Škoda pickup on wood

Hi Krstijan, I think your problem is air leaks - maybe in the filter housing, maybe in the radiator, and that most likely there is a leak in the pump itself, which draws gas. Burning beautiful color.:+1:

5 Likes

Kristijan do you think it might not be cooled down enough?

1 Like

I’m trying to understand the flame colors. I think the white is hydrogen or at least that’s what is indicated in the off-grid pro videos after they introduce steam. I would have thought the orange was the burning off of impurities in the fuel. The flares on my simple fires are invisible in the daylight. Just know it’s burning by the heat waves. So the white and orange in your video are ideal colors? I would have thought blue.

3 Likes

Joni, the sistem ran on the fan pushing air in the gasifier when l made the video. So positive pressure.

Cody, yes the cooling is on the small side here but the gas still exites just a bit warm out of the sistem.

Tom, flame colours are a can of worms. Pure carbon monoxide (as is with your simple fire) burns transparrently blue as you say. Hydrogen pure hydrogen burns transparrently orange, but when the two mix something happens that make the flame colour occur more orange. There is also probably some methane present since its formed from CO and H2 reacting together. Again a different colour. Then there is the purple red colour, wich is the resault of trace amounts of calcium and potasium present in the gas from ash. Mr Gilmore says his gas is specialy red if he throws a possum in the gasifier :joy: But in short, the colour of the flame and most importantly the speed of the flame from the second video is what l shoot for. This video is from a different gasifier btw.

10 Likes

…and filtered vs unfiltered gas…soot adds to yellow/orange as well, doesn’t it?

9 Likes

Exactly! And since there is no actual soot in a charcoal gasifier (charcoal dust isnt the same thing!) its different yet again. A true can of worms :smile:

10 Likes

Hmm this got me thinking… There is occasionaly talk about analising gas composition at home without the need to sell a kidney first to buy a gas analiser. We might be able to use flame spectroscopy here… Those are cheap. It wuld only require a tiny flame of gas to show exactly whats burning… Just thinking, if anyone needs this

9 Likes

Something like this?

1 Like

No, search for flame spectrometre

1 Like

https://images.app.goo.gl/3ogNyYxGWiNWVT9H6

Since our sample is a gas and burns by its self, the settup shuld be wery simple

2 Likes

Exactly. Woodgas flares are a can of worms.

I’ve learned (from MaxG) to test for IGNITABILITY. Using a flint or piezo sparker. Not a flame.
Then I’ve learned from Joni to listen to the sound of the open-air ignition propagation across the out-gas flow. It’s speed.

And as some of you are discussing now since fueling IC engines is the priority . . . the loaded engines sounds.

These are all more practical applied for useable engine grade gas qualification.
S.U.

8 Likes

Exactly Steve.

May seems funny, but even the smell of unburnt gas can tell whats going on. Not that l wuld recomend sniffing much of it :grin:

9 Likes

Hi Kristijan,
this flare is with your flute nozzles, right? Have you checked the flare with your WK-style hearth zone for comparison?
Two possible reasons came to my mind.

  1. You have a kind of double mantel Imbert style. Is it possible, that your fuel is heated by the mantel, so that it drives the water of and force it through the hearth zone? Like an Imbert with too moist wood.
    This could happen with both hearths (pipe nozzle and WK-style)
  2. Only for pipe nozzle: You don’t have a confined hearth in the strictest sense and rely on ash to seal the room behind the pipes. This ash could get wet in the shutdown, and after lighting the heat drives the water off without full reduction. Or steam/water from the fuel above could sneak behind the nozzles without being fully reduced. Could be different if you use dry charcoal and introduce steam via the nozzles, as it is then introduced in the hottest zone directly and has no chance to “escape”.

So if number 2 is the reason, maybe a rigid box container around your hearth zone might help to seal the “escape path” of steam.

Hope my thoughts make sense to you.

5 Likes

Good to hear from you Til!

The double flutes worked reasonably good, required fine tuneing but nothing major. The thing is, l need the car. I need a prooven design ASAP, experimentation can wait. So, l threw in my WK hearth from the Mercedes that l know is working good. The flare on the first video was made with a WK hearth.

