10-16-2013 Gasifier "How to construct" Video Four (Final build video)

[@ginfizz20]

Oh! I meant to say thank you for such a great presentation. I've been at this for 20 years and I still learned from you.

[@flash001USA]

Same to you too. I did check out your wood chunker a while back because I'm building a small version of that type of design. I'm lucky with my small engine design because I can literally run off of small dead branches that I pick up off the ground on the property so I'm set for life for fuel here where I live. There is a decent sized group of us building and improving this build and you can find us at www.miniwoodgas.com

[@flash001USA]

Your approach to start out small is the right way to go. It's like riding a bicycle for the first time. Once you get a feel for how it works, upgrading to a larger gasifier will be simple. I'll keep my eye out for a video from you.

[@jamesfarmer6648]

Thank You Thank You Thank You.....I have been a custom car builder all my life. Right now I'am as excited about building a Gasifier as building a new car. Thank You.

[@williamweigle8130]

Thanks Flash, I've enjoyed all the videos. Now in the process of building the fire cone for a small system here on the farm. Then we will up-size to run the 30KW generator once I get my head wrapped around it. Keep well ! Bill

[@Les__Mack]

Thanks so much for making these videos! This is a lot of really great information and I appreciate the hard work it took to bring this to the KZbin community!

[@flash001USA]

Les Mack Les had it not been for others helping me I wouldn't have gotten my build off the ground so you're welcome.

[@maitlandmoore6426]

I'm kind of new to gasification , but your the Billy graham of it. Thanks for the awesome videos .

[@extreme4779]

I finished the build 99.9% like yours and .....wow!!! It works. All I had to do was dial in the fuel a bit and it burns clean even before any filtration. I gotta say, enormous thank you!!!! You did an awesome job on this. Israel

[@flash001USA]

Be sure to make a KZbin video and upload it for us to see what you put together.

[@MichaelEdge34]

You made it look pretty easy......I am about ready to start building one like yours. The one I built was A see if I could kinda saturday project. now I know I can and it will actually work it about time to build one the right way. please don't take down the vid's because I'll be referring back to them. Thanks for all the great info.

[@jackhandy3776]

thx flash, i am starting my build this weekend, glad you took the time to make all the videos- this guy appreciates it for sure..cheers....

[@MrStroblight24]

Awesome video, thanks for this set of videos showing the build. You have saved me a ton of headaches. Going to start with fresh material and build it right

[@williamweigle8130]

Once our firewood deliveries taper down here in the North East I'll get down to some serious shop time.Video? Yours would be a hard act to follow. Great job, and thank goodness for re-runs !

[@extreme4779]

I tinkered...and it worked, didn’t have large enough holes 🕳 in the bottom of my air tube and I added more about an inch higher. I’m at a 30 minute burn so far with minimal oversight and a larger bio as well. No bridging so far, Air is high enough in the hopper to cause a larger collapse. This thing is awesome!!!

[@flash001USA]

Yeah it comes down to experimenting with the build and the fuel to see what works best. I'm glad you're starting to figure things out with it. When you feel comfortable with the new refinements it be sure to make a new KZbin video.

[@flash001USA]

Thanks Michael. I did the same thing you mentioned where I did this on the weekends or during my spare time. At first it was hard for me because I was experimenting and learning how this stuff works plus I learning how to use the mig welder all at the same time. Now that I have the feel for these things I can probably build them fast and even build them out of anything I can lay my hands on. I will not be removing any of these videos. Cont:

[@rexmorgan72]

Awesome job man. I may try this project this spring/summer. Thanks for the great work.

[@paulmicallef8092]

I would Like to thank you for your very profesional Video and very clasic Gasifier Aussie Paul

[@violeman]

Thanks 4 everything!!! Will help me a lot in my Gasifier project!!

