Hi guys,
I decided to take the gasifier apart the other day, only to find some major leaks and pinholes on the welds on the gasifiers air manifold. No wonder l had bad performance in a hot gasifier lately.
So, l was looking at the gasifier, thinking to my self l have two options. Repair the prooven gasifier, put it back together and drive untill there is a problem again,
or learn from the mistakes and experiances, and make a new, better (hopefuly) sistem.
You can guess what l decided for, so after a lot of thinking l threw my cards on the table.
Things l need to make better:
-shorten the hearth, in order to gain space for hopper height.
-make the hearth as tar free as possible
-make the whole thing lighter
-make better filtration, in order to save engines intake manifold sooting
I like the WK gasifier a lot. It has many features that the lmbert doesent, but there is one great disadvantige of it, and that is the leangh of the firetube.
The alubox determines the max height of the sistem, and that is 60cm above the platform. Now, l had a firetube about 30cm long, so that left me only about 25cm of hopper height. Not much at all…
So, this is what l came up with
The features of the new design are the new GEK inspired reduction zone flows horizontaly instead of verticaly, lowering the sistem considerably.
The air preheat shuld feed the gasifier with hotter air, and allso aid ti the flywheel effect.
The overhanging balcony shuld provide a turbolent enviroment for the pirolisis gases to burn completely.
The cooling fins from the air intake manifold (coloured grey on the picture) shuld cool the reduced gas soon, in order to prevent it to break down to soot and CO2 due to natural phenomenom of CO brakedown under high temp.
This said, there is only one more feature left to mention.
I was thinking… In a imbert, we have a strongly turbolent enviroment. While this helps the combustion of tars, it allso has a week point. The turbolent gasses can escape in the lower part of the gasifier between and behind the air nozzles unoxidized. So, l came up with a design that has only one nozzle, (or none at all?) trugh the whole plane of the oxidation zone. Just a gap in the firetube, to alow a high speed blanket of hot air to oxidise all the taks produced.
The gap its self is shealded a bit with two forged 1x1cm steel rims, surrounding the airgap.
Folowing the clasic lmbert dimensions for the air nozzle surface area, there fore air velocity, placed in the form of a air blanket, l think the tars have no chance!
If my plans are right, l culd manage to get trugh with firetube height of about 15cm in the alubox, leaveing me 45 cm of hopper space. A conciderable difference!
l have everithing prepared for the new hearth, a few welds and we are up to the next point.
) l think it shuld be good.
aleady wealded. Althugh luckly l went with a wide restriction (9.5cm) so there is enough room for a insert.