Nice, Ray! I think the puffer lid can’t hurt and the set up looks really good. Hope to see it fired up soon.
John
Hi Brent, One of the ideas behind the development of the Simple-Fire was to make gasification easy for people just getting their feet wet. A Wayne K or Rosafier is a great device, but it is beyond many people’s ability to construct. And then when it doesn’t work, frustration sets in and they give up. (Been there with the FEMA joke) Anyhow, I see the Simple-Fire as a stepping stone to more complex units, or even a stand alone unit. Its a BIG world and we will need different methods to meet the challanges in the future.
Lets keep learning!
Gary
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Alright, they slap you with a burn ban so you start building a gasifier. Good use of your time. Ray, I really like it. It is a nice “puffer lid” but my bet is it will never function as such. Charcoal just seems too well behaved to “puff” on you. .Doesn’t matter though, your set up will allow easy opening of the reactor to add more fuel and the Marie Brain will give you a little more charcoal reserve for a longer run time. Anxious to see what you hook it up to.
Gary
I don’t think a puffer lid is needed for charcoal, but I was not 100% sure when I started this. The Bain Marie is 4" in diameter, so I cut the hole for a tight fit. It was suggested that I buy a 4" pipe nipple and threaded cap, so I visited my local hardware stores, but they did not have any. I looked online, and with shipping, the two could cost 50 bucks! So, I went ahead and TIG welded the stainless pot into the steel propane tank using stainless rod. That rod flows like butter, and the weld looks good. I just hope something doesn’t crack later. I think I will try it out with an old Honda Generator, but the overall plan is to run a Honda 250cc twin cylinder engine (about 15 hp) that I bought as a wreck from a junk yard. (It has no front end.) I am in the process of building a utility sidecar that will hold the Simple-Fire, a Cyclone, and a Gilmore Filter, and a large car battery. Just need to graft a front end onto the engine…Martin Payne happens to have a frame with the engine removed, and it has the front end I need. I wanted a small hopper that I could pop open quickly, top off the charcoal, and close it back up. My grocery store run is 25 miles RT, on back roads which would provide a cooling down period while shopping. For the gasket, I have some sheet silicon that is 1/8" thick and very soft. Wife has suggested I buy a silicon cookie sheet from Amazon instead. The mating surfaces on the Bain Marie and the percolator coffee pot lid are very flat.
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It Works
This seemed so simple I had to try it. I did not hook up the exhaust to see how fast the gas temp went up. @ 12 minutes I think the temp was 170 the plastic water pipe started to melt so I shut it down. This was just a test to see it work. The plastic handle on the bucket and the plastic fitting in the filter started to melt so the temp rises fast without the exhaust help cool it down. Made a short video of my 6.5 HP generator running. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj8MaJeZsb4&feature=g-upl
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Wow, Richard, that is a nice looking unit. Glad you found it as easy to build and run as I did. How long did it take for you to put the unit together and get the engine running?
Since you did not circulate exhaust back into the oxidation zone, I’ll bet your nozzle took quite a beating. Did it melt down? Your generator was putting out more RPMs that my log splitter (so it sounded) so it would make sense the charcoal would not last as long in addition to the lack of exhaust to that would add more fuel. I have the same problem with the plastic handle melting. I’m not concerned about it though. As you probably have figured out, to get a longer run time, you will need a taller container, but…This is Great! Thank you for giving the Simple-Fire a try and sharing your results. This will show others how easy gasification can be and give them a chance to learn the basics. Keep up the good work!
Gary in PA
Gary-- I built the unit in about 3 to 4 hours with welding all the parts and putting it together, already had the parts. I only ran it a short time about 15 minutes but have not looked at the nozzle to see how it looks. I did take the lid off of the bucket after it cooled to see how much charcoal was used and it was only down about 2 inch. I made pine charcoal in a 30 gal drum in about 20 minutes or so burn time then had to wait for it to cool overnite before I could try your design. I should have made the charcoal first.
Richard, I don’t see how you get so much done because every time I see you (avatar) you are sitting in your recliner with the dog on your lap!