[@gjebox]

Thankyou for sharing, few question about gassifier What the temperature at bell housing and in the gas chamber... i was think to build a oil heat exchancer in or next to nose cone for shop heat exchanger ... Also does anyone collect or compress filter wood gass can you use the wood gas ..like biogas for gas cooking

[@flash001USA]

You don't want to add any kind of heat exchanger to the bell housing because the temperatures are critical to cracking tar which will damage an engine so any heat robbed from the hearth (fire cone) will degrade the gas. If you want more information go here. www.miniwoodgas.com Let's talk about compressing woodgas. Do you know how propane works? It's in a liquid state until the valve is opened at which point it evaporates to a gas that can be burned and you can hold a lot of liquid propane gas in a small tank but woodgas is more like natural gas and if you try to compress it the issue is you cannot get it to a liquid state so the qty of it you can store isn't worth the effort. There is also a danger in compressing woodgas into cylinders. As a gasifier runs, the gas quality can go up and down and if ANY air gets into the cylinder with the woodgas you have a possible bomb in your back yard. Woodgas is mainly hydrogen gas so you now have possibly made a small homemade hydrogen bomb that could take out your workshop or garage and possibly YOUR life. Avoid compressing woodgas. Gasifiers are known as a "Gas on demand" device producing gas in realtime as the engine draws on the gasifier. This makes gasifiers much safer to other fuel production setups because there is no excess fuel to spill out or release in the case of an accident.

[@flash001USA]

You are correct. The new design will use a small self powered water scrubber as the front end followed with an electrostatic filter followed with my paper filter as a precaution. My paper filter works like a champ and it doesn't add any real back resistance to the gas. I am losing some power under load as a trade-off for the clean gas I have now but it beats the alternative of sand papering the engine internally with carbon soot.

[@flash001USA]

I took a piece of lexan and cut out a flat plate to replace the filter holder on the generator. This allowed me to tie my external carburetor to the generator and I didn't have to remove the gas carburetor either so I can still use the generator as a standard gasoline engine. On the tanks I made an access port on the top tank where the black cover is but the internal steel wool wasn't a good idea so I just leave it empty now. It's just part of the cooling /cleaning system now.

[@ivanetepihl8979]

THIS IS THE BEST JOB I HAD SEE IN KZbin. CONGRATS KEEP GOING . GOD BLESS flash001usa

[@extreme4779]

That sums it up perfectly! Thank you for that, I will steer clear of compression.

[@flash001USA]

I watched the link. That's what you call some serious biochar production!

[@MrPhreeradical]

Thank's for these how to video's

[@flash001USA]

Thanks. These videos aren't perfect and there is room for improvement but this will get those interested in trying this a good start.

[@ivanchl]

Wow. Absolutely wow! Amazing, thank you!

[@Jm4steam]

Good video. Is there enough exhaust heat from generator ...to then use in a heat exchanger for home geatean or dryer usage?

[@orvelverst622]

Thank you for your time and information. ❤️

[@netizenbay1258]

Fantastic job! What did you ever settle on for material in your TriFilers? Is it the synthetic fiber material you experimented with at the begging? If so, where do you buy it. How do you clean it and how often do you need to clean it. Is the material just packed in there or did you make a removable inner cage for it. I'd love to see a video that goes over just this. Thanks again for all your time and effort on this.

[@susanvaughn741]

That is a beautiful machine!

[@sirtom68]

You are the man Flash. Thanks bro.

[@flash001USA]

The 75 Deg was the temperature before the gas hit the filters. By the time the gas exits the filters it is at ambient temperature. I'm going to try my scrubber with just a paper filter on the output just to see how things work out but I do want to try the electrostatic setup just to see how well it works. I know that the main issue is the filter becoming shorted out as ash collects but I may have a good enough design that would allow me to run for 4 hours before the filter needed cleaning.

[@extreme4779]

That’s awesome... the burn that I am getting is great. I think I need to find a way to get wood shaped like ball bearings so they don’t catch on each other or devise some sort of vibration on this guy. This system seems to be cracking the tar perfectly as I am just getting Smokey water in my mason jar. Maybe some more seasoned wood could also help me tweak this a bit. I am burning Doug fir 🌲 and white pine 🌲.

[@jackhandy3776]

your a very creative guy flash, thx for sharing your hard work...do you plan on bottling your syngas? trying to find a good how to on that; no luck so far- did see one guy filling a propane tank a regular homepot air compressor, not sure i feel safe doing that.. would be nice to fill my home propane tanks with syngas, that way i could run all my stuff on days the weather isn't so cooperative...any tip on this one?

[@flash001USA]

A few videos ago I actually weighed out the wood and I'm getting about 1 hour run-time from 5.5 lbs of wood but that's being conservative so the real number is closer to about 5 lbs an hour. In this video I had a total of 12 cups in the hopper and I ran the gasifier for about an hour. I still had a bit of fuel left when I shut it down.

