Tom,
Those chunks that were sitting on the grate look like ‘clinkers’, ashes that have melted and stuck together.
Rindert
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Yes Rindert; That is what they were/are.TomC
PS Did my pictures come through to you. I can’t get them to come up on my computer
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I can see all the pics…
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Tom,
I can see seven pictures, and very nice.
This is the first time I’ve heard of clinkers in a gasifier. I suppose this means it was too hot. But your grate didn’t burn out? I don’t have enough experience to give advice about this so I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. But I am very interested. Please keep us posted.
Rindert
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HI, Tom!
19.2018
Congratulations to the bottom-clinker removal!
Also, well done to get the first batch of PURE charcoal evenly glowing over WHOLE the surface!
But then:
Putting the half-brands as the next batch “guarantees” that the H2 production will reach a minimum LOW!
There was no motivation for any upward blowing. Normally used only for “sour” wood!
That is probably the reason for the staggering pedal-response around corners, etc…
When this “overdry” wood is consumed, I hope you get a normal driving experience…
(If not air-leak crackings again?)
Tell if it happens!
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The (big) clinkers tell that the hearth proportions are well suited for fuel “on the damp side”, with moderation.
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You’re on the road again. I love the progress reports. Keep them coming 
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Max; Again thanks for your assistance all the way through this— I think you have been working with me for well over a year on the modifications and getting back to running. I for one really appreciate your participation on DOW.
Jo; I do get a little wordy when I get excited-- and being one step closer to the ability to drive on wood like you, excites me. I have got to cut up some better wood and hope for some more sunny days. The weather man says we are in for a wet spell now.
Thanks to all of you Woodgassers for allowing to blabber on about this latest experience. TomC
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TomC,
Now that you have shown the pictures of your wood blocks - kiln-dryed-stabilized, and your grate level fused ash clinkers . . .
What maxG is saying is that you are showing unconverted hearth heat potential.
Heat energy potential that by using raw-cut more moisture content wood you could make a better blend engine fuel gasses and lower a bit the hearth core operating temp to not then ash-clinker fuse. Have instead flowing ash.
Best Regards are your success’s so far.
tree-farmer Steve Unruh
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Hi, Tom!
19.9.2018
Much obliged! As long as your optimism prevails, you will succeed!
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Max and Steve U; Wow in all the discussions on woodgas, I don’t recall anyone ever talking about too dry of wood. I am chunking up thoughs “2x2 stickers” that my friend cut out of a log for me about a year ago. I had wanted to chunk them with my IHC baler chunker, but it got damaged in the fire. I was concerned that the chunks would not dry properly if I sawed them. I am a big believer in having fractured breaks to help syphon the water out of the wood. Today as I sawed them, your conversation is making me wonder if they could be too dry. I would like to put a few chunks in the oven and cook them at 220 degrees F for a couple of hours. Weigh them before and after and see how much moisture there is in the oak. Any idea how I can measure the weight before and after— all I have is bath room scales that measure down to 1/10 of a pound. TomC
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Very nicely put there Steve. But there might be a situation where someone was tearing down an old barn, let’s say. And they wanted to use up all that old wood in the gasifier. Would you think they could mix in a little EGR? Or would it be better to soak that super dry wood in water?
Rindert
Tom, I agree. All the work we put down into drying, with condencing hoppers and all, I can’t accept suggestions like adding moisture to a wood gasifier. Not even if they are made by Max and Steve I thought we all came to the conclusion wood had enough water, chemically bound, no matter how dry.
Try smaller fuel. If your wood is already chunked in size, add some char to the fuel. This should keep the oxygene busy.
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Hi, J-O!
There is no reason to generalise one special incident/case!
Nor Steve or me have made a generalised statement.
We both concentrated upon ONE unfortunate case.
Stick to the premis in this case!
The second wood batch was “prechared” and inversion blown until
spontaneous flaming was executed!
That is NOT a standard procedure, from which to draw
general conclusions about fuel humidity!
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Yes MaxG is correct in what I was trying to convey.
Not about the wood-moisture but recognizing you had excessive available heat-energy to put to use.
