My third and final load test on my system. This is a 13,000 watt Onan with four cylinder Ford motor from 1988. I took it to 9,400 watts before noticing engine fluctuations. After I stopped filming I found out I had needed to readjust my air intake valve to compensate for the increased load.( I guess this is what Steve U. refers to as learning to operate your system over a period of time and conditions). After I readjusted my valve it ran better and probably would have pulled a little more kw than it did. As it is, I ran appx. 70% of reg. fuel output on woodgas. http://youtu.be/LV10s80NJ9Q Also found a way to run 12.5 h.p. 35 ton log splitter on my large gasifier while not producing tar and it worked great. Now, there is a bit of wasted gas as I used the flare fan to keep the reactor above 2,000 Degs. and took what gas was needed for the splitter while venting the rest. But in an emergency I can run my small engines from my large gasser without tar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AjyJDRFnNo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7dKT18QUHU
Hey Danny,
Good stuff, I’ve been wanting to try that for a while… Now I know!
Thanks for posting.
All the Best
TerryL
Automating mixture control would solve the problem however my thread http://driveonwood.com/forum/1035 has not brought any designs out of the woodwork yet.
Hi Terry; Beats having to build another gasser for small engines. Dan
Hi Gary; Automatic mixing could be feasable only if it could enlarge or lesson the diameter of the restriction hole along with possably changing the nozzle size somehow automaticly. This is because the size of these things is a big part of what sizes a gasifier for an engine. Trying to run a small engine on a gasser designed for larger engines will not pull hard enough to make tar free gas.Just simply changing the mixture of the gases without changing the mechanical parts that have a direct impact on gas made in my opinion won’t do it. Of coarse you know what they say about opinions:-) Dan
Morning Mr Dan
You are correct about having to change both the restiction and air jetting on smallish Imbert style oxidization/reduction section gasifiers for different ranges of fuel gas demands.
GaryH this is like a small auto/truck IC engine needing a multispeed tranmission to keep the IC in the most efficiently RPM power range. A larger slower speed, less load demanded engine can get by with a three range speed change - smaller, or more highly load demanded needs more range “gears”. Bicycle gearing types is also a good understandable example now most people can viscerally “feel”.
On-the-go-variable air jetting “sounds good”. Reality of actual woodgasifier operating is you wiil get some dirty pyrolisis gasses backing up into the air jets at system shutdown while the system is still being internal heat driven. Mucks up mechanisms. One way flapper air safety valves quite commonly tar stick shut on system shut down cooling. Becomes part of a pre-start to finger physically flip check these on systems using this - stuck shut almost every time - shows the problem well. Once I experienced this a few times I took the different Thousand Hours Operators advice and shelved my variable on-the-go air nozzle ideas and drawings. Just become a disassemble to clean system after every 10-20 gasifier shutdowns.
Variable restiction “choker” openings also been postulated for, oh, say, about 60 years. No one yet able to make an affordable, real usable in world workable system yet for something that must survive 1200-1400C (2192-2552F) CONTINOUS temperatures, have moving parts, AND MUST pass lots of gritty ash and white hot glowing char chunks. Variable nozzle jet/rocket Tech does not have these last requirements! They demand the clean, clean burning fuels and oxidizers.
And even then these still would NOT change your air nozzle circle diameter or your restiction to nozzle ring height. What works is screw in air jets and stacked choker restriction plates. KISS. Simple nozzles will self-clean in operation with heat burn-off.
Very good of you DannyC to realizes and monitor/control your core temperatures as the key to good powerful fully reduced motor fuel woodgas. You are now only the 3rd person I know of sucessuly been able to loaded IC engine run and flare at the same time to keep the gasifier stoked up hot 'n efficient. Makes you want to dry something with that flare heat now, eh? Or blow-fill a ground storage bag full, huh?
GaryH the reason you find little on automatic woodgas ratio mixers is that they are not needed. Woodgas combustable fuel componets have a very wide range of clean burning range for in engine cylinder power being such simple molocules.
On a woodgasifer loaded IC engine fueling once the mixture setting is found pretty much you can leave to alone. Only at the tail end of a gasifier batch fill when all of the volotile fuel hydrogens and oxegens have been converted and consumed up and you then go into a char only burn do you need to tweek with the ratio for IC engine power. Easier just to add more raw fuel for more fuel hydrogen and oxrgen re-supply. Far easier on vehicles to simply adjust the ignition timing for the different now composite fuelgas in engine burning rate.
Three fellows have done mechanically ratio changers if you want to search:
Dutch John’s Volvo “Micky Mouse Ears”
max gasman’s single diapram double action system
and the India Institute of Technoligy on their earlier duel diesel/woodgas systems had a “Zero Pressure Regulator” ratio system. They were having severe engine overspeed and exhaust backfiring problems on genrator sysems electrical load shed-offs. They needed to slam the mixtures around fuel gas OFF - air OPEN to solve these and not then stall the system stopped. Later they just spark converted the engine and 100% woodgased fueled with only govenor speed controls needed. No auto ratio changers used then.
Some fellows talked about doing this eletronically using the APL/GEK controller. Search there also.
Again 90% of the operating time ratio changing is unnecessary.
Manual, you play less with this far less than a manual cold start choke on a gasoline engine.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Good Morning Mr. Steve ,
Thanks for the very good explanation,
Dan , Sounds like you have it going on!!
I haven’t watched the videos yet but will tonight . I was able to trap some cattle this morning and need to load them before they break out. About to fire the Ram for a trip to cattle sale ( payday )
HWWT
Thanks Steve U., Compliments from you mean a little more and are appreciated. Actually am learning enough by doing and from sites like dow and it’s members that I can occasionally chime in and make a semi intelligent comment. One thing for sure is that you never stop learning. Good luck with woodgassing your new welder/generator, may it’s output exceed your expectations! DAN
Hi Wayne; Somethings going on, man these gasifiers keep you busy. Always something new to try or build or clean or fix. Hope you like the videos when you get the time to see them. I really envy your lifestyle, I would love to have a farm/ranch with plenty of land and privacy. Thanks for taking time for me. Hope you made lots of money with your cattle! DAN
Hey Dan.
Great videos , thanks for posting them and keep up the good work.
Ref farm.
When I am bushhogging it seems huge , when I try to mortgage, it is tiny.
Truck
If I were pulling my cattle trailer with gasoline it would cost about 50-60 cents per mile. When I am driving up about the speed limit ( with wood ) I feel guilty because I think I’m making more $ per hour than I am worth.
HWWT
Hello Dan.
That’s a great run with the log splitter.
I noticed you said (and showed) that you had at least 8"wc at the reactor. Did it all come from that blower that was up by the flare? If so, where did you get that blower? Got any more?
(If so, don’t tell anyone else until I get some)
Pete Stanaitis
Hi Pete; Thats funny stuff,my wife and I were both laughing!The motor and little thin impeller are from a shop vac. The entire housing was from welded together 1/4" plate steel.Shop vac stuff is the way to go,if I turned my flare motor up all the way it would suck all the liquid out of the manometer.Meter goes to 20" w/c and fan assembly would probably do 30. Added bonus is it’s an a/c d/c motor so you can use ordinary dimmer switch to control speed. If you need pics and/or dimentions,let me know. Dan