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What is your experience with gasification?

fascinated by it - learning and just getting started- Newport, Maine

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http://www.evoloenergysolutions.com

What are your goals with gasification?

tinkering, home power

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uses for syngas

Just found out about wood gasification a couple months ago and this site only a few days ago. I'm amazed that this technology has been around for decades and is not widely known.
Love this site !!!! Great work Ben!!! Amazing stuff you do....
I am getting ready to build my first gasifier for use in a boiler.
has anyone had success using syngas in a propane or natural gas burner?

Posted on February 26, 2009 at 4:15pm —

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At 5:39pm on May 10, 2009, Eric Schrack said…: I have the air at 100 psi, but, once it was going good, I backed it off to about 50 psi. I think 2 good pack bed filters will work, if you don't have a way to make the cone.

At 1:08pm on May 10, 2009, Eric Schrack said…: New ejector.bmpHere is a quick sketch of the ejector deign that I used. This was Ben's design.

At 9:01am on May 10, 2009, Eric Schrack said…: Thank you, Rush.

I did run the genny, and I have some video of it. I'll post it asap. I have a vhs-c camcorder, so, I have to get something to convert the format.
I will say that the generator purred like a kitten.

Beamer

At 9:21am on March 21, 2009, Eric Schrack said…: Thanks for the compliments, John. Don't worry about putting up your pics, if all that I had available were 55 gal drums, that's what i'd have used. I am very lucky to have the resources available that I do, I thank my plant manager for that. Judging from what I've read on your page, you definitly know what you're doing.

Beamer

At 8:22am on March 7, 2009, Rush said…: Hi Ron

Ben has made some recent updates to the Imbert design page that is helpful for sizing the hearth and nozzle. He also added a note about how much gas per hour is needed per horse power of engine you want to run. 2 cubic meters per horse power per hour ( I assume this is at atmospheric pressure (~14.7psi).
So in my case, if I want to run a 10 Hp motor, I will need 20 cubic meters per hour. So as for gas storage, we can work out how big a tank we need to run for a specified period of time. According to my calculations, 20 cubic meters corresponds to 5283 gallons of storage for 1 hour of run time!!!. If you were to compress it ten fold to about 147 psi, you could bring the storage volume down by a factor of 10, which is about 528 gallons (still quite a big tank for 1 hour of run time). At least now I have a feel for how much volume is needed to run a 10 hp motor. For me it seems impractical to achieve the kind of storage needed to run a motor for any appreciable amount of time.
How big is the motor on your chipper?
I got an answer from Ben the other day regarding use of syngas in a propone or nat gas burner. According to him, he has heard of it being done in the past, but he is not currently doing it and he doesn't know of anyone first hand that is currently doing.
I would imagine that nozzle would need to seriously hogged out to allow the amount of gas flow through it, and even then I would imagine that the overall BTU output of the burner would be significantly derated.
As for my build, I am going to use the published Imbert design parameters for the smallest gasifier on the list.
I wonder if the height of the fuel tank is really that important. By looking at the various sizes of gasifiers and the height of the tank for each, it almost seems like abitrary changes in tank height that simply get larger as the size of the gasifier increases. I think a larger tank height would yeild a longer run time of the gasifier.
Take care!!!
John

At 2:43pm on March 3, 2009, Ron Harwood said…: Rush; I agree, it's probably more feasible to simply use the gas as you produce it; for limited quantities, however, in the range of a few thousand cubic feet, compressing is still a possible option. When operating an engine, I understand that a feed pressure (positive or negative) is best when it's moderately smooth; if a moderate pressure is put on the gas by storing it, a simple demand regulator would help smooth out the supply of gas, hence HP output, of the engine using it. Anyway, syngas is a good thing, eh? As to solar installations, I haven't done any in recent years except my own photovoltaics; a couple of Sharp 130-watt units coupled to a 30-amp charge controller and a bank of 6 deep cycles. The pair of collectors will easily put out about 16 amps in direct sunlight, plenty of power for our simple lifestyle. We also have a small wind generator, an Air-X, but have some problems with the electronics in it right now. Ultimately, the WGU will perhaps provide power for my tractors on the farm, and certainly will be power for a generator, so I can produce larger amounts of electric when I need it (wood-working shop, etc.)
I have a bunch of pictures of the gasifier as far as I've taken it, and I'll attempt to get them posted this week. I'm a little eccentric, so I've tried to build the entire thing out of salvaged parts from former petroleum-related equipment (heat exchanger from an oil burner, steel plate from a gas station cover, recycled propane tank for the filter media container, etc. I like the irony of it; big oil just gives me gas.

At 7:59am on March 3, 2009, Ron Harwood said…: Hey, Rush;
Thanks for posting to mine. I haven't been actively building on my gasifier for about 4 months now, as I've gone to work ( 6 x 12 hours) at a local wood pellet mill, here in Athens, ME. The opportunity came up just as I started building my gasifier. You're right, I'll need to dry the chips I make on roadside clearing, prior to trying to gasify them. I understand that if I try to use chips that are too wet, the creosote is pretty bad. I also agree that this is a great site, and Ben is to be commended! I'm very much looking forward to getting back to work on my wgu this spring, when pellets slow down. Regarding using syngas in your boiler, the only issues I can think of may be the firing rate/air content adjustment issue, which I'm sure you can just adjust the burner to accommodate for, and the issue of gas storage without liquification. Putting the excess gas into a pressure vessel should work, but of course you'll need to obtain a spark-proof compressor of some sort. Myself, I've requisitioned several 500-gallon propane tanks for this purpose; they were discarded by the local gas company because they are old enough to require hydro-testing, but aren't really worth the cost thereof. You could do the same thing with some older 100-lb propane tanks manifolded together, but remember they're pretty thin, and may be prone to leaks... neighbors and/or code enforcement officers might take a dim view. Or you could purchase new propane tanks, I guess. In any case, I imagine you'll want to be able to store gas up for the colder weather periods, or to run a generator, wood splitter, whatever.
Glad there are other Mainers involved. I'll look forward to seeing your progress, especially since I haven't made any myself lately!
Ron

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