Normans chevotafire pickup

Just a quick read, preheating of the air will yes make it less dense, BUT, it does not change the quantity of any gas. The same components (oxygen,nitrogen,argon,ext) are all still there, just less densly packed. In a gasifier the volume drawn in is not in a state of vacuum so there is not a change in pressure, only a change in density

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Sure. And some like Canadian Gregg Manning and the India Institute of Science evolved to refrigerating their inlet gasifier air. For dense beds penetration.
GregM because it also allowed him to emulate his predominate most of the year Canadian prairies conditions.
IISc? Geeking, make-better. Idealizing. (squeaky clean gasses washing) At huge costs in equipment’s, energy inputs, and complexity.
W.K. went for the heat energy input benefits. Ragged edge metals damaging treading. Back off a bit. Beef-it up
Less dense air? Made his air holes bigger. His char holding tub bigger. Getting a greater char reserve. Win-win.
Do not slip down the internal velocity is the King factor rat-hole. Narrow use restrictive down there.
S.U.

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rabbit holes not of interest to me Steve, I need run all the time reliability. I don’t need perfection! if that was the case I wouldn’t have started out with a truck with more cancer then Wade Wilson :rofl: I’m happy with its performance I’m getting, now its getting it consistently day to day. But that could all be in the fuel or the restriction or grate height for all I know

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There are three sources of oxygen in a gasifer, the oxygen in the atmosphere is one. The oxygen in the water vapors two. The oxygen in the carbon dioxide gases three. The first one is ready to use. The other two need help from the first source of oxygen. If you heat the oxygen up really hot it will do more work with less energy spent than cold oxygen. Because the oxygen has to be heated up to work effectively before helping the other lock oxygen to be freed from their electro magnetic field bond that is holding them. Heat is our friend. It takes calories to make it. This is why recovery of heat that would normally be lost into the atmosphere is a good use of preheating the oxygen that needs to be heated hot to work anyways in the firetube. No extra wood or calories being spent to heat the wood and pyrolysis it.
There is plenty of oxygen. The hotter the gasifer unit the better until you have a melt down. The balancing act of gasification. I have seen my grate at 1730°f or 943.33 c° now that is hot. Getting close to meltdown.
Firetube metal mass and heat management in the firetube, drop box and off the IC engine exhaust system to heat the in coming air is saving wood in the hopper for going down the road.
Bob

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Okay Marcus let’s take my WK Gasifier with a 5.2 L engine, your WK Gasifier with a 350 cid , and now Wayne’s WK Gasifier with a 8.0 L engine. Put the same amount of wood in each one from the top of the fire tube. Light them up and drive them all the same way speed.
I would think the larger displacement engine would run out of wood first. Right.
Now the gasifers are not built All the same Wayne might be more efficient but he is carrying a lot more weight.
What trying to say here if you want to go further down the road drive slower, or with one hopper fill, just put a bigger hopper on to hold more wood. I am planning on extending my hopper to carry more wood so I can go longer distances with one hopper fill. And not have to hybrid to do it.
Bob

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Has anyone ever tried to calculate just how much extra drag a couple of extra feet of round hopper extending above the cab of a truck would cause and just how much that would effect anything? Seems like it would be almost negligible to me at typical highway speeds.

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Changing up the restriction, ran sweet on the way home and did not start raising vacuum, need to put more miles down but may have fixed the clogging issue. Looks like I may have needed more velocity to break down the chunks and keep the fines sucked through…maybe…not calling it confirmed untill I can go 1600 miles between cleanouts like when I first started driving the truck. For a new char bed I got better wood milage on the way home then the last few weeks. Also was able to pull it into heater mode for the first time ever. That was interesting, was doing 55mph on flat ground and suddenly lost power, looked up and rails were sitting over 700°f! Backed off and with a perfect vacuum of 2/1 it ran 500° under 50mph, 600° cruising 50-55. Might actually need smaller chunks now? Learning and burning!

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Interesting, I almost always get over 600f, and that’s after the cyclone.
What thermometer do you have and how does it sit, I see that it differs very much in how the thermometer is placed.

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I’m using a cheap bbq thermometer, Same one Wayne uses and it sits in the center post, about 4" below the pipe that brings in the hot gas from the heat ex/ drop box. I would have liked to place it IN the pipe right off the heat ex, but the tiny back window of the Toyota wouldn’t allow it and still be seen. This will get changed on my next build, I really like those prosport gauges Wayne is using. Then I can have all my instruments in the cab and easily seen day or night

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Ok, do you have the probe inside the tube, or is it on the outside of the tube?
Outside: https://rorfokus.se/produkt/termometer-anliggningstermometer-ror-0120-gr/

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It is inside the tube, a probe threaded in. I have never seen a gauge like that before? Pretty neat!

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Yes, but they do not work so well on the car, cooled by the air.
I have a bbq thermometer that is inside the tube, about 2 “, if I pull it out 1/2”, it shows a much lower temperature.
I bought a digital thermometer with the pointer inside the cab on the dashboard, it shows about 400f, when the bbq thermometer shows 600f, but the probe does not go more than a 3/4 "into the tube, on the digital one.

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Hey Marcus , Thanks much for the cleaning video .

I quit using pine wood and went to oak 2-3 years back and it seems I don’t need to clean out soot nearly as often as before . Also I haven’t had a motor burp or backfire that I can remember the last couple years on ether truck .

Keep in mind that soot water will really make the grass grow :grinning:

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Whenever I get a place of my own I’ll be saving that soot to try gardening with. And I’m definitely going to be on the look out for some hardwood!

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Great video Marcus on rail and condensation tank clean out. Some of the members put clean out bibs on the pipe trees to clean out the rails with out removing them.
I like to just loosen the back rail couplings remove the rails on the back and flush with a straight spray nozzle. But boy does all that soot comes shooting out. Lol.
How many miles was that between clean out of your rails?
Bob

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I cleaned out the bottom rails last week, but that was about 2000 miles on the uppers and front rails. Plenty of miles to get clogged up! I’ll have cleanouts ports on the next build, only because a few rails won’t be removable

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Always make them removable. I like my new design of not having any rail behind my back window or a center rail tree. I just added one more rail to each side. No welding up a center tree alot less work in building. Less expenses in rubber couplings. Less places to have a air leak.
My 3" header out of the drop box to the side rail trees never get clogged up with soot. Rails sloping downward to the back keeps the soot moving to the condensation tank for storage and easy quick clean out at the drain. Most of the time my rails stay warm up front and cool at the back unless it is a hot day. All made from 409 exhaust piping. This was the forth set. I rebuilt the trees that Chris S. Built but they did not last very long. I hope this set will last a long time.
Bob

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One rail on each side will be permanent, integral to the truck. With a access door built in for heavy cleanings. No way it can clog, but the option is there to easily clean it out. How many feet of rails do you have no bob and what size?

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For my rails because I already had them are fence post from Lowe’s when I finish them off I will use stainless steel exhaust piping 2" . I have four about 6’ long on both sides of the truck bed.
Bob

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