Hi Doug, Don’t get too worried about the heat. Charcoal is an amazing insulator. You are correct on the filter issue. However, if you are using a 500 gallon drum of charcoal to run a 20 HP engine, there would be very little dust comming over into your filter. Reason is the large amount of charcoal your carbon monoxide will have to travel through to exit the gas generator shell. All that charcoal laying above the reduction zone will act as a filter. Therefore you could get away with a small filter on a large system.
Gary in PA
Thank you Gary for sharing your Simple-Fire design. It is simple for sure and works = first shot in the box. My lawn tractor started today after only three engine revolutions and only 2 minutes after light up.
Next week I will take it outside and do a walk around video including a light up.
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Are you going to put it on a trailer an tow it behind the Tracker to Argos? 
I got too much stuff to take this year so I think I will end up with a big trailer behind my truck for everything.
That looks great Don, sounds good too.
Sounds good. How about a little longer video with more detail of what/how you did it. TomC
that looks really good Don. I have a lawn tractor that needs to be gasified. …
Hi Arvid, Are you comming to Argos? I hope to have the components to make up a Simple-Fire unit and will need an engine to run.
Gary in PA
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Hey Gary, No I won’t be in Argos… it would be a bit of a drive for me and I’m not a fan of customes at the boarder… I’ll be there in spirit though.
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That video was a tease Don. Haha I will patiently await the walk around. Looks good so far.
Howdy Gary,
What kind of engine do yah need???
Jeff
Hi Jeff, The request of an engine is more to get some interest from those who are curious about the ease of charcoal gasification. You already get it and I’m sure your truck will be full. But if you have room, maybe some horizonal shaft engine??? What about a chainsaw?? (just kidding) I’m still thinking about what to bring to Argos. For sure I’ll bring my simple-fire with generator, some barrels for making charcoal, a charcoal processing unit, and a TLUD stove. After that, I’m not sure what else to bring.
Gary in PA
Hi Gary, maybe you could bring some examples of different nozzle types, and sizes. My truck is making all this bio-char/charcoal.so I need to learn some.
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IHC 450 Red Diamond, you would have to pick that one up.
258 AMC 6 inline, the junk yard said it was a good runner, extra block, crank and rebuilt head.
Cub Cadet ~ 7hp electric start Kohler. Ran good when I brought the tractor home last year. needs removed
Kohler Magnum 8, in a junk tractor I got this spring. engine turns over but that’s all I know. Looks to be an electric start. needs removed
Kohler pull start ~7hp runs good, cut some grass with it last two years. needs removed
Kohler 12hp, runs but might need carb or fuel pump work (as if yah need it. electric start.
Vertical BS electric start, no muffler runs
Jeff
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I am looking to build a larger simple fire for running a 5700 W generator (10 hp Yamaha engine). I have been reading over the forum and getting some supplies for a while. There is a wealth of information here!
I had a few questions:
1.) Would it be better to use galvanized fittings (tees, couplings, etc.) or black iron? They are very close to the same price in my area, and thought the galvanized might hold up better with rust, but didn’t know if the coating would affect the engine somehow.
2.) I am trying to make a larger reactor so I don’t have to reload the charcoal as often. I have seen Troy’s openfire with a large propane tank, and then wondered if a 55 gallon drum would also work as a larger reactor? Can anyone see any other issues besides a longer start-up time and the inconvenience of working with a larger barrel?
Tim
Hi Tim, A 55 gallon drum will give you a long run time. Just make sure your lid is air tight. It will take longer to start up because ALL the atmospheric air must be replaced by carbon monoxide. If it can flare, then it will run your engine. Galvanized or black iron? Just use black iron, There is some welding and you will end up burning the zinc off anyway. One draw back to a larger container is the fact that you will have to empty it some time to clean out the ash. A 55 gallon drum is not that heavy but you will have to tip it over gently to prevent making the opening egg shaped. One of the nice things about this style gasifier is you can make the parts and put them on different size containers. Go with a propane tank, go with a 55 gallon drum, If it doesn’t suit you, unbolt the compontents and put them on something different.
A word of warning, your generator will put out 5700W when the engine runs on gasoline. If running on straight charcoal gas, you will be able to only get 3000 to 3700W. Carbon monoxide doesn’t have the BANG that gasoline does.
Gary in PA
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For a producer that can not be cleaned out from the bottom it might be possible to use a good suction fan and a cheap cyclone filter, sold to aid shop VAC’s, to remove the charcoal and ash.
Just a hair brained thought,
Jeff
I just found the chart I was looking for that talks about nozzle size and its relation to velocity and gas quality.
It appears that large nozzle sizes work well at high velocities up to a point and small nozzles make good gas sooner at start up and lower velocities.Maybe we need 2 or 3 nozzles opening successively as engine speed increases?
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Thanks for the reply and info. I have a pretty decent lid with a foam type gasket, and plan to use a number of springs going down the sides as on a few of your simple-fire barrels. Do you usually weld on the spring bases or bolt through the side of the barrel?
Also, for the air intake/nozzle pipe (as seen in post #71), do you weld on the curved metal piece to the barrel or bolt it through and use silicone sealant? I am assuming the bolts and sealant would be easier. Also, I am assuming you weld the curved piece to the 1 inch coupling.
Hi Tim, I bolt on as many components as possible. This makes it easy to remove them when the drum rusts out and put them on a new drum. So the spring hold downs are bolted on. I like using a 3/16" bit and 10X32 screws. Place the nut on the outside of the drum where i will not rust. I’d recommend welding the air intake to a plate that is in turn bolted to the drum. Use the silicone sealant to keep the connection air tight.
Gary in PA