I am helping an Amish neighbor who wants to build a wood-fired gasifier to produce fuel for a five or six HP Honda gasoline engine at his wood working shop. He might also fuel an eleven HP Honda engine there as well. He does not use a computer or watch videos (at least not yet) so I am looking for written plans I could get or print from pdf versions. He wants to reuse or repurpose items he has available. He works at a saw mill much of the year and has access to free oak, cedar, pine, and sometimes other wood slabs and chunks for fuel. Who has plans for building a good unit that would last a long time? Or do you have suggestions for a better path for him to follow? Steve Collins
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Hi Steve,
Small engines usually use charcoal gasifiers. I would look at Gary Gilmoreās āSimple Fireā, at least to start with. Library / The Simple Fire | Drive On Wood!
Rindert
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Steven I linked to you in another thread for a charcoal gasifier, but if they already have access to slab wood Iād say they should put in the effort for something like a Ben Peterson gasifier. You can buy his book āThe Wood Gasifier Builderās Bibleā. Very good book, very in depth and itās a well proven design.
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Cody, I will look into that book by Ben Peterson, āThe Wood Gasifier Builderās Bible.ā Steve Collins
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His plans are for 500cc and larger, Bens gasifier is not designed for this small of an engine.
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That saved me some time and probably some money. Thank you. Steve
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You mentioned in the other thread he doesnāt want to make charcoal, there are other small engine raw wood systems other than the Ben Peterson. For the 6 horsepower, probably 196cc Honda, charcoal really is the way to go in my opinion, but yes Matt is right, Benās design is 500cc up to V8 generator units though itās been used on trucks as well.
Bear in mind no matter which way you go thereās a decrease in Horsepower/Kilowatt output.
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Do you know who has some of the others (not Ben Peterson) for 196 cc Honda size?
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The only one I would know of is a Northern Self Reliance style gasifier, but I donāt think Stephen sells them anymore and I donāt know if he sells any blueprints. He had a rough guide to make the hearth zone.
This just more or less explains his specific form factor, it doesnāt give hard measurements.
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Using the formulas provided by Dutch John you could put two and two together to make a small enough gasifier.
https://woodgas.nl/GB/diy.html
With the quick math I did using a Predator 212cc engine Iām getting a 1.375" restriction for that engine at 3600 RPM. Awful small, I can see why Stephen Abaddessa uses that 4th nozzle to burn right at the restriction.
Iād say if you were to copy Stephens design with the 4th nozzle, Iād round up to an even 2" restriction for flow. Or keep a conservative size of 1.5". That 4th nozzle will be directly burning at the choke point in the hearth and ensure tars are converted.
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Steven,
For ātrouble free and lasts a long timeā, especially for small displacement, single cylinder engines, charcoal is king. The Gary G. Simple Fire design is the beginners ticket to sucessful, self-taught small engine wood gasification. there are numerous ways of making charcoal.
Your friend does not have a computer, but why would they not want to make charcoal? It is very useful stuff, even for the garden, water filtration, and outdoor cooking.
Dutch John has a lot of material on his website, many still pictures in the āMicro Gasifiersā section. He also goes out of his way to explain they require attention to every detail, like wood chunk size, etc. and are āfussyā, and he almost tries to talk you out of the idea entirely. He gives all the design basics of what he built, there are still areas of mystery.
Northern Self Reliance (Stephen Abidessa) gasifiers run on hardwood pellets, uniform size fuel.
Micro Gasifiers (woodgas.nl)
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Not for a wood gasifier. Best of luck getting one to work. I spent 8 years and over a million dollars trying. Thats all I have to say on this subject.
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I agree when it comes to the smaller single cylinder engines, charcoal takes the headache out of the equation. @d100f really showed how he can set it, forget it and rely on it daily.
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I sent an email to Jeff Davis who had an article in a magazine on wood gasifiers. My Amish neighbor wanted me to obtain a copy of his plans. I have not received a reply. Does anyone know if he is still around? Thank you. Steve Collins
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@Jeff has been battling cancer, and doesnāt post often. He might be focusing on his health.
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Hey StevenC.
JeffD. shows last active here on the DOW last April the 3rd.
Looking at his site for alternate contact possibilities:
www.puffergas.com
Try contacting him thru his youtube channel:
He has put up lots of info outside the DOW on these.
S.U.
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I have searched without success to find the free plans by Jeff Davis for a gasifier for small engines (approx. 11 HP or less) I searched U tube, Puffer gas, and DOW. Also, I received no response to emails. I understand Mr. Davis is battling cancer so I donāt want to disturb him. His plans are supposed to be free through Creative Commons, but my poor computer skills have not found them. I followed Steve Unruh suggestions but no success. I did not see a video on it either. Does anyone know how I could find the plans? Steve Collins 12/11/2023 follow up from March 13, 2023.
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Is this what youāre looking for?
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Hi Steven , I may be wrong due to failing memory , i think Jeffās unit was a updraft charcoal unit with the nozzle vertical in the bottom of the tank , i could be wrong but anyway , nearly all gasifier units following the simple fire design will work well for what you are wanting to do , have a look at Gary Gilmore videoās on YouTube or if you are feeling confident then there are many on here right that are building downdraft units .
All the best Dave
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Drawing by Eddy Ramos:
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