hours is a real challenge.
Just the nature of bulk fuels. Fossil coal. Peat-sod. Wood-for-power.
Accept it for what it is. Not comparing to what it is not.
S.U.

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