I think the main tool is the one that sits in the thinking chair.
I promised this experiment to @Giorgio, I welded at an interphase voltage of 380V, that means 2/3 of the power of the generator, the electrode is 3.25 mm thick. I also tried one phase 220V, but it doesn’t have enough power for that. The generator is the familiar 5.5 kW asynchronous motor with a capacitor.
I will also list some features about the wood gas engine:
- first I used a diesel engine, which operated hybridly on wood gas, so that a small amount of diesel fuel (approx. 10%) ignited the wood gas, I must say here that one should not exaggerate the wood gas-air mixture, because otherwise it comes until the detonations (CR was approx. 1:16), then I reduced the CR to approx. 1:13.5, which is the lower limit for operation on diesel fuel, but when I now want to drive a hybrid, it does not work well, because in this mode, there is low pressure in the intake manifold and slightly moist gas, which further reduces the CR of the engine and diesel fuel does not ignite, except under heavy load
- when operating on 100% wood gas, the CR should not exceed 1:13, as detonations will occur under heavy load, and igniting the mixture under very high pressure with a spark plug is quite difficult, this requires a very strong spark and very good spark plugs. probably the optimal CR of the engine is somewhere around 1:12. When you have a high engine CR, you can afford more resistance on the intake manifold, but the engine will still develop good power and efficiency.
Thats correct. On my BCS cuting decent size grass the throtle was preety much 100% open before but when the head was shaved down, throtle rarely opens more thain 50%. Fuel efficiancy has increased drasticly.
I visited a friend to prepare the nozzle on the welding machine for welding between the heat exchanger pipes, here is some progress,… the restriction pipe will be 10.5" in diameter, the hot pipe 14", …
Tone, how on earth are you going to be able to weld all those square tubing air tight with so little room in between them?
He has a special homemade contact tip for his MIG welder I think.
JO , that’s why it is necessary to rework the CO2 nozzle, so that the outer diameter is 12mm, and the inside is a long nozzle through which the wire runs, unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it, but I will next time.
This vertical grate or heat exchanger has a really large surface area, here the air should be well preheated, and the hot wood gas should be cooled considerably, inside these pipes there is a turbulent flow of air due to the small inlet openings, and outside the hot gas also swirls between and around these rectangular pipes.
The limiting pipe will be removed from the ground by 30 mm, in between there will be a rotating disk for removing clinker, so the clear dimension will be 25 mm (1"), so a 1" thick layer of ash and fine coal can accumulate below, which is removed sideways by fast and hot gases through the grate. If you think about it, you can realize that in this way the size of the “restriction opening” is automatically created, which is formed by the layer of ash and the lower edge of the restriction pipe. If I calculate the area over which the gas exits, it is the same as a restriction plate with a diameter of approx. 6 ".
Geniuses! I enjoyed this thread so much. Thanks for walking us through your build and thought process. I am 28, love the idea of building things for the fun of it, but I am not that smart lol. How can I learn things like this? Where should I start? Are there little things I can build and then go up from there?
Thank you.
Hi Samson, welcome to forum
I would say curiousity takes you long way, reading, forums, youtube.
Look up one of all “simple-fire” builds here, that is a simple, good start.
Nothing beats the feeling first time you run an engine on your own fuel
Thanks for your response. Will do just that.
Welcome Samson, this is a very friendly forum with broad interests and we want you to succeed.
If you start your build and are willing to share errors and successes then start your own buildthread, we all like pictures and movies
samson, welcome in the forum…i began 2020 with charcoal gasifiers…look at my topics (“transmission belt from tires…” and the topic of the “red bear mower” there i have a lot of fotos …
ciao giorgio
Welcome Samson.
Many of us started out using a Gary Gilmore simple fire gasfier. I still use one of mine for running small engines because it is kind of fool proof.
I didn’t realize this was in Tone’s thread. Maybe it can be moved somewhere more suitable.
Mr. Tom, how do I look at what’s mine and what’s yours? I also “came” to this forum a few years ago and learned from all of you and I am still learning, so all the knowledge available here is the fruit of joint work, if I have contributed something to the development of gasifiers, I am very happy . I can say that your encouraging words have a significant impact on development
I’ll just say, your fabrication skills are so superior to mine that I will never reach your skill level.
You may have learn from others here but you are the professor now, Tone There is so much information and innovation in this threat that it shouldn’t be diluted with off topics. The fault is mine and not Samson’s for commenting about how much he liked the thread.
Tom,
I think those videos above are of Gary’s less simple predecessor to the Simple Fire.
Today is the holiday “All Saints” and we remember our dear ones who live with God.
When I think about my loved ones like this, about the life we spent together, about the work we did together, I can say that the best time together is the time we spent working.
Well, we also do something together, namely we build gasifiers. Our Swedish friends are currently working on the renovation and design of new gasifiers, and I have also been preparing for the construction of a new gasifier for some time,…
Here I am attaching a sketch of the gasifier and I will give some details:
- above is a water-cooled condensation zone
- fresh air enters the air duct, which is also a barrier to prevent the hot gas from heating the condensate chute, the air then descends in the double outer jacket and creates a layer of insulation, thus warming up a bit and preventing the loss of heat from the hot gases that heat the storage tank with wood.
- the air then travels through many short pipes into the hollow mantle of the hot zone, these pipes act as a heat transfer
-below is the well-known hanging grid - the hot zone is made with a double level of air nozzles
- the lower part of the gasifier is fixed with screws, as well as the upper part, so “servicing” will be very easy
- there is an option to upgrade the lower nozzle to the hanging grid and connect it with a flexible stainless steel pipe
-I also assume a water cooled wood gas cooler