Just would like some expert help with what the weight of a 5 gallon bucket of white pine dryed should be before useing in gasifiers. I think its 2200 dry federal cord.Thanks
Weighing by a 5 gallon pail won’t give a useful result, because it will vary depending on the size of chunks and how they pack in a pail. Better to figure out the moisture content of the chunked wood, and then see roughly how much a pail weighs. Probably better yet is to just make sure the wood is well dried in advance.
As others have mentioned, if you weigh a sample of wood, then bake it dry in an oven under moderate heat, the weight difference was the moisture content, which will tell you what the moisture in a given batch of wood is. Over time sheltered firewood will reach an acceptable moisture content for a wood gasifier, which is why Wayne puts his wood in sheltered storage in bags, in due time it will be good and dry.
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Here in the cool cloudy and wet NW. I am regularly running on15 to 20% wood chunks and other than having to drain the hopper and condensate tanks often ( 1 quart per 5 gallons burned) have never had a tar problem.
Most of my wood is coniferous with lots of pitch.
Actually I remember Chris K saying that corrosion issues are less due to the flushing / dilution action of all that moisture. My system is about 1 1/2 years old now with no evidence of corrosion in the hopper
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My wood feels real light when think is dry, i realize the pail wood size effect, i dryed 5 pounds of wood too 300 degrees f for about 4 hours and only lost 1/2 too 3/4 pound before the wood started smoking, not much info out. on drying time for wood chunks in oven for a test batch on moisture content.
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Not sure what coniferous and pitch means about wood.
Trees that make cones, like pine
Pitch is the sticky stuff that leaks out of a coniferous tree
Sounds like it must be reasonably dry then.
My approach would be to not sweat the wood drying as much as just being sure the wood you are using is decently dry. The problem with that approach is it requires work in advance, and space to store it. To me that is like preparing firewood. I don’t know exactly or care much what the moisture content of the wood is, I just know that if you want good dry firewood you cut and split it in the winter, and by the next fall if sheltered it will be good.
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It sure is nice to look at a winters supply of wood drying in advance and know you won’t be cold come winter. I still need to get caught back up so I have a good supply if wood on hand.
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Standards:
Weight in a batch sample, cut in smaller pieces, dry in oven with constant fresh airflow, 4 Hrs at 120ºC
then weigh the dry sample and calculate…
For me, i use an large can, induce hot air with a paint strip gun… as for drying material to test in or from my oven
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I know the best way is set some wood aside for next year, though i burn wood when i buy it. The barrel is a good looking back up dryer set up or test batching, i got a radiator from my water boiler heater in garoge and it gets about 99 too 120 at the wood temp when runni g fan in day time. Ges i will just let the wood dry long
er, or a couple weeks too see how much lighter it will get, while i work too make some change fixing washer dryers, mechanic repair work.Thanks for the responces, I gess this is the most accurate way too be more sure is dry the wood longer and then weigh till no lighter weight mesurments.&&&&&&&&& Just addjusted my choke restrictor distance and diameter,and using the same wood 8.5 too 9 # after the full five gallon bucket weight, with few chunks over the top. So for me 8.5 pounds of white pine dryed out seems too work, drove about 38 miles and this morning all 5 butterflys/throtle plates were all nice and free no tar signs AT ALL.
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PS the fan in the pic got junked to day after finding the smokeing culpert.
Made a little more tar yesterday, gess my 8.5 pound 5 gallon wood chunks wood only works on open road, because when running in cooler conditions it tends too put out tar idleing around the yard for short trips. And not getting the temps up higher before slowing down too slow idle. So back too testing for weight of wood too be dry enough too work at beter idle speeds. I had one throtle plate out of 5 was sticking only at the idle location position, and free the rest of the travel distance. It was running rough when shut down or would not idle. PS i gess it was not tar , my idle gagit broke and that was the sticking throtle plate problem, as it was sticking at low idle position before hooking up the wood gas.
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I think 8 pounds for a full 5 gallon bucket of the light weight pine chunked around 1 by 2" and 2 by 2&1/2" is light as it gets pretty close enough. Still have too get some bags too carry wood in, the buckets make it hard too refill on the road side.
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Find a feed mill where local farmers get their grain ground and they buy chemicals for their live stock. I buy what use to be burlap bags only now they are woven plastic for $1 apiece. If you know a farmer some of them throw them away. They come in two sizes. Get the big ones – you don’t have to fill them to the top if they get too heavy to lift. TomC
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Ok TOM COLLINS. I will see if any farms have any extra feed bags they trash. Thanks for clearifying the bags and places too get them.
If you know people who feed the birds some of the seed bags are the same but a little smaller. My uncle collects them for potatoes.
Thats a wood bag find idea i had’ent thought of thanks DanNH