Thinking of a stationary gasifier for home heating, but built to make engine grade gas “just in case”. Maybe the next virus will shut down gas stations and electricity too!
It would be a WK, incorporating some of the experimental stuff that showed up here after the HWWT book was published.
I also have Ben’s book and really like the “pyrolysis accelerator” area he incorporated into his design.
I was thinking about what benefit might be had if one were to extend Ben’s pyro accelerator idea all the way up the hopper wall right to near the top. This would see the hot fuel gasses leaving the hearth tube and travelling all the way up to the top of the hopper wall before exiting, heating it up big time. The (likely prodigious) volatiles and steam from the fuel stack exiting the hot hopper would be routed thru a condenser of some sort as per standard practice to condense the water/tar products.
I’m thinking this may improve the WK’s already excellent ability to consume high moisture wood for fuel, might improve gas quality and hot performance of the gasifier too by getting pyrolysis started early. Maybe bigger than normal chunks could be utilized. Greener ones too.
If you get the hopper too hot and produce pyrolisis gas above the hearth, this raw unprocessed gas will over whelm the reduction and result in a pavement top coat machine.
I dont know this is what I suspect will happen. But I have not built it, I guess try it but build so you can reverse it. If the hopper is hot then it will not condense or may not condense fast enough. Also depends on how dry your fuel is. Nothing wrong with Bens design nothing to improve here, I’d leave it be. just mho
I don’t know anything about Ben’s gasifier but the hopper on a WK gasifier is supposed to stay below 212 degrees F. on most units when the hopper temp reaches 180 degrees F the gasifier is out of wood.
Not sure who it was that said a hot hopper may cause wood sticking too sides of hopper causing more bridgeing than a cooler hopper like the WK hopper.? I did notice with my heated hopper, running small 1" branch wood they tend too be sticking too the hopper walls when refilling.