Adding pre-made wood charcoal to the fuel load would do it. First you have to have made/stored/sorted that wood char. Ha! A wood gasifier is supposed to make its own internal needed char. No-hands. No Touch.
Adding load/use/metered engine exhaust would cool alright . . . but tricky-in-practice to say that exhaust gasses(and engine combustion moisture) and the heat was making an actual improvement in the wood-to-fuel-for the engine. Real easy to over-quench the heat and make a mess of it. And first the engine has to be running up to fully warmed up stability to make your consistent add-gas. Engine must be worked loaded down enough to make enough exhaust gas for heat needs of the gasifier. See, how hard to get everything lining up right?
So I take the easy way as a very active involved operator and just would load in a different wood fuel mix.
TomC, over the decades I have installed and worked up many woodstove/chimney installations. Every single wood stove manufactures says NOT to use kiln-dry/pallet wood. That burning kiln dried wood will cause stove overheating and damage.
Ha! Of course I/we always first use burn up that stove’s shipping crate/pallet wood. Quirky stuff. From bone dry with fumigates. To was bone dry - then out in the rain/snow intra-cellular soaked heavy with fumigates modifiers. Sorry. My experiences woodstove, and now gasifiers says the kiln-drying forced-heat-process is changing the rate that the woods cell structures will burn-heat devolve. Hard to get started. And then too-fast, too-hot of energy release, once burning.
Now non-heat “fixed” woods as in direct tree/bush-cut just does act more predictable/controllable. Why? Inside the cells moisture’s. Natural; unmodified cells walls structures. Then the quoted moisture rules work.
And MaxG has posted up on a different topic a third way to prevent woodgasifier slag making: decrease the blast rate. This is WayneK backing out of his gasifer demand using blended hybrid fuel.
It is what-can-you-do. How difficult-to-do&control. And how long will you have to active system live with your change-made-modification.
Making energy. Converting energy, is best thought of as having an in-use-momentum. Hard to get started, and up to a stable cruising. Can/will roll over you expecting sudden demand-changes in that energy-making/using momentum.
yeah. yeah. i know clear as mud. Hard using out in the real world will clear up the waters. Settle out the mud solids to a hard bottom.
tree-farmer Steve unruh
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Thanks Steve U; As with most of your dissertations, I will have to spend time studying it. For now I think you were saying that kiln dried pine and the air dried Ash that I used had too much moisture drawn out of the cells and thus burned as fast and as hot as my shop before the fire dept started pouring water on it. In the meantime I have about one half hopper of that same wood already in the hopper and will have to be used up. The only solution I see is to drive slow on flat ground and not pull too hard. When that wood is done, I am chunking up oak. The log was sawed into 2x2-8 ft about a 1 1/2 years ago. It is fall but I am hoping for a few more days of sunshine to give the chunks a little more drying. TomC
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Hi, Tom!
22.9.2018
Had thought of letting you digest the normal methode with normal wood (without upblow!), but
the regular sawn “ribs” need a bit of irregularity to avoid daubing the bits together! Chainge cutting angles and proportions frequently to achieve “nonfitting” irregular bit geometry.
If possible, mix round + triangular + rectangular + random bits.
Regular cut wood have spoiled many journeys…
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Thank you Max; I have only sawed about 3 or 4 buckets and they all are very close to identical in size and shape; 2 inch cubes. I will figure a way to get variable shapes from now on and mix the cubes in with them. Not really possible to mix in rounds unless I go up to the woods and cut some limbs. I am not up to that and with out a tractor or something, I am lost as far as doing anything heavy. TomC
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like like like like like like like… sorry Tom, i have to type… my like button broke when i did read your lemon moment…
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Typing worked. Sorry about you “like” button. Don’t want to hope you any bad luck, but I’m hoping for many more “lemon moments”. TomC
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Tom, if you can arrange the shipping I can send you a few cords of material for roundies.
A team of Polish workers cleared our stretch of young growth under the power line yesterday. After work today I went delimbing a batch, HOWed (haul on wood) it home and chunked it. 100% birch. Premium fuel.
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