It came factory with that iron pipe there? It’s almost like they designed it to be easily converted to chargas!
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Ready for testing… Used the “old” design for filtering, not had time to “modify” the stainless yet.
Testing starts in “hybrid- dual fuel mode” with an "auto-ignitor for the gasifier startup ( have CNG on board, so it only did take a valve and ignitor , seen at the right hand side of the gasifier. )
Nozzle is same as older model, depending the outcomes from the tests, i will do the modifications…
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You better switch too wood gasifier, that truck wood work well with reg wood gasifier. Or does bamboo work out better as char for motor grade fuel.? Just messing with you,caint wait too see the power gain with char and 12 too one compreasion with that motor.
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That truck looks like a dream come true. I love the flat bed with removable or drop down sides on trucks in asia. I spent about a year and a half in tiawan and couldn’t believe how much they could do with those little mini trucks like your first one but to be honest I would rather have the motor out in front just feels safer to me. Great truck and like others have said I can’t wait to see how the 12 to 1 compression works out. I keep wondering if building a motor with higher compression would pay off. Mostly thinking about that because I have an old farmall H that needs a complete overhaul and the motor is junk so I could do anything I wanted to it. I was planning on a diesel before I started reading about wood gas. My big issue with it is how much fuel the old gas motors burn.
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The first 1000 miles on mixed fuel have been passed well…
Strange observation: On 100% charcoal, the engine performs better in the rpm range i am used to drive… ( 1800 to 3000 rpm)
Still having a fun time messing around with the ecu, it seems the engine has only basic knowledge 
where i was expecting more sophisticated.
There appears not to be a “knock sensor” , what makes it a bit more difficult to play around. ( maps to be modified to fit the fuel)
Playing around with an thermostate bypass to be able to run on different temperatures does a nice trick on spoofing the ECU to change the ignition timing for a few degree’s ( but i would like to be able to do more ) the outcome was remarkable: from average 10,3 Kg CNG / 100 Km, it sank to 7,6 Kg CNG average… ( running on 77 vs 94 degrees Celcius…)
Also Throttle position influences the timing for about 5 degree’s, MAP and engine temperature also changes timing.
Overall: wow it ran/runs great…
Consuming between 12 and 16 Kg charcoal per 100 Km / running on pure charcoal. ( hopper to refill every 50-80 Km)
The automatic startup / switch over is not perfect/flawless yet, but will be soon
Recommendation to who’s running with OBD: get an analyser with live data review… so much to see and learn…
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Hi Koen
The hydrogen enrichment of the synthesis gas is not sufficient to produce a fuel similar to methane ? (from the point of view of the speed of the flame front)
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Hi Thierry,
Still a bit difficult to observe the difference without full scale lab / testing facility…
This picture from some research documentation.
the engine has higher compression, so without knocksensor i will stay on the safe side…
i used no extra water drip, to stay on the safe side… air humidity was the only source …
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What is in “coal gas”?! How is it a such a different product to “producer gas”? How could it have such a narrow stoichiometric ratio range compared to CO or Producer Gas?
Is it tarry gas, as opposed to cleaner “Producer Gas”?
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Wikipedia is our friend
Reading the whole article gives a helpfull insight in the different ways we make our charcoal gas or woodgas as well.
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a good search phrase to find info about the flamespeed/burning velocity in the engine:
“Stages of combustion in SI engine”
quite a lot of pictures / graphs to find on google
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2 more interesting articles, when you decide to modify things:
and for the die hards: about the squish action from your pistons
Koen
That is a very interesting writeup on coal gas. I find the blue gas process they discribed most interesting. Here is the water gas entry.
The thing I wounder about after reading this is getting a bottle of oxygen and use that as the air supply for the gasificer? It looks to me in the coal gas write up this would result in a much more power dense fuel and maybe get some of the lost power back when running wood gas. Seems like it would be relatively easy to test. The setup would be a little tricky because you wouldn’t want the oxygen to leak onto anything that might burn. That would be way more excitement then any of us would want.
Just something to think about. It is really way over my head but I found it interesting.
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Hi Dan,
use a oxygen separator would help a lot to produce “better” gas but still, the gain is not as big as if you would increase the intake efficiency from your engine ( Valve timing, valve lift, larger intake , the works ) and increasing the CR from your set.
The bottle of oxygen does however give fun moments in experimenting… Allows to induce more exhaust gasses or waterdrip…
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Now, this guy’s are going to receive some product orders from me if i can…
Nice article and nice products on their website…
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That is a well written and very clear explanation of the spark ignited combustion process
Thank you for posting it
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Been on the road for about 3000 miles now…
Its a beast, not a pussy…
driving on pure charcoal gas:
Doing some long hills climbing (8%) average 12,6 Kg Charcoal per 100 Km, with the flats ofcourse…
The engines bites itself @ 3000 RPM and the gearing is superb in the range 2500 to 3500
Revving up to 3300 without hesitation Torquing from 2300 do able
The steeper the hill, the wiser to choose the correct gear, but still … thinking and feeling more power from Charcoal gas then from CNG
Its all about the correct fuel trim i guess
The car loves long stretches on charcoal, no need for hybrid driving.
Short start stops, more consumption average from CNG, it looks that the engine is build for long steady instead of city traffic.
Everybody happy… the beast not tamed yet…
Oh yeah, guess what… the wife found the “knock sensor”
my old eyes i guess…
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New stickers and big smiles…
No need for fossil fuel at the gasstation, only drinks and restroom…
SWEM
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Hi Koen, can you post a driving video? I think several folks would like to see this truck in action.
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Uploading some clips now, here is two… coming more but taking ages… don’t mind the timestamp, i forgot to adjust before making the clips…
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