wayne stated that he used water mist, and i think he said it dident help much at all or lost power, or only in a extreemly dry climate would it be usefull, most all of our wood has more than enough moisture in it, or why would we be needing a gutter system.
to KOEN once you add more water you need more char and then more char, whitch was burned in the first place.
That sure is true for a wood gasifier, to balance more difficult…
As far as my knowledge for the water content of wood gas:
1: un-decomposed steam ( not entirely cracked )
2: burned CH4 at exiting the charcoal bed ( also increase Co2 level in the gas )
3: burned H2 at exiting the charcoal bed ( burning the H2 gives 9 times its weight in water )
These 3 seem to be the main reason for water in gas system after the gasifier.
As each of the processes are much more difficult to control and simultanious the reduction from volatiles, steam and Co2 is far more difficult, i wait untill i fully understand the way the charcoal is capable to convert at its limits, before i start with experimenting with raw wood.
Did I here my name ?
Several years back I was running a very primitive gasifier ( kinda charcoal hybrid gasifier). As long as there was just a little wood that hadn’t turned to pure char I wouldn’t need to add any water. If the gasifier got out of balance and too dry, usually toward the end of the fueling cycle I could add a little hydrogen boost by adding a little water.
( inlet can be seen in the first picture in the side of the fuel hopper )
I kept a 5 gallon container of water in the truck bed with a car windshield washer pump to do the spraying when needed .
When I went to the all wood gasifier I experimented with steam injection through the nozzles but couldn’t tell any increase in performance.
If the wood gasifier is run down near the nozzles leaving only the char bed there will be a loss of power . At this point steam can be added, power will increase but the char bed can be completely consumed while producing good gas . . .
In short if you got wood you have the water .
Good pictures Wayne … All of mine are lost in cyberspace … I liked your use of fuel pumps to pump water on the lid … It didn’t go above freezing here today so they would all be in solid ice … Regards, Mike
“1: un-decomposed steam ( not entirely cracked )
2: burned CH4 at exiting the charcoal bed ( also increase Co2 level in the gas )
3: burned H2 at exiting the charcoal bed ( burning the H2 gives 9 times its weight in water )
These 3 seem to be the main reason for water in gas system after the gasifier.”
Koen, This brings to mind a post I made a few days (or weeks?) ago. I commented that since I installed a Wayne-inspired monorater on my truck (a year or so ago?) I rarely get more than a few drops of water anywhere but under the hopper, even in the winter. It’s winter here now… A foot of snow and single digits above zero…
This is the season when any spare water condenses easily.
So, if I installed a CO2 recycler would I expect more power? more fuel economy?
I have tried recycling a percentage of exhaust through the air intake, but I gave up on it.
I’m thinking I need a lighter truck.
JohnS
At this point i have only the practical experience with my builds.
Thats how i could manage to build the Co2 converter.
I the case of a raw wood gasifier, its going to be another ball game.
If your "core temperature " is to high, you could ad exhaust gas to temper it and have some benefit
That is my theoretical opinion 
Now i have to find practical experience…
What’s too high? Don’t the high temps mean better chemical reaction?
John, I noticed how tall your hopper is off the truck bed. Just curious if the height is a problem for you at all?
That’s where i am short in knowledge and experience for “raw wood” gasification
Yes the higher temperatures are better, but also depending the “state” of the bed and the reason of the temperature. ( cavity burning ?)
I definitively need to build me a small wood gasifier…
Just not sure he hit gold yet.Lot of people doing bench work test that are only wishing wells when put too a motor under load.I did alot of that myself on the hho experiments,no extra fuel-results.
The gold isn’t always at the end of the rainbow but shattered in pieces all over…
Enhancing the gas content with Hydrogen, Co or Methane is not making a big difference
I have posted once a excel sheet with some calculations, taking in account the perfect stoichiometric levels for these gasses…
More to gain in engine modification indeed, gas comes secondary in the perspective of making purely shaft power…
In the perspective of making gas however, and the subsequently emission of Co2 ( the balance ) then there is something more interesting to see:
Using the heat as efficient as possible and converting the Co2 into Co and Water into H2, then there is a very noticeable shifting on the table of having Carbon dioxide per unit Power produced
1: recycling the Co2 in the reactor with using the spare heat reduces the amount of “fresh” feedstock
less input material for the same output power.
