I think in a square form factor with properly sized nozzle holes this design would be great but I’m really doing an uphill battle with this barrel shape and no frame of reference for nozzle size.
It’s still making some moisture.
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I believe I’ll just make an updraft flute and get the hang of driving on wood before I go attempting a down draft unit.
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I think Marcus made the right choice. Build a WK, a proven design with ample documentation and support. Then later, after you have learned what they say is the 75 per cent of Dow which is learning how to run the system, you can strike out in experimental directions. Other than that, going simple fire charcoal is the next best plan, so swapping over to the updraft charcoal build is a good plan.
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I have HWWT but my premium hasn’t been activated yet.
I also lack the materials to build a WK and I want to do it right the first time around.
And with this little Mazda I think a wood unit might be too heavy for the little 80hp motor.
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Guess I’ll need to get to finish my charcoal crusher.
I wonder how far I can drive on 55 gallons of coal in an updraft.
For the updraft reactor I already have some fire extinguishers to use as cyclones, I’ll make sure to have my connections be welded in place or at the very least slip fitting steel on steel with silicone sealant and exhaust clamps.
I think with steel conduit I can use exhaust pipe expander dies without worry of breaking them since conduit is usually thinner than exhaust tubing.
I’ll build a gas cooler to go before the filter, just a conservative one. I have an idea already thought up that will take advantage of the location of the cyclone and cooling while going down the road. Make the cooler level with the top of the cab so air will flow over it but also not require making bed rails.
Hi Cody , now that your going with a updraft charcoal you will have much less issue’s with your hot gas i think , on run times with a 55gal drum , if you put the flute about 1 inch off the bottom of the drum that will give you the max run time , with about 12 inches always left covering the nozzle before the gas gets too weak or hot to use .
My Vertical Nozzle is about 5 inches off the bottom and will run a 400 cc generator full power available for 4 hours before the gas is too weak and hot
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Good to know. I know the guys with the 30 gallon drums get decent mileage so I can only assume with a 55 gallon drum being a little taller and wider I can get more run time. It’ll certainly weigh a lot less. Steve’s Toyota was sized for 4 1/2" flute holes so I guess I’ll take one of these flutes and bore them out to 1/2" and add one more hole. As neat as it would be to have a double flute updraft I don’t want the headache of a drip feed not going into both accurately.
My commute isn’t that far. About 30 miles round trip for work each day. If I can get about 100 miles out of a drum I’ll call that a victory.
I think I’ll still make a moderate cooler just to catch any moisture made or at the very least mitigate it.
I wouldn’t put too much energy into making a cyclone. Was not necessary on my large charcoal unit. Some condensate in the clean out jar but very little dust. I wouldn’t put it on again if I were starting over.
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What Tom sayd. Wayne is a smart fellow using a dropbox instead of a cyclone…
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I’ll just find something to make into a dropbox then. Maybe another one of these big ammo cans. I’ve thought about filling one up with steel wool/scrubbers to act as a rough filter and gas cooler.
The biggest change to the overall system is how I will mount it. Strapping it down works fine for now but it won’t last forever. I think i will weld angle iron bracing and bolt it down to the side of the bed, and maybe find a good 2x4 to brace on the inside for the other direction. I have even thought to mount the reactor on the far end of the bed near the tail gate for ease of lighting, filtration running along the same side. It would let me use my rear view mirror better and leave opportunity for EGR.
The flute will stay open ended and I will drill out the 3/8" holes to 1/2" and add two more holes to make a total of 5. Simple water drip. I’d like to make the drip line big enough to allow oil to flow also in case I want to get rid of my used motor oil and transmission fluid. My holding tank for it has water in it so it would be a pain to clean up for black diesel.
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Dont bother too much about the dust. It will pass any mechanical device anyways. But it is better for a sack filter to have some coarse particles in the gas, if there is only fine dust it clogs faster.
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Cory , if you use pan scrubbers make sure they are the stainless steel ones , the steel wool ones will rust out in a couple of days .
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Hi Cody, remember on the double Flute down draft gasifer, you are breaking new ground on this design. So there will be a lot of tweaking and testing. Yes it is a good idea of try the up draft and get to know the basics of first of driving on charcoal gas. You have been doing great.
Bob
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One last question before I get to building. Should my gas outlet be as close to the top of the barrel as possible or would I benefit from consistency if my output was say, halfway up the top.
I know as the coal gets used up the temps and potency varies if the outlet is at the very top so I was wondering if I would get a better consistency of temp and potency if I had it halfway down the barrel.
Believe you me that I’m not discouraged. The fact that it even went almost 4 miles and only died because I hit a steep hill solidified my stubbornness to get this truck driving on wood of some sort.
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Yeah I’ll make sure to get the stainless ones. I see them in bulk on eBay every now and then.
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So far of what I’ve thought up.
The outlet will have a mesh guard on the inside like Eddy uses, my expanded sheet metal has roughly 1/4" sized diamond shaped holes so that will keep most from falling in since I size with a 1/4" screen.
Outlet will connect to a little bit of a cooler, and my filter will double as the drop box. Inlet of the filter is at the very bottom on the side and my bag filter hangs from the lid clamped to a pipe going inside.
I’m still sourcing a 100% wool blanket to make filter bags, for now I’ve doubled up the upholstery bags. Still getting some char dust and I’d like to prevent that as much as possible for the sake of the carburetor.
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Cody,
If you have a proper cooling system for the gas, you can get by with taking the gas off half way up. The only advantage to taking it out at the top I’m aware of is the additional cooling.
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I might just go for top exit then. Tomorrow I’ll head to harbor freight and see how much an exhaust pipe expander die costs and see about making my own slip fittings.
Seal up with silicone and slip on, then exhaust clamp down.
Now that I have a good sturdy stump for an anchored work surface I can mount my tubing bender as well! See how much a length of conduit will run me at Lowes while I’m out on the town.
I’ll probably do a serpentine single pipe for a cooler, branching from the reactor to the filter/dropbox. Moving horizontally to take advantage of the air moving over the top of the cab.