Gilmore style?

Small Engines Charcoal Gasification
#81

Hi Gary,
The largest engine i have is the 220cc from the Electric generator, the rest is 200cc and 160cc
The check valve is spring-less so no noticeable resistance…
Anyway, this one is a bottom check valve for water suction hose, so difficult to move it somewhere between two hoses :wink:
Today i replaced the oil in the tank with rice husk and that worked out fine, barely no more black in the test pad.
If the rice husk is saturated, i will charcoal it and use it as fuel …

Further today i used the exhaust gas return…
it does reduces the heat in the gasifier yes, even at the smallest amounts, but it decrease the power output to much for the water pump… so i had to remove the belt to drive the engine.
Running idle i did hear little difference with or without exhaust, did had to change the airmixture dough to uphold the revs (little more rich)
without exhaust i had to make more lean but both times just a tiny little bit.
Spraying water did however the useable job, revs and power up, a lot… did run the water pump with no problems.
I think i have to make a good setup to obtain a perfect balance between both.
Maybe i will install a pederson plate setup first… and the exhaust return at the minimum level possible…
I am enjoying this so much you know…

The problem i see at this point is finding the right proportion of the charcoal. it does bridge a bit from the friction of the walls ( is only 5" pipe)
tapping the outer walls does the job, but have to find something to prevent that bridging. maybe another reactor with a bit of tapered walls ?
Finding the right materials is the trick here i guess… but i keep looking for a bigger pipe…

anyway, hooked i am, goodbye dynofuel :wink:

PS. something the woodgassers not going to like ;-)…
You can not run a gasifier without charcoal :stuck_out_tongue:

#82

PS. something the woodgassers not going to like ;-)…
You can not run a gasifier without charcoal :stuck_out_tongue:

Good Morning Koen

Very true statement .

This morning I have made enough charcoal to power a 7,500 pound truck almost 50 miles at highway speeds and a trip through the hay fields to check the moisture of drying hay also a trip into the cattle pasture to drop out salt blocks.

I didn’t get to see, taste , smell or wear any of the charcoal but you are correct I was making it.

Thanks
Wayne

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#83

If you bolt a motor to the side of the reactor with a unbalanced weight on it and run it for a few seconds every so often that would keep things moving. Using a bigger diametre would be more low tech though.

#84

@Wayne, Good morning now ( time difference 11 Hrs ahead of you )
My god, i would like to have a V10 8.0L here now…
Hauling the pineapples from my land here in small pickups running on diesel… Raining saison almost finished now, sometimes raining all day long (Today is)

@ Gary H, finding the perfect balance is not always easy…

To the topic:
my earliar statement about the valves being 25mm straight,…
though the valves 1" are indicated DN25, whilst cleaning them out yesterday evening after the run, i did measured them and they are only 20mm… (bore in the ball)
The 3/4" indicated DN20 but were only 16mm
This could explain a little on the power drop yesterday.

i also noticed that running this small engines on the current gasifier at low rpm is not always feasible (turn down ratio not sufficient) when running under heavier loads.
I need to work on that.
i did modified the pouly (picture) of the engine into a double sized, so i can redo the testing on a higher rpm, same time as running the pump i could ad the car generator to load the battery whilst pumping water same time. ( not a bad idea )

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#85

Further pictures;

The oil tank filled with rice husk

The piping for the exhaust return

The valves for adjustment the mixture and throttle ( no carb )

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#86

Ok, i had another test run today, with water pumping, without exhaust return.

tomorrow i put the figures, monday the movie at youtube

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#87

The numbers,
Test with gasoline, 1 liter did run 67 Minutes, pump 80Liters/minute 2,5Bar = 5360 liters
Test with charcoal, 1 hour test run, pump set at 80 liters/min 2,5 bar = 4800 Liters, 1,4Kg charcoal

Filter media wet from yesterday, not reacting sensible to the gas changes, need to perform again with new filter media, could not run at higher rpm
Preparing test sequence with pistonpump…

#88

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#89

Hi Steve U,

I couldn’t agree more… but i have to do step by step…
First step if finding the max performance of the 5" pipe…
I did notice that when the charcoal would not bridge, there was a better performance in the gas quality/yield and none “blushing” on the outside of the pipe.
A little bridging and the gas went down and the walls did get red.
So i need to work on the charcoal consistency first as well.
After determine the right temp to work with i can use the exhaust to temper.
As far as my knowledge goes, the optimum temperature should be between 1000 and 1200°C with a max of 1300°C
1200°C starts the steam intake, alternating with air intake but never below 1000°C

I keep testing and working on solutions.

I agree the utmost with your statement “Let NO BTU Escape free Unused”

Regards

Koen

#90

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#91

Hi Koen and Steve
Just a though you could use larger pipe say an 8in thin walled chiminy pipe but make 1/3 round clay fire bricks in the pipe, stack them so they interlock, this would keep you fire hotter and less chance of destroying your fire tube .
I can get a recipe for the clay fire brick , it is a mix of saw dust , sand and clay.

Keep up the great experimenting I love seeing what you are doing with charcoal gasification.
Have you seen the biomass to liquid system where they carbirise biomass and condense the gas to make boicrude oil and fuels ?