[@extreme4779]

Thanks for the quick reply...I am running a 10kw 3 phase Onan generator, but it doesn’t show my horsepower, so I may have to do some experimenting myself,lol. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge

[@flash001USA]

Hey not a problem at all you're welcome. The reason I launched this particular topic on my KZbin channel was because everybody wants to sell you plans instead of just offering the information so you can build your own working gasifier so I learned this the hard way. Smaller engines are easier to design gasifiers around but the drawback is you have less heat and cracking tar is a little bit more difficult. On the other hand larger gasifiers that use multiple nozzles with larger hearths have more surface area for higher temperatures to crack the tars but you have to make sure that everything is dialed in correctly. It's a balancing act. This is why I surrounded my hearth which I call the fire cone in my videos with the sand mixture so that it keeps the temperature more stable. Smaller gasifiers have the tendency to heat up and cool down faster so my work around was to surround the hearth or the fire cone with the sand mixture so that it would hold heat better. If you're interested in building a larger gasifier you can still use the same 55 gallon drum that you're using right now. Go and check out All Power Labs. Those guys are pretty helpful and if you ask them if they can help you calculate what do you need for a 10 kilowatt engine they probably would not hesitate to tell you what diameter is you need for the hearth along with the number of nozzles along with their diameters. Keep in mind that you can have everything built perfectly to spec with a gasifier and still not produce good gas or worse, produce dirty gas which can gum up your engine with tar. The fuel you use is just as important. This is why you will find KZbin videos with somebody that has built a very poorly designed gasifier that burns quite clean and then you see somebody by a professionally built gasifier for $3,000 and they still manage to damage an engine with tar.

[@tidonlu8035]

Hi Flash, have you ever considered making a sound proof containing unit for your generator since you have experimented with sound proofing in your studio

[@garyshackelford4571]

Hey Flash great as usual, question, you replaced the bottom of fire cone with that stainless steel extension, what was that, where might one find that for reducing to 2 inch.

[@flash001USA]

Are you asking what wattage to expect from a 3.2 Kw generator running on wood gas?

[@jamescowart1044]

Greate vidio how do you attach your carborato to the carborator on the generator also your vidio on the 2 inverted tanks you said inside you put in a shelf and used steel wool hoe big is the shelf and how much steel wool thank you

[@jamest.5001]

I was wondering if you may know how dry mulch would work. and if you have tried it?

[@themeiamnow]

Nice job Mike!

[@flash001USA]

Thanks man...I'm one step closer to going off grid.

[@jaysoncrazyman]

I am just getting started on my first build. I was wondering what are the dimensions for the for the cone in your burner? Also how long is your hopper and what did you use? I have an old water tank from my pump house would this work? Thanks for the videos very informative can't wait to get mine up and running.

[@flash001USA]

My fire cone is 5 inches at the top and 3 inches at the bottom but go with 6 inches on the top instead. The fire cones total length including the top ring is 6 inches then you have the bolt-on extension which is 3 inches that gives you a total of 9 inches in overall length. The wood hopper can be anywhere from 18 to 24 inches deep. Do not make it too deep or you will have to make a water trap. Keep in mind that my build is set up for a small generator like I am using in the video. You could use a old water tank as long as it's big enough. Be sure to check out all 4 "How to" videos.

[@jaysoncrazyman]

thanks!

[@jamesacres7870]

@@flash001USA hey flash!I just seen where you talked about a water trap for hoppers over 24".I'm making mine 36" and now I'm worried!why is a trap needed and how do I head off this potential problem.i plan to run pellets or cut up kiln dried framing wood so will that be an issue when the wood is a dry medium?

[@flash001USA]

@@jaysoncrazyman I do have a complete PDF file for all of this you can have for free to help you out. Go to www.miniwoodgas.com and contact the webhost which will be me and I'll send them to you.

[@teddydixon7930]

Where did you get the fan that you use or how do you make it? I have started on mine. What would you need to do if you made one bigger to off the grid. What do you mean by yours is not big enough what changes would you have to make?

[@ShawnHulet]

Excellently Done... I love your Gasifier and think it is producing an extremely clean gas product. My question is this... Have you considered using an LP compressor pump to load/store the woodgas product into a standard propane tank to use at a later time from production, as opposed to using it directly off the Gasifier. It stands to reason that stored fuel may be better suited for varied application, Water heater, Boiler, Mobile Combustion Engine(car) etc. I have seen many applications for this tech but the idea that I need to fire up the furnace every time I want to use the product seems inefficient where as if I can spend the weekend producing gas and store it to reap the benefits all week long would really make this much more viable supplemental energy source than emergency back up. What are your thoughts?

