Hi Johan,
Thanks for the welcome!
My experience with wood gas is about three weeks of reading. Yes, I’m a novice. But not so novice after all, because I found you 
Just so you know, without wanting to brag, I learn very quickly when I’m motivated.
I’m sure that with your help, in a few months, I’ll know which gasifier to choose.
And in a few years (I promised my girlfriend I wouldn’t abandon the rest of the project), I’ll have built a gasifier to produce electricity and heat my house.
David
Hello Steve,
Thank you for this excellent introduction.
I completely understand your point of view regarding the woodpile. I’ve always heated with wood. I’m 34 years old and I took over the family home.
At first, it was just a small supplement, but for over 15 years now, it’s been a wood-fired boiler with a 2000-liter buffer tank (the water then circulates through the radiators).
This boiler is a modern one; it burns the gases and coal completely, leaving only a little ash.
One fire a day is enough to heat the house (about ten logs) at -10°C for example (I’ve already insulated a good part of the house).
Speaking of insulation, my studies and experience could help you if you’d like.
I’d be happy to show you my woodpile and the equipment I have if you’re interested.
I also have a small wooded area next to the house (deciduous trees) and 2 hectares in the village, a 15-minute drive away by tractor (deciduous and some coniferous trees).
If I’m careful, it’s an inexhaustible source of wood for my needs.
Regarding the referral, I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness or your money; it’s just that I don’t know how to make the payment directly.
However, I do want to earn your trust because, from what I’ve read, you all seem like wonderful and caring people.
I hope I can help you in return.
David
For building the gasifier, I currently have my ten fingers, which I hope will be up to the task.
For welding, I bought a MIG welder from a friend, and I already had an arc welder. I’m not an expert welder, but my friend is willing to teach me and participate in the project.
I also have all the small hand and power tools a good handyman would need.
For the construction, I was thinking of making an efficient and easy-to-maintain gasifier. I haven’t decided yet whether to use recycled containers or have the parts laser-cut (we have everything we need close at hand).
However, for the engine, I’d like to salvage the gasoline engine from my partner’s old car, a 2003 Opel Corsa C. For power generation, the batteries will store the electricity. Approximately 10 kWh would be sufficient for 3 hours.
Hello Jan-Ola, thank you so much for your welcome.
I hope you understand, as I’m using a translator. I have a basic understanding of English, but it’s not enough.
I’ve already read a few threads, but I must admit it’s a lot of information to take in all at once.
What surprises me most is your kindness and resourcefulness.
So, as I mentioned in my previous message, I’d like to produce electricity using wood to meet the 1000 kWh shortfall I have over the year (during the winters).
I currently have 30 410 kWp solar panels, a 12 kW hybrid inverter with backup power, 40 kW of lithium batteries, two small 350 W turbines, and a 14 kVA diesel generator.
I also have a wood-fired boiler and a 2000 L buffer tank.
The goal is to produce electricity with wood and use the heat from the cooling system to heat the water in my 2000l tank.
hello david, welcome in the forum…woodgas is high school in gasifying…i am only a charcoal gas maker, but it works great for me…when you look at my topics you can see a lot of stuff shown in pictures and explained…charcoal is more for beginners because of its more or less simplicity…when you get bored from dirty black hands, than woodgas is the right step…
ciao giorgio
Electricity generator on chargas - Projects - Drive On Wood!
here a example where tone from slovenia me helped a lot with the electric part of the project…
David, I’m wondering why you think you need a premium subscription to enjoy this site. The level of access already offered to all subscribers with a basic subscription seems perfectly adequate to me. I’m a retired research and development technician specializing in CAD design and toolmaking, a field I don’t boast about because I prefer to avoid being bombarded with questions about manufacturing. However, given the urgency of an impending oil crisis, I’ve decided to freely share my knowledge with other like-minded individuals, fellow “preppers.” Being of Belgian descent myself (my great-grandfather was an immigrant who helped create jobs in the New England wool industry in the early 20th century), I encourage you to use the convenient translation tools and familiarize yourself with gasification technologies at your own pace, without feeling overwhelmed. I offer you this unique translation as a welcome to the forum, and I hope to participate more, even as I continue to manage my farming tasks in western Massachusetts, on a nine-acre farm, using tractors and generators from before 1970. I’m working on converting them to dual-fuel engines, and then fully gasified engines, prioritizing low-compression engines, particularly side-valve engines, to simplify the process and ensure the project’s success.
