Small engine mobile fuel station

[plataoplomo (Mark Cunningham)]

(Notespace)

Charcoal pellets / briquettes

When propane neared $5 a gallon a few years back, Ed put an upsized TLUD in his window glass shop for heat. Same operating principles as this instructables of the month http://www.instructables.com/id/Durable-Biochar-Producing-TLUD-Camp-Stove/ Fuel for the heater is hardwood pellets, about $200 per ton. No brainer v $5 per gallon propane. The “residue” from heating the glass shop a few months with a TLUD was a couple 55 gallon barrels of pelletized charcoal. Yes indeed, charcoal from hardw…

Charcoal Making Anecdotes

I normally put charcoal fines in the garden as biochar. In Rwanda our charcoal is all fines from crop waste. With these fines, we make large cooking briquettes 4" round X 3" high. Now I need to make some tiny briquettes to run a gasifier in Rwanda. Today I tried using a sausage stuffer to extrude small diameter charcoal–no go. Then I tried a heavy duty meat grinder with sausage stuffer attachment. Still poor results–the charcoal has to be too wet to extrude. Only makes soft irregular sized “briq…

Did you ever run those pellets in a gasifier?

Compressed charco mix.?

Just thinking how well charcoal powder pressed intoo pellots would work, Or if other carbon powder could add miles per pound, without makeing fire works.? Or if high presure charco pellots weight much more than regular hard wood charco. per hopper space.

Gilmore style?

The new fuel has arrived… Charcoal pellets to test in the gasifier. Based on dry mass: 99% Charcoal powder ( typical softwood) + 1% binder (starch tapioca) Bulk density: 560Grs/liter ( 3,5 times from bamboo charcoal, 2,9 Times hardwood charcoal ) Diameter pellets ±7mm Equipment and manufacturer from Thailand Testing foreseen after 18 december ( first exhibition for the governor ) [image]

1% tapioca binder … your killing me. 871 posts later and not one word on how they perform.

An honest critique

So, after a lot of brainstorming, I think I’ve hung my hat on an overall scheme. I’d like your thoughts, I may have overlooked some issues or potential headaches. I am going to go with charcoal. It will be carbonized wood/straw pellets. I am going charcoal because I drive short distances most of the time, I drive in freezing weather 1/3rd+ of the year. My vehicle use is on short notice a lot of times. Visible smoke and equipment on the vehicle are not desired, and lots of driving in town w…

Volume of Charcoal to Gasoline equivalent?

Haha sure makes things easy when design hopper size But there is more! It happens so that 1kg charcoal is allso equal to 1l petrol! Got to love metric True on what Bruce sayd on weight and volume vs energy density. If only we culd compress charcoal to pellets efficiently and on a home basis. Hopper wuld compete with a fuel tank in volume!

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my head hurts