[@flash001USA]

I get asked this question a lot and I have quite a few reasons why I would avoid storing woodgas under pressure in LP tanks. When you go purchase propane let's say a 5 gallon tank for a grill you will notice that the tank is full of liquid propane and it's heavy. Woodgas cannot be compressed down to a liquid state so that you can store a long run time without processing and purifying it first and the average person does not possess that kind of industrial equipment to do the job with so it's not worth it plus if the gasifier is set up correctly, it is very safe at producing "on demand" gas and that's a BIG plus. There are others out there that do compress it into old LP tanks and I personally think it is a dangerous practice plus the woodgas quality can vary during a run so you really don't know how good the gas will be from tank to tank. I do know of some people that have used the big tractor inner tubes to safely hold woodgas and they just pump them up with the woodgas then they place a sheet of plywood on top of the inner tube along with a few bags of sand to build the pressure up but they are cooking with it so they don't need giant tanks of woodgas. A little goes a long way in a gas stove from what I have been told. I hope this answers your question.

[@paulansette6145]

Excellent explanation videos. Must have one. One question comes to mind. How long does the steel barrel last?

[@flash001USA]

Since it's not coming in direct contact with any fire or hot embers it should last for quite a while especially if you keep it painted with high heat grill paint to protect it from rusting.

[@jeffjacob8062]

Could you send me your pdf instructions on your gasifier and your tri-filters. Your system looks very robust and efficient. Im looking to augment my charging system along with solar.

[@larrymarkham2627]

You ever get the electronic filter done ?

[@thomasheisler]

can you use wood mulch

[@Matthlanning]

Have you ever tried to distill the wood tar and see if you can get a diesel/gasoline like fuel?

[@flash001USA]

The woodgas will only yield about 50% of the output. My generator is 2 KW but I can only pull 1 KW from it. People that drive on woodgas usually pick trucks with large engines to offset the losses. You can do the same with a generator too. With my setup I can comfortably charge deep cycle batteries and run an inverter if I decide to take that route. A big plus with woodgas is the fuel cost or better yet, the lack of the fuel cost so it's a trade-off that I'm more than glad to accept. Cont:

[@ordainedatheist1876]

I like your work, have a question though. Would it be possible to braze the components in a gasifier rather than welding them?

[@flash001USA]

Absolutely. The heat will not be so great that a braze weld cannot hold up and the braze weld will be strong enough for the job too.

[@ordainedatheist1876]

flash001USA Awesome, thank you!

[@flash001USA]

I got to tell you that I got ultra lucky on this find. When I was walking around the steel scrap yard I seen this fan sitting on a mound of junk and a guy was literally driving towards it with a bulldozer and I yelled at him to give me a second to grab the fan. I had to add the interface onto the fan to accept the PVC pipe myself. Check out the marine shops. They have the cheap ones for $20 but they will fall apart on you. The have one close to my blower for around $70 bucks that will last.

[@tgm1353]

Hi Flash, What type of fan are you using ?? Where can I get one. Need to know stuck gasifier ????

[@dantco]

One consideration with an electrostatic precipitator is that a system for cleaning/carrying away the precipitate must be used on longer runs. Might get away with periodic cleaning for short runs... Using a water scrubbing system might be interesting if you could get a two for one: gas cleaning and gas cooling simultaneously.

[@maitlandmoore6426]

I'm currently working on a small ( smallest possible ) unit that can cook dinner at the same time. You mentioned at some time that you recommend a smallest pipe size ?? Why is that, I need it to be mobile. Can you help??

[@extreme4779]

Ok, slowly working the bugs out, lol... I fired up my 8 hp predator motor... it runs barely above idle. I am still finding a lot of moisture in the line. My mason site glass is running Diet Coke colored water but no tars. I have a 100 gallon propane tank that I am using as a cyclone/expansion tank. I guess what I am asking is...do I need to cool the gas off more and get the rest of the water out to get better combustion? And if so, should I use some sort of water fuel separator? :)

[@flash001USA]

I was going to mention something about the hundred gallon tank that you're using for the cyclone. That may be too much tank and it could possibly be an explosion Hazard if too much oxygen got into it just due to its size. If you happen to come across a 10 or 15 gallon propane tank that would be your safest set up and it may help out with the engine running. If you haven't already seen some of my later videos check them out and you'll see how I set my expansion tank up. That may be a reason you're having idling issues. I'm just taking a guess but it could actually play into the reason you're not getting the RPMs you need.

