JO's gasified 92 Volvo

I was thinking of trying to use it for the tractor-driven electric generator.

11 Likes

Update:
Lot’s of boring work - patching up the rusty exhaust, patching up some rusted through areas under the car (inspection coming up and you never know if they consider it structural) and I patched the heatexchanger back up. Also, I water tested the crossover air path for 48 hours. No leak - not a single drop.
I try push myself into an hour or two every day. Somehow building new things is lot more fun than repairing old stuff :thinking:

A little less boring - shrinking the firetube down with a 10" insert, new nozzles (1/2" longer). The void between firetubes will be filled with ash. Hopefully this will keep the heat within the charbed better and the size of the charbed fit the power demand better.

Semi boring - rusted through hayfilter bucket.
An old plastic pool filter was given to me several years back. Seems it just about fits under the trunk lid.

To be continued.

20 Likes

One wonder, why do you have a narrowing at the bottom and not 15cm up?
Won’t there be an increase in heat after a narrowing that can be used for the reduction?

6 Likes

Interesting, this will be the same size as my firetube (if my workload at home will ever decrease so I can finish the build :roll_eyes:) so it will be nice to hear what your experiences with this will be.
It looks like the pool/hayfilter a little bigger in volume than your old bucket? If it is, it hopefully will help the small hesitations at stoplights.

Too bad you still haven’t found your potential hot leak or is it the hayfilter causing the power loss in diluting the gas and no hot leak at all?
Some white ash originating from the nozzle area throwing you off the scent?

11 Likes

This is where it gets interesting, four additional nozzles in the lower part near the “forbidden” area!!! He pushed JO to “deep” , because I know he is an expert , he will definitely catch the ratio of the amount of air above and below … no more pieces of charcoal in the ash compartment … that’s right , everything has to burn and create good gas.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to build gasifiers, Fergie keeps me busy, and the workshop is a mess…


14 Likes

I’m not sure I follow, but I guess you’re asking why the insert firetube doesn’t reach all the way to the top.
First of all this was the length of the tube I had. Also, if it did reach all the way I would have to drill precision holes in it to fit the nozzles. I think the camera lies some - the new tube actually reaches almost to the nozzle level, with only 1cm to spare - only 3 inches shorter than the original. With the longer nozzles I expect an insulating carbon slope to form on top of the new tube - behind and between the nozzle tips.

There’s always a need for more heat in a wood gasifier. I hope a smaller and better insulated firetube will save me some. My restriction is only 4" and I don’t want to go smaller. After passing all that char I doubt there’s much useful heat left down there to focus anyway.

Slightly bigger, yes. Maybe a few seconds of idling worth :smile:

This bothers me. I’ve been laying awake trying to remember if the increase in outgoing temp started before or after I installed the lower nozzles. If after, that could be it, and I could live with that - or plug them back up if needed. Also, I wasn’t aware of the higher temps until I replaced the dead thermometer :thinking:.
But then, running real crappy started way later. It’s not a power loss actually - it’s more like it doesn’t run smooth at light load. I should have been able to air-mix compesate for an air leak into the hay filter. Idle is smooth too. Within 10-60% power is the problem. I can’t wrap my head around it.

11 Likes

Tone, I noticed your post too late.
Remember I usually say I agree with you. Now, that has changed. If you call me an expert I definately start doubting your sanity :smile:

12 Likes

Have your timing belt slipped? Only one “cog” wrong and these engines run really crappy, but often smooth idle and “smooth” (?) Wide open throttle.
A volvo b230 with old timing belt may slip when stopping the engine (!)
Well, it would be some noticeable on gasoline.

12 Likes

There is no improvement if we always agree with each other, but your work in the field of “wood gas” shows that you are a great expert. When Goran mentioned the possibility that “your timing belt has skipped”, I thought that this is a good parable for me, because I often act a bit out of “phase”. :grinning::rofl:

13 Likes

That is a big hole in the hayfilter barrel JO. Or is that the results of using a hammer tapping on that area and the rust giving way showing the hole.
I agree it is more fun building new than having to patch up the old stuff. But that is really the fine workings of DOW. The wood acid fluids just keep eating away on the welds and metals.
Driving on just Charcoal does have some advantages with less wood acids being formed in the gasifiers operations that leads to less corrosive problems with the metals.

10 Likes

No, I meant that you should put the restriction higher up, then you can use the heat below it and not let it down into the ashtray, if you lifted the restriction you would also get a larger layer of ash that protected against heat loss from incoming air, you would probably don’t need the insert tube either.
Much like the mazda.
c6fb55d966f30a7b6dffeb521ec4278c41c10cc2_2_1332x1000
Edit picture

9 Likes

For the past months I’ve done all my driving with the Mazda wood, except one trip to work with the Volvo on gasoline (to polish the brake discs :smile: ). Actually, it didn’t like accellerating - misfired. It was raining and my thinking was it was moisture (cables or dist). Since the belt is so easy to get to on this engine I will definately check. Thanks for the tip.

Jan, I tried that for several months last year. I put the restriction on top of a 6" tall cone pedistal, just like your drawing. Belive it or not, but I couldn’t tell no difference at. Nothing changed. Temps, power, hesitation - all the same. Mindblowing :exploding_head:

14 Likes

Thanks Bob! Makes me feel a bit better. And you should really know - taking on the worn out Dakota gasifier :smile:

14 Likes

Me too :smile: :upside_down_face::crazy_face: +20 characters

12 Likes

Very interesting, did you still have the small grate at the bottom then (4")?
Looked at incoming air, but it seems to correspond to about 78mm pipe around 60mm at 200c. (if I count correctly) unless it is strangled in some other place.
Will be interesting to hear how it goes when you put things back.
Edit: you have tried almost everything soon, do you have anything left other than the air entering the unit being choked?

9 Likes

Jan, I assume a primary air restriction would affect mostly the high end power. In fact, the Mazda truck have fairly tight part of the heatexchanger. The inlet is a foot of pipe-in-pipe and with a hard accelleration the hopper vacuum climbs more than expected. That’s why I’ve arranged a by-pass of the heat-exchanger, which I only use if I really want to step on it. If I want to pass someone in a hurry I pull that lever. Not ideal, but the rail vacuum lowers a few inches, the hopper vacumm is cut in half and I gain a few extra hp. However, the engine purrs just fine in any condition and this air restriction isn’t noticeable during normal driving.
The Volvo gasifer’s air path breathes easier and I rarely see the hopper vacuum climb to more than 4-5 inches. I’m sorry, but I still believe the hestitation sympthomes are either caused by lack of heat or an air leak - or a combination.

Edit: Yes, the grate is still only 6" wide under the 4" restriction.

14 Likes

Then I don’t think I have any more stupid ideas today. but you never know. :pensive:

11 Likes

Ideas are like questions, none are stupid even if they don’t apply. Sometimes they cause the lite bulb to lite on the correct answer.

14 Likes

That’s right, Randy. Just as Tone mention the other day - if we do nothing but agree we get nowhere.

11 Likes

An hour here and there. Managed to fiddle together the custom made ss condensation tank with the new plastic hayfilter. With metal you can always cut and reweld if things don’t line up. With this mm-tight fit, once you drilled the hole in the plastic your done - no way back. Using the tape meassure a couple dussin times for every maneuver is time consuming.

Pics are: Condesation tank, hay fiter, foot operated drain valve.

22 Likes