(Original text)
David, je me demande pourquoi vous pensez avoir besoin d’un abonnement premium pour profiter de ce site. Le niveau d’accès déjà offert à tous les abonnés avec un abonnement de base me semble tout à fait suffisant. Je suis un technicien en recherche et développement à la retraite, spécialisé en conception CAO et en fabrication d’outils, un domaine dont je ne me vante pas car je préfère éviter d’être assailli de questions sur la fabrication. Cependant, face à l’urgence d’une crise pétrolière imminente, j’ai décidé de partager librement mes connaissances avec d’autres personnes partageant les mêmes idées, des « survivalistes ». Étant moi-même d’origine belge (mon arrière-grand-père était un immigrant qui a contribué à la création d’emplois dans l’industrie lainière de la Nouvelle-Angleterre au début du XXe siècle), je vous encourage à utiliser les outils de traduction pratiques et à vous familiariser avec les technologies de gazéification à votre rythme, sans vous laisser submerger. Je vous offre cette traduction unique en guise de bienvenue sur le forum et j’espère y participer davantage, même si je continue à gérer mes tâches agricoles dans l’ouest du Massachusetts, sur une ferme de neuf acres, avec des tracteurs et des générateurs d’avant 1970. Je travaille à les convertir en moteurs bicarburant, puis entièrement gazéifiés, en privilégiant des moteurs à faible compression, notamment des moteurs à soupapes latérales, afin de simplifier le processus et d’assurer la réussite du projet.
Just a reminder to all, please make your posts in English. We respect all languages, but we need a common readable language for all to use on this site. Google translate does a remarkable job. Some are using automatic translation from English to their chosen language already, so a consistent input language (English) is beneficial.
I translated the previous post, but left the original as well out of respect for the poster.
A question, should I try to translate the text in pages like this that I linked to?
I think my English is too bad for this, maybe it’s better not to post such information?
For pages you link to, I would leave that up to the individual to translate. I’m just trying to keep the language on dow consistent so that it can easily be translated.
Thank you very much for the response DavidP.
You build confidence in your ability to do the “grunt” work using bulky low density wood for any source of power.
Your whole home wood fired hydronic system . . . . Yes. Please do show this. Ha! Ha! Wood piles and wood prepping equipments too.
Others such as J.O., TomH. and I believe Tone have made these up too for whole home heating.
Woodgas “cooling” heating of your home heating water??? Not enough or high enough quality/quantity of heat energy to not just cool down your water.
Engine exhaust could.
Stationary your very best benefit would be using the woodgas cooling heat; the engine cooling heat; the engine exhaust cooling heats to be able to in-Fall/Winter/early Spring be able to forced air dry down as-harvested wood to an Ideal 10% moisture content. Something the vehicle guys can only partially effective do.
Woodstove; wood furnace; wood gasifier when fed true 10% moisture fuelwood stock then the systems can be made up very simple. Give the best efficiency results. Requiring the least use maintenances.
Everybody always runs short of the perfect summer solar dried down wood fuels. Once you start woodgasifing you will be competing with your self for this seasonal dried wood. Home heating and domestic hot water must take priority.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Hello Georgio,
Thank you for the advice.
I would like to create a single device if possible, and perhaps modify it slightly. That’s why I’d like to get as close as possible to my goal with a device that runs on wood.
I assume that if it works with wood, it will also work, and even more easily, with charcoal.
David
Hello Pierre,
Thank you for the translation and the warm welcome.
I’d like to get a fairly quick result so I can disconnect from the grid and be completely self-sufficient.
I already have several projects underway with my 3D printer, home automation, and various other projects in and around the house.
I think that by becoming a premium member I’ll get maximum support because, with all your combined expertise, I’m sure it’s possible to create a fantastic gasifier. And it will also allow me to support your community.
David
Hi Steve,
I see you’re very enthusiastic about my wood and machinery. I’ll try to take some photos tomorrow, in the snow, as we had 30cm of it over the weekend. The gasifier is necessary for electricity production; I only want to recover the heat because I don’t like waste, and I gathered from reading some of your posts that you feel the same way.
The domestic hot water is heated with a thermodynamic water heater (consuming 3kW per day). The heating house system uses a boiler with excellent efficiency, thanks to the 2000L buffer tank, so adapting the gasifier shouldn’t require any major modifications.