[@murraylowe7493]

How do you control volume and pressure?

[@TShoffittsvideos1]

Me and my dad just built a gasifier and are needing help to get it to create a flame on it. I was wondering if you could help us?

[@flash001USA]

I am guessing that you have already built it up but it's not working...Yet... Correct? Can you make a short video for others to see? This way those of us that are out here can help you. It's hard to troubleshoot or to advise without seeing what you have.

[@crazyeddy808]

thank you flash! can you install into a compressor and store it in lps tanks? or is that pushing it ?

[@flash001USA]

Technically you can but I would advise against it because you can't really compress enough into a tank to even make it worth the effort plus it can be dangerous too.

[@TheSparky1861]

very professional! How long will the generator run on a full chamber?

[@flash001USA]

It will run about 4 hours on a full hopper of sticks broken down to 3/4 inch chunks and it will run about 10 hours and possibly up to 14 hours if it is filled up with wood pellets.

[@tgm1353]

Hi Flash, Finaly got my gasifier going but it got clogged up and took a lil while to figure it out but when it got cleared out it was putting out some great gas but it poofed big time shortly after. I thought maybe when it started running out of wood caused it but when I filled back up and re-ignited, it poofed again so I guess I got something going wrong ?? Just wondering what your thought were w/ a poofifier ???

[@flash001USA]

There could be a lot of reasons as to why it is poofing on you and It would be a big plus to upload a video of the gasifier and show everyone the setup so that others including myself could possibly help you solve the issue.

[@plasmaguy5]

Awesome thanks again for your time. Joe

[@flash001USA]

Normally, I would have rolled the steel tube from scrap steel but I didn't have to this time because I had a piece of scrap exhaust pipe that was 2 inches inner diameter. The stainless steel came from a small pot I purchased from Wal-Mart and I just cut out what I needed then shaped it for the rim.

[@sanatomba78]

Hi flash,my wood gasifier is in its final stage and it will be uploaded very soon.I did a trial run for 2 hour without break.I used a 6.5 hp generator engine and an air compressor to compress gas to a 50L lank.It produce nice clean blue gas.For I am new in this line and donnot know much about the relation between the size of gasifier and hp of the generator,will you please tell me at what part of the gasifier should I upgrade or change to increase the hp of the engine for generation of electricity?

[@PowerGearPerformance]

the air inlet in part two. go from 1/2 to 3/4" tubing

[@Mr26Huffy]

Flash, thanks for the video series. They have been really educational. One quick question.. how long does your genny run on the large scoop (4 cups?) of woodchuncks? Thanks again.

[@lllPlatinumlll]

What is inside the lower white tank?

[@holgerjunge6172]

where could I find one of those fans that you have?

[@yahsephhawkins9503]

Yes, where can I find one of those fans

[@ismael342]

good job friend have only one doubt, what I have in white tank? I'm using the google translator and seen all the videos, but not because of the language to know that arrives is in white tank

[@flash001USA]

The white tank is hollow. It is an empty vessel where the wood gas can expand and cool. Water in the wood gas condenses onto the sides of the tank and aids in drying the gas too.

[@ismael342]

thanks friend for your answer, it is called hydrocyclone, in other videos of other users observe a very similar system, now I understand I repeat you. created a great job, thanks for sharing luck

[@extreme4779]

What is on the inside of your expansion tanks, I didn’t see any videos on what was in there. My 100 gallon cyclone just has a tube that runs down about 10” from the bottom.

[@flash001USA]

My expansion tank is hollow. To remove any confusion the expansion tank was my alternative replacement to a cyclone filter. I placed my gas input feed about 5 or 6 inches above the bottom so that the gas would flow up hill and come out of the to the top then to the filters. The bottom of the expansion tank is used for capturing water. You will always deal with the gas feeling moist even with filtering. My filters get soaked with water and it's the nature of the beast so yeah, expect a little water vapor in your lines. The only time it becomes an issue is if it starts to puddle. I'm not sure but I don't think that you're using any filtering so you will see a bit more water.

[@extreme4779]

What is the second tank that you have for? I see that one is stacked onto the other. Is that for more cooling? Also...does the gas burn better the cooler it gets? In essence....if the gas comes out at an Ambient temperature, does it burn better than say if it was 80-90 degrees?