What you describe is exactly what seemed to happen with the flutes, steam escapeing behind. I solved the problem with forming the cone begind the flutes in a paste made of ash and waterglass.

You are probably right on the first paragraph too. But this one is actualy desireable. I want no steam when the sistem is starting up cold, to boost the temp fast. Then, when the sistem is at operating temp, l want this steam! Now this is just a matter of some fine adjustment in char moistilure, hopper arrangement… Nothing radical.

9 Likes

Til, lm real glad you brought this topic out. I was thinking just yesterday, which sistem wuld serve my needs better. The flutes are fast to get going but the hevy WK is what makes this sistem run just like on petrol, just with less power. For the first time ever l do not need to worry if l will have good gas taking off from a red light. The flywheel effect takes care of it. But it requires a lot of miles to get to that point. Compared to literaly seconds with the flutes…

Future will bring a lot of experimentation for sure!

11 Likes

It takes about 3-5 minutes for my gas temperature at the center post to hit 200*f and run the motor, judging by exhaust note about a mile after wood power starts do I come to good power and maybe 3 miles to full power. Less with bobs rocket fuel mix and seemed about the same on Mike’s chunk wood as bobs rocket mix. But as you noted, a lot of thermal mass in my fire tube so takes some time to get all that material heated up. Do you plan to scavenge exhaust heat for the Skoda when you run wood?

2 Likes

Your figures apply to myde preety much spot on. But the thing is l only have 13 miles to work…

Exhaust, no… Not much to harvest from this tiny 1.3l engine. For the sake of simplicity l dont even have a heat exhanger.

5 Likes

I would love to have a short commute like that again haha, way less wood production! But the chunker is coming along pretty quick. So with the changing weather has your batch times for charcoal changed? Still have plenty of motor fuel after sales?

4 Likes

Hi Kristijan,
well, in your situation, I would go for the proven gasifier. Experiments are good, if you don’t need to rely on them.
So despite to WK-style heart zone, you have problems with steamy gas. And because of the big mass you need about half of your commute way to come to good temperatures.
For the temperature, maybe a thin layer of ceramic insulation might help? There is not only ceramic wool, but also a kind of ceramic plates or felt which are not as thick as wool. You may just need to slow the heat transfer down, not to stop it. So the big mass is not a strong heat sink during the first miles.
Here are different kinds of ceramic shown:
https://thermo-fb.com/ceramic-fibre?noredirect=en_US

The problem with the steamy gas. Joni suggested an air leak, and I remember that you stated your air mantle for the nozzles is your most ugly metal job. Is a leak possible here?
Second possibility: You mentioned your problems when you first lit up this gasifier after the changing to WK-style. Wet, unburnable gas. Problem was too much slipped char. Maybe you still slip more char than necessary?

Well to me, insulating a WK defeats the purpose of it. Plus, l then run out of space in this tiny 7" WK.

I do have heat shealds on the inside, 6mm stainless plates with a gap behind so the heat doesent need to heat the whole thing first. Or shuld l say, steal too much heat. But it takes a long time for the true shine of the WK to show, and insulating it only makes things worse…

Ha, lm glad you remembered :smile:

Well, the mantel is ugly yes but lm preety sure the wealds are tight. I was reffering to the mantel l hammered together out of old sheet steel being ugly. Plus its all burryed in ash.
Either way, generaly leaks on the upper part dont matter much. Leaky hopoers still make good gas, its the hopper puffs that usualy tell when something is wrong on the up part :wink:

After the restriction, there is only one place where there can be an air leak and that is the barrel lid. But gas is preety cold when it comes to there. I did test for leaks but you never know.

The grate actualy slips almost too litle now. Needs a occasional poke every few hoppers to pass any “kidney stones”.

I do think all thats neaded is tuneing the fuel a bit. I must try and run some wood in with the char. But the thing is l dont have a fancy chunker to brag with as do some of our members here lately :wink:

10 Likes