2: using as much as possible H2, decreases the output emissions accordingly since the combustion of H2 does not produces Co2
Using green waste, and other gasyfiable materials is a way to reduce some emissions per unit of power produced
Maybe we can not avoid all emissions, but it is surely adviseable to recycle where you can…
And Co2 can be recycled…
Building and testing, idea thinking, analyzing…
That was the easy part and did not take long,…
Convincing others that a Co2 converter can work, is going to take a lifetime…
A moral booster for the woodgassers: from craddle to grave, there is nothing that beats woodgas, from the wood out your backyard, in numbers for the calculation of the carbon footprint.
Its all about BTU’s spent where and when
Hummm, I’m going to jump in here after being “away” for a while and hope to clear up some of the confusion I see in this thread. Charcoal gasification is different that wood gasification. A molecule of wood contains about 6 atoms of Carbon, 12 atoms of Hydrogen and 6 atoms of Oxygen. When you make wood gas, Hydrogen is released from the molecules of wood in addition to any water that is chemically bound in the wood. Adding steam or CO2 to the air intake of a wood gasifier will not give you any boost of power. The gas is already loaded with hydrogen, methane and of course carbon monoxide.
Charcoal on the other hand is wood that has most of the Oxygen and Hydrogen cooked out of it. When it is gasified with atmospheric oxygen, you only get carbon monoxide. In this case, adding hydrogen in the form of water vapor will form free Hydrogen and maybe some Methane. This will give you a definite boost in power!!! The intense heat of a charcoal oxidation zone (about 3,000F) is also a good place to reduce some of the carbon dioxide found in the engine exhaust. By adding this exhaust, you cool down the oxidation zone to around 2000F and also add some carbon as the carbon dioxide is reduced in the intense heat. The same applies for any water vapor that is in the air or in the engine exhaust.
Gary in PA
Thanks Garry
Very nicely explained.
Now I have a grasp on the CO2 converter.
Would it beneficial to add CO2 to a wood gasifier , ie exhaust gass ?
Thanks Patrick
Hi Patrick, Do not bother using exhaust gas or water vapor with a wood gasifier. You will not gain any benefits. You will gain a benefit by preheating the incoming air before it hits the wood.
Gary
Hi Garry
From the point of view that there is less nitrogen going in to the system ?
Thanks Patrick
i definitively need to learn the language instead of just translating my words
the boost of power we see happening in our “small” engines comes from the hydrogen bringing the ignition point back near the tdc , thus increasing the “applying power at the best timing” value…
i attached some calculations , simulations for the hp and only alter the gas contents , also a serie of three pics showing the HP values changes with intake efficiency…
first three pictures playing with intake efficiency ( nr. 7, 1 and 2)
Rest is playing with CH4, H2 and Co
I may try an exoust reuse, May get more MPH per burn tube size. if it works on the existing WK . Could one add fine controlled water fog at the the point of the tube is starting too get too hot. without cracking the burn tube. Seems it might help with what we have here at certain points.Without design changes.Thanks /SWEM/
http://driveonwood.com/comment/32842#comment-32842
A wood gasifier is vastly different in chemistry than a charcoal gasifier. I too tried water injection with no significant improvement. Save it for when you build a charcoal gasifier to burn your bio-char from your truck.
ITS all together differnt bio product, i see as i read it, All that waisted fuel spent just making charco.or extra charco too use in the charco gasifiers.Thanks
i look at it as it was diesel compared with gasoline…
its both fuel but o so different
using way’s to make charcoal without waisting the energy from the wood is the challenge for me
Starting to build small TLUD’s cooking stoves and using that charcoal in the gasifier is a new project i am starting…
Negative criticism has a positive influence, it makes people think and learn
(and most certainly when it comes from positive people as you guy’s )
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