[@flash001USA]

Let me give you the history on the smaller top tank. Early in the build I thought I would try to pack the top tank with stainless steel pads... Bad idea. It only made the engine fight for fuel due to the back pressure. You may have already seen this video but this is when I removed the smaller tank and went with the stove pipe extension. Maybe this will give you some more ideas. Before I forget, yeah cooler gas is more dense so it does have more octane or kick when it's cooler. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnvJoZRrYrmHn8k

[@jj01a]

Thanks flash, what's the next project?

[@usnva5638]

I don't have the patience to read through hundreds of posts looking to see if this question has already been answered, so I'll ask it now. When using woodgas, do the engines require any special modifications besides perhaps a carburetor?

[@flash001USA]

No just an external carburetor to get the correct furl to air ratio mixture and you don't have to remove the gas carburetor either.

[@usnva5638]

flash001USA So just keep the throttle on the machine to the "Full Open" position and regulate engine speed through the external carburetor, am I correct?

[@flash001USA]

USNVA Pretty much yeah. keep the gasifiers intake air wide open and let the external carburetor do the rest.

[@usnva5638]

flash001USA I would deeply appreciate it if some time you make a video of how long 10 lbs of wood will keep a 2 kw generator going 1/2 load. I'm aware you already made a video somewhat similar to this request, I think it was with 5 lbs of wood. This is some very fascinating stuff and I'm willing to take a shot at building one of my own gasifiers some day soon. Actually I would build two: one for the house and a smaller more portable model to tow on a wagon behind my riding mower.

[@Mr26Huffy]

Flash one last question. What would the fire cone size be for a 12HP engine? Is there a formula that one uses (for DD and/or Imbert designs) to determine that? Thanks again.

[@tomfish1285]

Is there a step by step video or instruction?

[@mysticvirgo9318]

Couldnt one run the flare gass to run a boiler .. if not steam then good hot water?

[@flash001USA]

+Mystic Virgo Yeah you could use the gas for a boiler or even to cook with. A gasifier is really a "gas on demand" device and it's not easy to store it in tanks correctly although some people do. The best way for short term storage is in tractor inner tubes that you can lay a sheet of plywood on then place blocks or bags of sand on it for the forward pressure to pipe it around with.

[@murraylowe8677]

I had an idea you might be able to compress the syngas with a refrigerator compressor. Am I wrong? Also I had noticed you had mentioned the your air output in the fire mass would burn up and need to be replaced. Could you not introduce your nozzle up from the bottom?

[@mysticvirgo9318]

I just looked up the constituents of wood gas.. mostly methane some Carbon monoxide.. should compress well.

[@flash001USA]

The problem with compressing woodgas is your gas mixture could possibly go lean during a run which could possibly add air (some oxygen) into the tank which is very dangerous and you would never even be aware of it. That's the first issue. The second issue is you can't get enough into a tank to make it worth while. Think of propane. In the tank it is in a liquid form but the actual gas you burn is a vapor or evaporated gas from the liquid. This is why a propane tank can run a small heater, grill or a generator for hours on end where compressed woodgas will only run for a very short time since you cannot compress enough of it into the tank nor can you compress it into a concentrated liquid in the tank like propane without some high dollar specialized filtering and equipment.

[@mysticvirgo9318]

as long as there is positive pressure maintained in the tank .. the leaning out should not be a problem... yeah I was thinking same thing about needing to liquify top get enough .. but , impractical as it might be , itr IS technically doable.. oh you mean lean when compressing the tank?? okay I gotcha on that ... I was thinking positive pressure in tank when using the gas .. And I would reckon the compressor would have to move enough VOLUME of gas to keep the retort happy

[@plasmaguy5]

Hey Flash hate to bug you again but on your expansion tank, is the door just for clean out or is the top part some kind of pre filter? I can't seem to find which video talks abouts it's construction. Thanks for any help you have time for. Joe

[@flash001USA]

Hey Joe originally I was going to loose pack it with stainless steel wool but it it caused too much back resistance so now it's just a clean-out port.

[@holgerjunge6172]

...& where do I find an intake filter like that for my generator?

[@gjebox]

Can someone tell if the fan is always required to drawn the wood to the generator...or the fan is on required for starting the system.

[@flash001USA]

The fan is only used to start the gasifier up with.

