Bob, l hear ya! My Chevy run best at 3500rpm on woodgas. Mercedes thugh, ran best at 2000…
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Where would the blower be installed?
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Kristijan.
In your chemical-works-for-money beyond Text-book engineering you have discovered the world-of-the-operating engineer.
Work-it. Push-it to the limits. Expand those limits with operator-controlled “adjustments”.
Things design engineers can never understand.
So . . . different engines responses is much more that text book single gas components “ideals”
All DIY made fuel gas is a composite changeable gasses BLEND.
Work with it. Early gas → better mid-batch gas → ending late made gas. These are all engine useable fuels.
Make a system work for real flexible results. Not ideals.
Here in the industries of Forestry, Fisheries and Farming the companies selecting equipment’s to purchase put a hard charging Operator on the trial periods. His job is to work that equipment to worked-weak-point stoppages and breakages. THEN the purchasing company throws out the weakest submitted designs. And most important to understand: they then go to the winning designer and says, “Now. Make yours more durable, use-flexible, and easier maintenance. And we will then contract to buy it.”
Then the hard-charger Operator re-proofs the improved design. And only then are operational limits set for the less skilled operators.
Ha! Ha! Yes. You understand this well.
A true useable charcoal gasifer should be a wider fuel input capable as blended mix.
And the worked engine appreciated for what it can do. Want more. Use a different engine. Operator proved-in again of course.
Best Regards
Steve Unruh
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Joni,
Do you think water injection would help make more power in a woodgas fueled engine?
Rindert
R_wesseling,
You see, I fill my car with wood with a lot of moisture (I always have bad weather and don’t have time to dry the fuel), so my gas generator was designed for a wet tree. Due to moisture in the fuel, the exhaust gas is also oversaturated with water vapor, which, passing through the engine, causes it to heat up even more. Wet fuel also generates very strong heating of the entire system, which is good for winter but bad in summer. Analyzing these factors, I can tell you that water injection will be harmful for a wood-fired gas generator.
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Excellent Jodi. Excellent.
I’ve only know of three other people doing gasification for engines like you do. One (a Finn) did this by a systems burn thru accident. Then improved for intentional use.
The the two others tried by intent. One got lost in an open top a shallow bed atmospheric system. The other lost in extremes all systems Thermal mania.
Ha! And all of these must have humid wood fuels to work!
I live in a temperate rainforest region. Wet woods must be used.
Steve unruh
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Not that I want to try wet wood, but apart from a condensing wood hopper and maybe tighter gasifier internals, what differences in design would be able to tolerate more moisture?
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JO_Olsson,
my system provides for the suction of steam from the hopper due to the engine exhaust, this helps a lot.
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Interesting topic…
Let me ask “what power loss”?
During accelerating ?
What is your desired power output ?
1: You can tune in your gasifier build / gas type to fit your needs
2: eliminate restrictions, make your sytem an “easy breather”, the more gas you can get flown into your engine the more "power"you have
3: modern engine management depends on “knock control” (OBD2 systems)
4: if accelerating you have to understand that your engine wants a “rich” mixture, learn about how to control that.
5: know your gas, adjust your engine management for torque timing, understand your gas to torque ratio in your engine, Low H2 is better for torque, more moist /H2 is better for high rpm
a lot of grey zone between that
6: you loose a lot of power with high Co2 content in your gas
7: a little tarry gas gives more power
8: there isn’t anything impossible to learn… just enjoy the doing and observing
9: run loads on your engine and compare the outcome after one tiny mod each time
i can run a stock engine on more power with woodgas then with the standard settings/carb/injection on gasoline
recap: first place is eliminate or compensate for restrictions, second place ignition timing, third place gas quality
IMO ain’t anything in the world that gives more fun then DOW and lifting your middlefinger when passing the gas station.
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Aha, so tary hopper smoke is what we saw coming from the exhaust in your video. I thought I saw something that looked like tar dripping, but could not understand why. Thank you.
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about the middle finger, in my case it is very important, gasoline costs $ 1 = 1 liter.
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Finding the sweet spot in wood gas/char gas systems has been on my mind. Just pulling fuel to change restriction size or any one of the other possible modifications and then hooking back up and hoping to realize some gain by feel in not satisfactory. Had not thought it possible to build a DIY dyno because I never looked. Apparently it is entirely doable. Many videos, including this one. This build has move way up my to-do list for the winter.
So Joni have you made a Ventura on your exhaust system to suct out tary smoke through your exhaust pipe. If so where did you get this idea from.
Bob
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I did this on the H. It helped dry the hopper. The biggest problem I had was forgetting to drain the pipe, and it would freeze. Then I would be baffled why it didn’t work any more.
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Bobmac,
you see Bob, I’m a physicist and Bernoulli’s Law is nothing new to me! 
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4-5 point to highlight out from these last exchanges.
Some of the Soviet system that Vitalily and Jodi put up distinctly were using engine exhaust hopper scavenging.
Starting from beginning as a wood-to-useable-shaft-power SYSTEM then all of the engines effects can be benefits. This is smart.
I say this year, after year, after year.
Second point some are now reading my 2014 Ha! Ha! Dissertation Thesis. That was 6 years ago now. I was wrong on several points. In the hot water vapor, into engines usages. Ha! Why I flunked my peer-approved “PhD” then. No Doctor for this Steve.
Tom Holten the very best small engine gasifier test bed is an electrical synchronous generator set. Variable electrically load. Monitor RPM.
And Bruce you point out the real challenge of woodgasing operating.
My wood stove now has modified four different areas air controls. A wonder really now for fuel in use flexibility.
Forget to open one zone control . . . and a long drawn out up to best use warming up. 480 pound takes a bit to get up to the internal surfaces ionization flashes I love. HOT, HOT and low, slow flow. I from cold to operating race the Ford engines way.
Forget to close one air control down . . . especially the under grate one . . . and open fireplace wood eating.
Worst. Let the wife start one of her girls-scouts/boys-scouts TeePee stacked fires inside . . . soots up the best room heating radiant energy out front door glasses.
Trying to train family gets you painted as “the Wood Nazi”.
Trying to train non-family gets you looked at as a wood-genius Freak, never to be duplicated.
So the real trick to wood-for-power is making the difficult not scary, but personally achievable for others.
Sigh. I’ll die trying.
S.U.
JO_Olsson,
in truth, the resin does not fly out for me - it is water vapor and droplets condensed in the hose … The intake tube from the bunker is installed slightly above the bottom and the resin collected at the bottom of the monorator does not fall into the drain, but flows into the active zone.
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Let me translate, you had a genus inspiration thought come to you, and you acted on it and it paid off with better operating gasifer to take wet wood and turn it into charcoal. Good job Joni.
I would like to incorporate this idea into the WK gasifer unit I have on my truck.
Vevgen Kolyvan (VEVHD) Ventura Exhaust Vacuum Hopper Device.
Bob
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Bobmac,
in my system, everything is very simple, the main thing is to properly weld the tube to the muffler … Do it and use it to your health!
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Thank you Joni, weld it on the upstream side of the muffler or the down stream side of the muffler? And how big of a pipe are you using?
Bob
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