Hey Brett,
Here are some pictures of various gasifier builds of mine. If you cruise around my Youtube channel you’ll find random videos of my gasifier stuff.
http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/powdered-charcoal-gasifier/7049/14?u=chuckw
http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/nozzles-for-charcoal-gasifiers-part-2/3639/410?u=chuckw
https://youtu.be/qeUr_e842MI
There are tons of builders around here with a lot more experience than me so be sure to investigate broadly:)
The 10kwh per batch run is my best result from the 55 gallon drum setup. The run time and power produced are directly proportional to the quality of the charcoal. I make the worlds worst charcoal (on purpose) and use the worlds worst generator (for now, on purpose), in order to establish worst case scenarios since one of my use cases is ‘zombie apocalypse’ prepper thinking.
When I make flame cap charcoal from wet old junk picked up out of the mud I get 1lb per gallon (1/2 inch grind) and the run times are about 8.5 hours using 33 gallons of charcoal with a 1kw load.
When I make flame cap charcoal from better sources, I get 1.3lbs per gallon (1/2 inch grind) and can get 10 hour run times, same 33 gallons and 1kw load.
I haven’t tried it yet, but you can safely assume that quality retort made charcoal would yield better results.
The generator is a Chinese 196cc Honda clone, 3600 rpm. No mods of any kind other than plumbing in the char gas. (unless you count an electric drill starter setup)
Not that I recommend such a generator!! Truly worst case…