[@extreme4779]

Awesome, that looks like you’ve done some really good modifications. What was your idea behind the stove pipe? And what have you found that it does?

[@flash001USA]

I was actually building a second gasifier on a smaller footprint that had issues with the nozzle layout but the expansion tank on the smaller build was only a 5 gallon tank with the stovepipe on top of it. (fyi. This is the thick stovepipe and not the thin stuff.) Anyhow I did the upgrades on the original gasifier and I moved the stovepipe over to the older gasifier. This system works really good. I've learned to only load the wood hopper no more than half full for the best runs. If you overload the wood hopper or if you build the wood hopper too big you will have issues with clean gas. I could explain why but I would probably wind up writing a book here and putting you into a coma with my ramblings.

[@lonelyboy401]

Would you give the dimensions of the gasifier barrel as well as the bottom propane bottle you use for the expansion chamber Thanks Patrick Henry

[@flash001USA]

Patrick I'm just using a heavy duty 55 gallon drum but you could use a smaller drum like a 35 gallon drum. On the expansion chamber I used a 12.5 gallon tank with a 5 gallon tank stacked on top of it. There is also a water drain at the bottom of the bottom tank too.

[@bmell209]

Hi flash. Having a hard time trying to find a good fan. What fan did you use?

[@flash001USA]

Finding blower fans can be difficult. I found mine at a junkyard on a heap that that a bulldozer was headed towards to bury. I got to it before it became history. This I can tell you about mine. It was used to inflate a yard ornament something like a giant 20 foot inflatable Santa Clause that stays inflated as long as the blower continues to run. It might help you to join the miniwoodgas.com blog where others can point you in the right direction. Good luck.

[@bmell209]

Thanks flash. You the man. Your videos have made this more achievable for myself.

[@kimberlymaxey4349]

Mr. flash do you have step by step instructions that I can access some where for the full build

[@kimberlymaxey4349]

Possibly downloadable

[@architectrealities7693]

I have a question, how would a system like this run if you were to use horse poop? Or if it is even possible to use it?

[@flash001USA]

No fuel is out of the question as long as it is dry and it is burnable with enough BTU's to make viable gas.

[@architectrealities7693]

Have you ever thought of trying a 'airlock' system with a detachable hopper ontop of the burner?

[@flash001USA]

Funny you should mention that. I'm building what you described right now. Stay tuned.

[@architectrealities7693]

Oh as another question, what generator are you using? or otherwise what range of generator production would be 'optimal' for a setup like yours?

[@flash001USA]

My generator has a 5 Hp Briggs and Stratton but I could upgrade the engine to a 12.5 Hp engine and get the full 2 KW from the generator head so there are easy workarounds.

[@extreme4779]

Yeah, I hear you on that! Right now i am grappling with how to make this thing feed better, I think you called it bridging. I gotta keep poking this thing every 3 minutes to keep the flame.

[@flash001USA]

I don't know how far you've gotten into my videos or other peoples channels that cover this topic. Automation is the ticket to not having to babysit the gasifier. If you make the wood Hopper to big or if you put too much wood fuel in a gasifier that will cause issues with bridging and tar also. There's a lot of little ins-and-outs that you have to figure out when you start messing with this technology because in reality it's very crude. All of us are backyard builders making gasifiers out of trash cans and anything else that we think will suit our needs. Here's a good example: Some high end automotive manufacturers will tell you that their cars or trucks will run very poorly or not run at all on the wrong type of gas. BMW is notorious for that. Even with refined fuel some engines will not run unless the octane is correct yet here we are with our fancy modified and spray-painted trash cans burning wood in them and calling the product fuel. I realize I'm being a jokester talking like this but it's true. Fuel requirements for most engines have a very tight tolerance which is extremely difficult for us to accomplish with our fancy trash cans that produce fuel but not impossible. The right kind of wood fuel along with decent automation is the ticket. I mentioned this in my last reply to you the go check out All Power Labs. They have a KZbin channel along with a good website. You can learn a lot from these guys. Even with the aggravation with a homemade gasifier it's still pretty exciting every time I fire it up and I see the engine run on homemade fuel. You'll figure it out if you tinker with it long enough and you will work out the bugs.

[@lonelyboy401]

I would like to produce enough gas to power a 20hp engine running a 10kw generator. Will this do that if I use a 1" nozzle? Patrick Henry

[@flash001USA]

To be honest I can't give you a concrete answer. It might. but you may need to make the cone wider at the top maybe around 7 inches. I had to experiment to get this gasifier to where I have it now.