Don M
My air pump FINALLY arrived and with some extra time, I put together a 10 minute video. It shows the Simple-Fire mounted on my Gravely walk behind and the unit that runs it. This was done in one take, so don’t expect much from the filming. The camera is borrowed and not that great, but you should be able to pick up on what is happening. I am really pleased with the battery powered air pump!!! What a great way to start up this style of gasifier. A big THANK YOU to John Rubins who showed me this idea on his Simple-Fire video.
What should I Simple-Fire next??? This is getting tooo easy. Murphy is whispering in my ear “Something has to go wrong!”
Gary in PA
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Looks great Gary! I can’t wait to put mine together… Time is scarce these days but I will find some anyway.
Great video Gary! Are you sure your mother did not have a video of your birth? As they say “you were born in front of the camera”.
Don M
because of the simplicity of the design of these charcoal gasifiers, i was wondering about a larger version? its incredibly tempting to try a charcoal gasifier for another vehicle i have with a chevy 350, your design is basically an updraft, with a SS nozzle, and simple filter? air mixed with exhaust gas, that is so simple! haha what would you say? just as large a tank as possible? with 3/16 - 1/4 inch walls? and cooling rack added in?
Fall is in the air and time to make cider for the Historical society’s festival. For the last three years, we make up most of the cider before hand using more modern equipment. We save some apples to demonstrate and let the kids crank the old time grinder. I use a small hammer mill to mash the apples and it is run with a tire old Briggs & Stratton 8 HP. The exhaust fumes are pretty bad. SOOOoooo, I decided to run it this year on charcoal gas. As you can see in the pictures, it was a very simple set up to attach the 1"plastic T to the air inlet of the carburator. A threaded 3/16 rod which is threaded to a #10 X 32 held it in place. The exhaust return attachment to the muffler was even simpler. I cut a 1" pipe couple in half, and tack welded one of the pieces to the muffler, over some of the existing holes, but not all of them. Screwed in a 1" street L, a short 1" nipple and then screwed the other half of the coupler on it. This allows the 1 1/2" flexible steel pipe to fit snugly.
It took about one hour to adapt the engine to run on charcoal gas. It took about two gallons of charcoal to pulverize 20 bushels of apples. Using the air mattress inflator, it took about 70 seconds to get the engine running from a cold start. This is a hand pull engine with VERY low compression so I was pleased with how well it started and ran. Here are some pictures.
Gary in PA
Very nice, Gary; thanks for the way you make it so simple and with all the details. Now let’s see…hmmmm 2.5 weeks and that cider ought to have a nice “flavor” to it!..of course, it’s good right off the press, too. We used to do that, too…but with the hand crank only. Got LOTS of extra apples this year, sure wish I had a press and a mill.
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Hello, my names is Nick. I have been researching wood gas for a while, I am now ready to build your design. Couple of questions, is the canister or reactor filled 1/2 way with the charcoal or is there a fire tube or some sort of bowl that holds the charcaol. Is the exhaust gas recuirculation hose plumeb in at the air inlet. Also can I use wood chip type media in the filter? Thank for this EXCELENT design!
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Oops, ever opened your mouth with out thinking. I just watched the video, answered most of my questions.
Hi Nick, Yeah, it has happened a few times but what I get from you is my instructions were not clear. Yes, the reactor is filled to the top with charcoal and I need to make sure that point is made. Thanks for letting me know in a round about way. What are you planning to run with the charcoal gas? Be sure to let us know how it works out. Looks like I will be helping two of my friends with a Simple-Fire. The one wants to run a 2.5 KW generator and the other wants to run a 10HP engine on an oil pump jack.
Gary in PA
Hi Gary, Im planning on running a 4kw generator. The enigine is rated right around 14hp. I realy only need about 1.6KW out of the genset so we will see. As far as charcoal is concerend, have you ever used untreated 2x4 to make your charcoal?
Yes, I have used untreated construction lumber. 2 X 4s make great charcoal, even if they have nails in them. Once chared, the nails are easily removed with a magnet. Granted they are softwoods and do not have the density of hardwood, but they will work just fine in you Simple-Fire. Make sure they are chared, ground into pices 3/4" - 1/8" square and you are set.
GaryG: Have you tried to push the limits of the Simple-Fire to see just what could be fueled by it safely? It’d be nice to be able to say: “OK, I have an engine of X size, putting out Y HP, and being used for Z. That means I should be able to use the Simple-Fire at 85% capacity with a 75% duty cycle.”