I have some wood for drying, but I was thinking of drying any wood chips with the electricity produced in the summer, as I have more than I know what to do with from the solar panels.
David
Hi David,
I’m not Steve, but I can tell you he’s not allone. You see, that’s how it works here - you share your accomplishments and in return you get comments and advice to help you out. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Just a few thoughts to start with.
I noticed you mentioned chips. Very few of us have experienced gasifying chips. First of all they are a pita to dry. Also, they don’t flow very well in a gasifier. If you’re very clever you may be able to add a bunch of automation to force them through the gasifier, but in the end you risk making tary gas that will harm your engine. That’s why the majority of us run chunks - so much easier. Charcoal is another option, but it adds another dimention making fuel.
Replacing, as you say, 1000 kWh per year with wood seems doable though. Especially since you already have the infrastructure with batteries and stuff. I’m not sure you will save any money once you’re disconnected from the grid, and certainly not if you factor in your time and effort maintaining the equipment. But the knowlidge that comes with the experience is worth something too. So is all the fun.
While reading up on all the available information you can always start collecting stuff. Tanks, tubing and plumbing for condensation collection, heat exchangers, gas cooler and filters all require material. Not to mention the gasifier itself. It’s always nice to have a lot to choose from once you start building.
Hello,
Okay, I understand. I don’t mind sharing my knowledge and progress at all, quite the opposite 
From what I understood, the smaller the pieces of wood, the easier they fall into the hopper (but sawdust is too small and clogs). So I thought wood chips would be more practical for future automation. But it seems more complex than that, so it needs testing, but producing either type isn’t too much of a problem.
The goal of the system isn’t necessarily to make money compared to diesel, for example, but to have an alternative that makes me independent and uses a short supply chain. As Matt mentioned in his project, if it’s about making money, by the time I’m processing the wood, I’ll be working, and that earns me more.
Regarding the equipment, I already ordered some when I installed my turbines, and the delivery time is quite short, so I’m not worried, but it’s good to think about it, thank you.
David
I appreciate the courteous nature by which you expressed that translation request. I must say that with my history of having had a close relationship with DOD government programs and the evolving litigious machination’s of EPA and OSHSA I’m concerned about looming government restrictions on anyone to “drive on wood” on public ways. I’d suggest even changing the verbiage to give the impression of a group interested in shared designs for biomass utilization so as not to attract the ire of ill informed global climate crisis elites.
Hi,
Here’s the moment some of you have been waiting for. I’ll start by showing you the equipment in the cellar. I took the photos this morning, so please excuse the mess.
Here’s my open wood-fired boiler.
Here is my 14kVA (11kW) diesel generator. It’s not yet in its final location; I plan to install it in my neighboring building this spring because I prefer not to take any risks with CO2 emissions.
Impressive your ongoing commitment to become energy self-sufficient DavidP.
On the wood-to-liquid house heater I see yours uses split lengths of bulk wood.
Same-same as all US/Canadian (and most EU) high efficiency bulk fed wood heating stoves.
The fed wood lengths then gravity settle needing no automation. Automation mechanics down in the combustion and reduction HOT zones are failure points and require a lot of in-use replacements of heat eroded, and heat warped parts.
Now to next steps convert your existing wood splits to gasifier chunks only requires some fine splitting; then sawing or shearing chunking up of the splits.
The allure of seeming easy just higher power requiring whole log and limbs chip it all up for then later “easy” auger-in feeding is a road to Huge amounts of then needed mechanical automations.
Many of us here with decades professional experiences with automations to earn livings, now strive hard for simpler, See-Do systems. And when it inevitably does Not-Do: then easy to repair systems in our personal lives now.
Your thermodynamic hot water heater would be called here more commonly; a heat-pump system. Located in the space with lot of heat generating electronics, a good way to actually utilize those heats.
Yes wise to relocate an engine driven electrical generator outside of the actually lived in dwelling building. Noise and fuel oil smells. She who must be obeyed, will rightfully complain.
If you want to next step automate I’d suggest a fire detection and halon gas fire suppression system with all of these in-failure heat sources. I collect up old set aside halon hand extinguishers. As a former modern auto technician they have saved me a few times from ignited gasoline fuel fires. Gasoline in the summer and around hot engines is evil wicked.
Propane (LPG) and diesel are much, much safer.
Regards
Steve Unruh
