It’s been traditional around the world for thousands of years. Keep in mind this is mostly weathered herbivore poop, so essentially like dried lawn clippings…
3 Likes
Sorry, Gerrard about this alternative energy rabbit trail. Maybe you could produce methane from sewage and compress it for your Ute?
Yes, there is a yuck factor. However, there are big and longterm benefits to this process. Where we work, flushing is not an option, and latrines allow flies to transmit pathogens. Fuel shortages have led to deforestation. So we pasteurize this sticky, sustainable energy-dense product. Charcoal makes our urine diversion dry toilets odor free.
1 Like
Hi Matt, Thanks for making contact.
Looks like I may need to find a temp solution so I can explore more long term options. I would like to keep my current vehicle as it owes me nothing is very reliable and suits my needs well. Also I would literally be throwing it as no one will want an LPG car up here now any way. The other thing is that I am only here for another year and a half then its back to Geelong Victoria where LPG is at every petrol station.
Thanks again to every one that has bothered to comment and make some suggestions, I will continue down this path even if I don’t end up converting my car to wood gas.
Its an interesting and somewhat of a lost art and I’m keen to play a part, (who ever small) to revive it.
Cheers
4 Likes
It works alright, but I like to encourage people to put manure into their ag instead of their stoves. Usually in development situations they have need of both. But it works well.
Gerard, I haven’t seen anyone ask the first question. All of these systems and ideas will work to the extent to which they will work. But first,
What are you trying to do with the technology.?
You mention this is your work truck; how many miles must you drive per day/week?
How much time do you have to commit to fuel processing (gathering, sizing, pyrolizing, sizing, storing fuel)?
How necessary is the truck? Meaning, if it won’t start today or if it’s not working right, are you going to lose your job?
Are you going to go bankrupt? Lose your house if you don’t make the mortgage payment?
How dependable must this system be for you?
The factual reality is that all of these alternative ideas will work, and this is the place to get help doing them. But as far as I know, no one here is driving exclusively on alternative fuel and operating a work truck daily. There may be exceptions. Mr Wayne comes pretty close, but he has been doing this for decades. You mention that you don’t have the time to “play” with developing the tech. To become proficient enough with its use to be able to depend on it, it will take many, many hours.
Not trying to be a wet blanket guys, but if he’s looking for real world solutions that will affect his life dramatically, he should look at it with all the facts. I encourage you to keep looking into it. Not trying to say you couldn’t do it. But it is not like pulling up to the natural gas tank and filling it up. It will require long hours of labor gathering and processing wood. Unless you have some special circumstance…
5 Likes
You could make them talk to each other so if one becomes restrictive it can tell the other one(s) to shut off airflow so it doesn’t burn up. Canbus is broadcast multimaster, and might work for this application. or you might have something better already.
Your systems also take woodchips, which means quite a bit less time fudging around with fuel prep.
If he is moving to Victoria. Victoria is basically like california and all in an RE because their electric prices went through the roof. Australia in general has about the highest demand for batteries for home storage in the world right now because netmetering doesn’t pay much and a lot of folks are going solar to save money. Your system might fit extremely well and apparently the LPi vehicles will be dirt cheap in the near future in certain parts of Australia.
2 Likes
Yeah I was already thinking of that, but I would simply use temp probes at the grate and both would have servo valves. So if one did get hot it would start to close off.
Yeah he could then power the house when he is home. 
2 Likes
Billy; just because you don’t have any cards in this game, I think you are selling it short. Even your son is now a player. True for many of us it is a “hobby” that we play.
I am old and my memory is not good so I won’t try to name off all the people that I have read about that DO drive daily. A couple of rather new comers to our group who are like Mr Wayne driving exclusively on wood gas are Kristijan and Jo. Max Gasmans car can NOT run on anything but wood gas. I believe there are several people who got Mr. Wayne and Chris’s plans early on and are still running on wood although since there build was completed a couple of years back, they are no longer posting there builds.
The questions that you bring up are good to consider, but don’t get overwhelmed by the number of questions that are possible. Generally speaking there are easy answers to most of them.
I have kind of sworn off posting so much on here, but a question on this subject that has haunted me is; didn’t we have a member at one time that converted a “Ute”(?) to wood gas?? TomC
1 Like
I would be a little afraid of the probe burning up or getting gunked up, but that sounds quite a bit simpler.
2 Likes
No I dont have a problem with that. They are sleeved and it dont get hot enough at the grate to harm them. Its only 1400 to 1600* F K type can handle much higher than this and they have sheave that are inserted into. It dont matter the accuracy, we simply adjust the parameters to accommodate that.
Edit you have not seen the new machines have you?
2 Likes
This machine is all temp driven from a probe at the grate. The probe just sticks into insulation chamber so it cant get damaged but is hot enough here to get readings. This does not need to be fast, we just need to know whats going on a few minutes time is plenty time.
