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Forum Index : Other Stuff : F & P Wood Gas Project
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| gww1 Regular Member  Joined: 14/06/2013 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
I hope you keep updating this thread as a wood gasifier is still on my to do list. I had read somewhere that 20 lbs of wood adds up to one gallon of gas. What size burn chamber/pipe are you using to run your proposed motor? How many horse power is the motor? The old free fema downdraft plan gave pipe size for horsepower. How are you cooling and filtering your gas? The cooler the gas the more that fits in the piston for compression. I will be watching and thanks for the pictures. gww |
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Madness Guru  Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
First off stay away from the FEMA design, they are designed to be quick and easy to build for emergency use. They do not crack the tar properly and you end up with stuck valves. The GEK I have built has a 75 mm restriction and at the moment has 6 MM nozzles. With a few changes it could run up to a 20 KW generator. However the way I have set it up it would run up to a 10 KW, as I only will be going up to 5 KW this configuration best suits my needs. I don't know the HP of the engine, it is 1240 CC running at 1500 RPM. It should be capable of somewhere around 20 HP but I only need it to produce around 10 HP to generate 5 KW. Keep in mind you get about 30 % less HP with woodgas due to the amount of nitrogen that come from the air entering the gasifier. 2 KG of dry (>15% water) wood is about the same as 1 litre of fuel. Cooling is done by heat exchangers in the gasifier as pictured I have included a diagram of how it works below. I did get it running the generator last night, was quite easy and took only a little adjustment to get the air fuel mixture right. Just had a few issues with not enough wood feeding through to where it is needed. This needs to be motorized to do it automatically, I just have not got that far to put the motor on, ATM I am manually tuning the auger. Also I need to add a motor to stir the chips in the reactor to prevent bridging. Just wanted to see it running at this stage. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
This is the photo that impressed me the most when I was looking for some inspiration. 
http://www.fluidynenz.250x.com/ Californian Andes Class Gasifier I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| gww1 Regular Member Joined: 14/06/2013 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
I searched for gek gasifier and now I have a lot more study to do. Thanks for posting the links. I wonder what wood chipper, the link was showing, was used. Bet it is not cheep. I am currently installing a solar system so this is further down my list of things to do. I was going to built the fema cause I thought I could come up with the items to do it and it was simple enough and gave enough detail that I thought I could do it. I thought I might try it out on some riding mower and tiller motors I have before throwing them away. I usually mess up bad enough that I have to do things the hard way till I learn enough to make it work or give up. I am more then willing to try and learn through you. How will you handle load changes causing the generator to surge? I will keep watching your progress and also be watching for things that you find are more important then you might have originally thought. Thanks for the responce. gww |
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| yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
the one in my link is a Laimet and YES I think you would need a very comfy chair and a nurse with the defibrillator on standby  when you ask the price. Not that I have checked myself.....  I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| gww1 Regular Member Joined: 14/06/2013 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
Yahoo2 Thanks for the link. Madness How goes the project? Thanks gww |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Sorry I did not receive any email telling me there where more posts here. The build is going well, I am now running a 4KW generator successfully. As I have upgraded my solar system the new inverter draws over 1.5 KW to charge the 48 volt battery bank. This does not leave enough power to run things like an electric oven (2400) watt and have power left for other things like refrigeration, water pump, lights etc. So I have purchased a 12 KW Onan generator which will run off the gasifier after a few modifications. If you search around you should be able to find sources of wood chips for free or near free. They are considered a waste product by many, check with local tree fallers also people who trim trees around power lines. A chipper that will give the size chips required is expensive. I am also using an Arduino micro controller to monitor temperatures and will also set it up to control air fuel mixture in the generator. Since discovering this device I have found many uses for it, my first project was a pump controller for my solar hot water. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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