Tom Collins' Gasifier

I stopped in two sawmills between here and Minneapolis. Both are selling the stickers. One guy even told me, “The only thing free here is the air you breathe”. That was after I asked him about sawdust. The mill up here will let me take sawdust, but my son also works there now. He also makes pellets from the sawdust for locals with pellet stoves.

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Hi, Tom!
30.1.2016 mess. 249
As earlier stated, I have no part in the lower part of that construction!

Suppose that you are blowing air uppward inside that cylinder on the dangling grate plate: First, the airtube has to be of a bending type, to survive.
Then the new-revived char under the restriction needs some volume in a radiation shielded area, where it can do a second attempt to reduce the (new) CO2.

Where is that going to happen on an avalanching dangling plate?
I see no chance to achieve this on the “open plate”.
Nor do I see it working better if the grate plate is made “stationary”, without redoing the whole lower part…
Max

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Hi Max; From here on this is probably just an academic discussion, as I am not able to do a rebuild on my gasifier.

But now having said this; In post 242 I did agree with you that this can not be done with “swinging” grate. I am now using a rigid grate. Your other concern was the avalanching char on the grate. If you look close there is a cylinder around the grate nozzle to prevent avalanching.

I do wish I knew where this concept came from so I could be sure to give them credit. I am not intelligent enough to come up with such ideas. Notice that it calls for a ''ceramic" nozzle. Something that I was not concerned with until Gary Gilmore introduce us to charcoal gasifying.

Hope you are keeping warm Max TomC

PS. If your next question is about the char becoming “packed” in the cylinder surrounding the nozzle, I would say we will be burning ( oxidizing) the char down to a smaller size that will more easily fall through the grate… Besides getting extra gas out of the system, this design should make the char into something closer to “ash”. When I empty my ash bin I get so much nice char that could have given off more gas.

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Hi, Tom!
30.1.2016 mess. 251
About a year ago you were starting a rebuild of your hearth and reduction zone, with a sliding grate made with angle-iron. You left it without completing it?

That version had a reductiontube welded to a plate, closing downward the insulation (with ash) around the reduction tube. Straight below it was the grate-shelf, that you could draw out and clean & inspect…
Why not fullfill that this spring, instead of speculating in Gary’s nozzlemelting technics?

There are other possibilities to feed extra air into the reduction tube, without nozzle melting… but one thing at a time.

Max

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Hi Max; When I lost contact with you I had questions about the design change. Without your help, in spring I put it back together exactly as I had taken it apart. I drove it down to the Argos get together ( a little under 400 miles ) and I vowed that I would not make any more changes. Then on the way home I hit a strong head wind and it made me realize that the gasifier was sticking up to high and catching too much air. I did cut about 6 inches off the height of everything that protruded above the roof. My main plan for this winter was to change the differential gear ratio. Unfortunately I am not getting out to the shop for anything. I did say that this grate nozzle was just a academic discussion.TomC

16 posts were split to a new topic: Welding with propane

As I mentioned sometime back, I burned a barn down. As it was burning it produce a lot of charcoal. I gathered the charcoal up and put in into 55 gal drums, where it has been for maybe two years. It is of no use to me as it is because it is full of nails and variable sizes. I made a process to convert it into usable gasoline replacement for a motor.

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Thats good stuff motor fuel,i got about 160 or more last year just cleaning out my ash bin under my wood fire for home heating stove, due too cleaning it out once more often then needed or the wood was burning good for left over char,not sure, Thanks for the help learning your set up of gasifier, i dident see the pics of it till later after my computor phone was replaced.but that really got me interested, seeing the flare out of a smoke pipe,You are a big help too gasifier support building,and it is good you lead me too WK plans,i needed the over all learning team out look.I like those air filters too for handling insulation.

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Tom, you have a nice job ahead while you rest - sittning in the sun (if we’ll get any) with a hammer and envil straightening all those nails :smile:

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JO You may have a good idea there. I have been mad at myself all winter because I don’t have a project that I am eager to work on. The charcoal was just laying in the shed and I poked around all winter making this rig to make it into something useful. But I, I have no use for the charcoal, so again, not real enthused. Started to convert a welder / generator, but what for? I need something that I really want to do. If I straighten all the nails then I would have to build a new shop or something. Naaa. Don’t want to do that. Get me a challenge. TomC

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What about a charcoal gasifier for your lawn mower? I know you talked about how much gas you consumed only to mow your lawn.

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Yes, charcoal lawn tractor. then you could enter the lawn mower races at Argos. I propose a sprint, endurance race, and slow race. Maybe an economy run too.

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And a wheelie contest with Mr. Don :grinning:

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I don’t think I’ll ever live that one down!

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I would have to take one of the old mowers that is worn out and convert it. The “Good” one is my wife’s baby and it is with much resistance that she even lets me drive it.
I have three old “crotch rockets” sitting in the shop and they all have had a turn at killing me so I don’t ride them anymore. I keep wondering what I could do with one of them— maybe the 350 cc. Like build it into a trike and mount a charcoal gassier over the rear axle. Thought about making a side hack and mounting it on there but I have never risen with a sidecar. Oh well, maybe I have just reached the end of my “bucket list” and have to really retire.TomC

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I need that 350 cc on my grass cutting rider too cut the grass faster, or you could pull a wheely for any unbeleivers at argoes.

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MANY of us have already seen someone pull a wheely at Argos.;wink

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After letting my woodgas truck sit over the winter, I have found my blower motors are stuck again. I have my blowers on a parallel pipe so that wen I am running on woodgas, the gas passes the blowers on the parallel side. When I want a vacuum on the line to feed the engine, I turn them on. Still I am getting so much soot that it plugs up the blowers.
Before the gas goes to the engine it passes through a hay filter which also has a 3 inch foam pad the gas has to go through. What can i use as s soot collector? Thinking about putting a felt filter in somewhere. Would like to do a sock thing but I haven’t seen a simple compact design that I could fie in. A paper air cleaner would probably plug up. What will work?TomC

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Along the same subject— I saw a youtube of a guy rebuilding a bilge blower like we use. I have several junk ones around so I tried to take one apart. That worked out, but now I don’t know what RC motor he bought to put back into it. Do any of you fellows know what motor is used. Mine have no markings on the motor. TomC

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I think that was Dustin who had that motor replacing video.

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