1 Like
Hey TomC, I’m not selling anything short. I’m just asking some obvious questions that I didn’t see anyone else had at this point. As stated in the original question:
Unless I’m wrong, None of the people you mentioned are driving everyday after NOT having spent Weeks/months/and years getting to where they are. It does take a great effort and time to be able to consistantly., reliably DOW. If his livlihood depends on that reliability, and considering Gerrard started his investigations by stating that he does not have that time and energy to give to the project, it seems reasonable to investigate the matter more before filling him with dreams that are unreasonable. I’m certainly not trying to discourage anyone from building a truck or doing alternative energy. I was just trying to ask the realistic questions, since he only has a short time to make some decisions about what he’s going to do. It has nothing to do with how often I DOW.
But if I’m wrong…well, sorry.
By all means, make it happen.
If anyone can design and build an “off the shelf” system for you it’s Matt. So who knows.
1 Like
Thats why Im working on a pellet fuel processor. I never really understood why more have not attempted to build their own mills. They are pretty easy to make.
This will have grinder on top that you will grind up fire wood. I just started work on this today.
2 Likes
You caught me. I skipped a few posts. I just saw them on your website, and they look -really- nice. I just haven’t had time to look at the details. I will check out the video in a bit.
2 Likes
Gerrard,
You might find this interesting. The only problem I saw is they were driving on the wrong side of the road.
2 Likes
Hi Billy,
Thanks for your question.
I work for myself, I am in Darwin for work and will need my ute to do so.
My wife is on a good wicket and we will get by if I can’t work.
Bankruptcy is not a concern we are currently facing but the reason we moved up here was A) to take advantage of the work opportunities for me up here, and B) use it as a sea change and re focus our efforts just the two of us after a full on three years with two foster kids and running a business with my brother for 12 yr and closing it a few years back.
Basically get away from it all for a year or two.
Anyway, the reason its somewhat pressing is that we have only been here since Jan 2018 and only a handfull of servos keep LPG to start with. A few weeks ago 2 of the 6 told me after the tank of LPG is empty, they are out of the LPG game for good due to no enough people buying it.
So the writing is on the wall for the rest to follow soon I’d say.
I have been looking into other fuel options for months now (just out of curiosity) and have found a hydrogen cell but it has taken a long time to weed out the BS in that field and find something off the shelf I was happy to go with. (the unit is going to take 6 months to make from the factory)
So I thought Instead of trolling through hundreds of hours of videos and papers online to find a solution as I did for the hydrogen unit, in wood gas, I thought I’d try a forum where someone may know of an off the shelf solution.
Sorry that was long winded…
2 Likes
Matt,
OMG that is sweet!
2 Likes
Gerrard,
Surely with three LPG suppliers, there is enough business for one to continue supplying LPG? Even here in Indiana, USA there is an HVAC service company (Collier’s in the small town of Ossian) that have converted their fleet to LPG and also established a public filling station. (about $1.70 USD per unit, gallon, I guess?) Are there any fleet companies near you that would sell you fuel? Wood gas and alternative fuels are great, but even the most dedicated users have some form of back-up available!
My brother has two pickup trucks running on LPG . He has about a thousand gallon LP tank that fuels his house heat and he also fills the trucks from this tank whenever needed .
2 Likes
Yeah it looks the part 
Good use-qualifying statement GerrardG.
I am glad that BillyA. has brought this out.
What you are asking actually is for a drop-in fuel substitution for LPG. Like the diesel fuel folks have wanted for spec-grade diesel motor fuels.
Like have been actually made at times and places for motor fuels gasoline’s.
Drop-in use-like-normal fuels substitutes are unfortunately always more process expensive to synthesis with hugh processing by-product overload drags. E.G. toxic glycerine and methanol contaminates for a true bio-diesel. Huge amounts of spent mash and food grade stocks diversion for motor grade alcohols. Bio-digesters making bio-methane requires huge land gobbling foot prints for road vehicle usable quantities. With again needing a large farm to land use responsibly the spent bio-sludge-ash.
All alternatives are easy for food cooking and water heating. Vehicles with true passenger and load capacity are at least a 10X proposition.
Your drop-in fuel for LPG is compressed natural gas. Very common on stationary small electrical generators use to bi-fuel these. Even tri-fuel with gasoline. Net look up how they do this. How they power de-rate the same engine for these different fuel types used.
IF with street supplied naturlal gas, a home re-fueling station is how I would dual fuel LPG.
You can intake manifold stub in a gasoline mechanical carburator. It will work kinda’ sorta. With not a dedicated designed for liquid gasoline fuel droplets heated intake manifold system you will have relatively poor cylinder to cylinder distribution. You must carb tune/blend for an average delivered to cylinders mixture. Gasoline individual port delivered EFI can be made near perfect.
One Dutch woodgaser has set up his pick up truck to be able to tri-fuel LPG/woodgas/gasoline.
Please, please stay away from gasoline and pure hydrogen vaporization systems. Go-boom too rapid of flame fronts beating back out the still open intake valve will launch your intake manifolds and air cleaner systems. Cause under hood fires.
Regards
tree-farmer Steve unruh
2 Likes