Tractor with gas?

Tone,
Would you say that you have more power when you are using woodgas than diesel fuel? I have thought this might be possible.
Rindert

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Greetings Rindert, this slope, which I drive in the video on wood gas in fifth gear and easily overcomes it, only on diesel fuel also overcomes it, at somewhere the same speed. The power is actually similar, but I have to say that such gas starts to form when the gasifier heats up and inside some more wood over the burning charcoal, when I tried only charcoal, the power is significantly less. The results are interesting, almost unbelievable, I can’t explain them, obviously caused by high compression and intense ignition with diesel fuel combustion into detonation, where all combustible substances burn at high temperature. A compression ratio of 1:16 is obviously already the upper limit for wood gas operation.

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Just one more piece of information, I took measurements on my diesel generator on wood gas and I can say that the diesel engine at 2500 rpm develops somewhere 1 kW of power per 100 cc of working volume. The IMT 533 has a 2300 cc engine, which would mean 23 kW of power, or 31 hp, and diesel fuel is expected to produce 26 kW or 35 hp at 2000 rpm (factory data).

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It does seem odd that there is a loss of power on charcoal but you are not adding water and your raw wood does. Also I think that a diesel would be much more forgiving of a little tar than a sparked engine would. Now you need to put heads together with Bruce and start producing your own supplemental diesel. The final piece to the self sufficient tractor puzzle.

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I don’t like that comment Tom. I LOVE that comment! One day i will get back into bio diesel and black diesel. Need to find the appropriate truck first and that will come long after the v10 build. But seeing a diesel on wood is very inspiring!

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I think this is the best possible result, because you are not going to break anything because of too much torque. Wonderful news!!!
We have seen that woodgas makes more power than chargas before. Chuckw told us chargas is maybe 4 MJ/m3, wood gas is maybe 6 MJ/m3, definitely not worth compressing.
If you could get to 20 MJ/m3 like retort made ‘town gas’ it might be worth it for stationary systems, but probably not for vehicles.
(Natural gas is 36 MJ/m3 for reference.)

Does anyone know the energy density of water gas?
Rindert

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Its important to note that charcoal gas is usualy ment just as the product of air and charcoal reacting so a hydrogen poor fuel. In case steam is introduced in the gasifocation process the produced gas is at least as good as woodgas, and much cleaner and safer to use.

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Incredible result Tone! And difficult to see in the video how steep your hill is, but you can hear the engine work!

I love numbers! Keep them coming please :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:

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Traktor and I did penance for our vanity at the village church, renovation of the facade, … :grinning::fire:



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That’s a nice looking roof. What is that made of?

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Looks like Terra Cotta

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I think that Kristjan also has his house covered with this roofing, brick roofing - beaver

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tone, nice chapel you have in your village…seems built from field stone? …
your tractor is really nice…have you an idea how much wood it consumes approximately in one hour?..only for make some theoretic thoughts in my brain…
my hanomag tractor has over 4 liters motor volume…

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in germany this roof terracotta is called beaver tail… in short beaver.
this is the secret what the beaver has to do with the roof…

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Giorgio, I have a hard time answering your question, because I work idle for a long time, I run a little busy for a while (carrying loads in the yard, moving trailers with light work in agriculture), well, I also pull a full trailer uphill, … I estimate that it consumes about 5 kg of wood per hour in this mode of operation.

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I owe you some more information, according to the hour meter, the tractor spent 15 hours and consumed 9 liters of diesel fuel. Without wood gas, consumption would be somewhere between 50-60 liters, so in the mixed operating cycle, consumption was reduced by just over 80%. I also intend to renovate the diesel pump for precise dosing of a small amount of fuel and thus achieve those 90% wood gas and 10% diesel fuel.

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Tone, 80% is still a good number. Many farmers would be happy to be able to cut down 20% on the fuel cost.
If you feel like using the camera in the future, a maintence vidoe on the system would be interesting. Condensation, ash cleanout, cooler flush etc.

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JO , your number is definitely 99% wood gas, so I’m pretty far behind you, good to comfort me a little. :grinning: I am also comforted when I think that the modern diesel engine 2.0 tdi at idle consumes approx. 0.8l / hour at 800 rpm, at 1600 rpm (these are the engine revolutions of the tractor, when the hour meter would be in line with the actual hour) the computer shows 1.3l / hour. If I think so, and the outdated 2.3l tractor engine is satisfied with 0.9 l of fuel per hour, I must be satisfied too. Cleaning will obviously be easy, only fine charcoal and ash are accumulating below, and the radiator and pipes are working clean for the time being. :thinking::fire:

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Giorgio, I probably already asked you where you live in Italy, …? Which model is your Hanomag? You wrote that it is too heavy for the field (probably 3-4 tons) and that the engine has more than 4 liters. In Slovenia, the prices of IMT 533 tractors are quite affordable, it weighs around 1300 kg, if you are interested, …??

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tone, thanks, i am in middle italy, is to far away for tractor transports, i also not need really the tractor, expect for heavy transport of stones sometimes…we make the most work with the draft horse on our mostly steep land…
for little transports, specially for dry firewood, i got a little kind of garden tractor -motoretta - from friendly neighbors, it has 10 hp, consumes very less diesel, and this we like to convert on chargas, yet not clear with spark ignition or diesel ignition like yours…
the hanomag r 460 is a oldtimer built 1964 with 4,5 tons…on much of our land i cannot go with it, because it is dangerous, with the horse i arrive nearly everywhere…but seen your successfull tractor, the desire comes up to modify also the hanomag, also when it is not needed often…

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