Patrick

#92

Hi Steve, Patrick,

@Steve, yes, the goal is to obtain usable shaft power in the highest efficiency rate possible…
It would be so easy to copy an existing gasifier set up, but that would not make me happy, i would not be able to learn…
at the end i would like to have more knowledge and being able to “build” a working unit, for the job to be done as needed…
If you need a racing car, you build a racing car… but now i want to build a gasifier for the farmers…

Since the 5" pipe is giving a limit, its also an excellent opportunity to learn and understand the processes which are taking place…

Steve, the info that you gave me now, makes me understand the problem with the charcoal… I think i could compare it with the crystalline effect in a snow ball; it first makes a hollow cavity, ( temperature rises without increasing the conversion rate, more oxygen per less surface heating up) then eventually the cavity collapses and the heat is been distributed along a greater surface from the charcoal, thus generating a bit more gas and a little less heat is escaping unused ( this is a simplified explanation, but i think you get the point).
So, my conclusion would be at this point that it is inevitable to use some kind of a “shaking” method to prevent any cavity to be formed…
Maybe if i mount the gasifier on the same chassis where the engine is bolted on, that would be sufficient ? lets give it a try…

@Patrick, yes it is most definitely the best solution (in my humble opinion) to use “refractory” materials for the reactor walls.
its available as casting material as well.
But just blunt using this material without me understanding whats happening inside and why, will lead to the next problem , next problem, next problem…

To explain…
Its not my goal to copy, but i am using the simple setup from Gary G, to start with my learning process.
Gasification, more specific wood gasification, leads automatically to the process step which we are working on now… gasification of charcoal.
i see it as a bottle neck avoidance, if this one runs perfect, i put on top the charcoaling unit … using the gasses from that unit,…
if that works i will ad the steam from the first step in the charcoaling process,… and so on.
Each time well adjusted and trying to find the best efficiency overall…

If that all works, i continue with waste gasification…

So it looks like i am going to learn for another 50 years or so :wink:

As to your biomass to liquid system, i have heard about and read about it, i understand the basics, but since any artificial conversion uses expensive BTU’s i feel more for efficient processes ( more like how nature works) But economic and ecologic are not the same… especially if big company’s wants to make big buck’s

I am not green, but logic and i try to be efficient :wink:

Regards

Koen

#93

Hi Koen
When you make charcoal in your closed retort, you have the center pipe you rotate the barrel on. If you barrel is sealed and the pipe is welded to the top and bottom of the barrel and had a few holes in it inside the barrel the steam and gases would escape through the pipe. The steam and gases you pass through a condenser, you will produce boicrude.

Here is Mr Teslonian with his system.
Now you have the boicrude as a by product of your charcole making process that is also a usable fuel.
Just food for thought !

Thanks patrick

#94

Hi Patrick,

Thats exact how i did it in the other topic :wink: and that is also the purpose, using all of the green waste.
From bamboo they make also bamboo vinegar.
Its also been called “Pyrolises Oil”
The bio-crude can be a pain in the **s as well, it al depends the quality and more important , the quantity…

It all depends what you want to do finally… then decide how to do it…

I am a reverse engineer, how can i do with what :stuck_out_tongue:

#95

Here a drawing of the last version from the gasifier-set up
Filter media in the tank is Rice husk, works rather good
Last filter for the engine is washable and can be oiled

#96

@ Steve,
I did find the documents from the Kalle gasifier and they do indeed mention this problem we see…
It also made me aware of the difference between the “Final Kalle” and the “Gilmore Style”
In the Kalle gasifier all the gasses pass through the hot charcoal zone (reduction) and make a “hot gas” leaving the gasifier.
In the Gilmore style, the hot gasses are passing through the surrounding charcoal where the heat gets transferred into the charcoal and already partial decompose the “substances” in that charcoal. These “extra” gasses are not converted by the glowing charcoal, thus giving another consistence to the gas used in the gasifier.
If using “High grade, pure Charcoal” there might be huge benefits if your temperature is at the “Higher levels” (gas is more rich without dilutants )
but any moister in the charcoal, will gets evaporated and the steam goes to the filters-engine not converted.

Further, ( here i might use your insights to learn more) my opinion is that injecting the exhaust does cool down the oxidizing zone because its containing less oxygen but almost identical nitrogen, ergo diluting… Somehow it needs compensation to maintain the oxidizing temperature and also the nozzle speed should be slightly modified to help the compensation.

More in my opinion, it need great care to well adjust the correct balance and a rather minimum tempering should be considered to avoid moistening the feedstock.

Also, since the water content of the exhaust can be rather high, following process is mot certain to take place; Enriching with hydrogen from the exhaust, combined with the reduced temperature in the oxydising zone will generate more Methane from the reaction H2-Co2 but at the same time generate H2O

As you stated in your earlier posting, it needs a good balance, but once there is a good balance, that will function unbeaten in emissions, shaft power and efficiency.
( I think i studied to much today :wink: )

Regards

Koen

PS, maybe i could connect the nozzle fix with the exhaust from the engine to create enough vibration in the charcoal and use more then 1 nozzle ?
I will make an little drawing of what i mean.

#97

Hi koen, good progress going on I see.
Might I suggest if you have not already sieve your material down to remove dust AND oversized pieces. When I was using my narrow unit bridging was a problem until I sieved everything. Gary recommends from 2 to 20 mm. You should play with that since even smaller the 20 might be called for due to your small size. My exhaust injection uses a natural gas stainless steel connection hose. It gives the unit just a small amount of vibration which helps for bridging as well. Wayne says it is 20% the machine 80% the user…
We are all learning…
Best Regards David Baillie

#98

Hi David,
Yes i did sieve already according to Gary’s recommendations and that works well. (bigger then rice corn and smaller then thumbs nail)
In my case its 1% the machine and 99% me still learning…
But’s the learning what’s the fun part…
Regards
Koen

#99

Okay, try again to post somethings here…
For some reason, the DOW is not accessible from some providers here…

Anyhow:
Youtube movies of the testing with the water pump…

Start up 7Hp Honda

#100

System keeps me timing out if i want to post long comments…
Chris , any idea’s why ?

7Hp honda, under load, spraying water