[@extreme4779]

I have a question for you. Early on in your vids, you had 5 air intake ports around the sides of your burn chamber. Did you find that this was not as effective as the single nozzle going straight down the middle?

[@flash001USA]

That question is a double-edged sword. If you're building a bigger gasifier for larger engines then you cannot use a single nozzle design and you have to calculate the correct number of air nozzles along with their correct diameters needed for the air intake not only to heat up the ember bed hot enough to crack tars but to also meet the engines fuel requirements to run correctly. It can get involved so yeah you need to either do the nozzle calculations to get you close or you will wind up with a lot of experimentation to get there. With small engine builds a single nozzle design is pretty simple and straightforward. I was able to experiment with my nozzle diameter until I found the sweet spot to run my engine and still reasonably crack tars. When I made this video I was building two gasifier at the same time. I had the one for the single nozzle build and one with the multi nozzles build. I wound up giving the multi nozzles build away to somebody who took it on to complete it. Yeah I could see how that video would be confusing but all of that happened when I was still in the process of figuring everything out myself. I hope that helps answer your question. I said double edged sword question

[@flash001USA]

I want to get back to my electronics stuff. I have a few things on the back burner that I want to get back into.

[@brettmciver432]

hi Flash sent this idea to docdox as well i have a small suggestion for you I have been doing a bit of research on the gasification process and had a thought at the pyrolysis point in your reactor the fuel is giving off C02 and water and as it goes through the reduction part of the reactor it breaks down into C0 and hydrogen right ?? why not when your running your generator off the syngas put the exhaust (which is now CO2@ and Water) straight back into the pyrolysis point in your reactor? Im going to send this idea to flash as well Anyone else thought of this? seems to me the ultimate form of recycling?? Oh and im in the process of building my own gasifier just gathering the resources needed have a few other ideas as well to test but need to concentrate on one thing at a time.

[@laserfalcon]

Will saw dust work as the fuel source?

[@flash001USA]

Yes and no. The fuel needs to match the design. This build is set up for small chunks of wood around 3/4 up to a little over 1 inch chunks. Using sawdust on a small design is difficult which is why people work with wood chunks or even wood pellets. Just a side-note: You can't use wood pellets in a closed hopper design because they will swell up and break down into sawdust and clog the gasifier.

[@tgm1353]

Hi Flash , Do you know what CFM your fan is ?? I see one a Jabsco on e-bay w/ 105 cfm 3" I dont think thats enough CFM ??

[@flash001USA]

The fan I have does not have any information on it so I don't know the CFM but I can tell you that it needs to move air at least as hard as an old style gun hair dryer turned on it's high blower setting. That's roughly the amount of air you need to be able to move. When I get off work I'll see what I can find the links I was telling you about and send you a link to check out. Keep in mind you will have to modify the fan to be able to tie it into your gasifier.

[@flash001USA]

Kevin here are the best links I could find. You will still have to do the mods to accept a flare tube and an input fitting but that should be simple to accomplish. I will go and check out your blower fan link too. Good luck. www.boatersland.com/itt351150020.html www.boatersland.com/itt355150010.html

[@tgm1353]

flash001USA Thanks a million Flash !! I am dealing w/ some leak issues and realizing a 3/4 inch pipe fitting is not going to work. I followed the instructions pretty good on the heart of the gasifier but experimented w/ a two 20 lb propane tank storage hook up w/ an old milk can for my filter assy.on the top of them two all hooked togather w/ 3/4 pipe thread in-between the 3. Now I am switching to a 100 lb tank cut in 1/2 w/ 1 1/4 hole inlet and outlet. for the storage tank I am going to weld a top on the 1/2 tank.and then go to pvc for the filter. Thats all I got laying around right now unless a tank pops up on craigs list. Thanks for the info on the fan I have a inline bilge fan 3" rated at 105 cfm but did not seem to pull correctly ?? probably my screwey 3/4 set-up ?? ordered a 4" w/ 250 cfm to try next. w/ my 3rd upgrade !! Anyway its kind of fun just working on the stuff. Been alot of marrying and slip-fit sealer home depot mumbo-jumbo bananza !! It looked like you moved your fire tube to the bottom of your new 2" stainless cone on the video ?? I am currently trying a 1 1/4 inlet to a 3/4 pipe to a 1/2 nozzel in some day to run a 13 horse Honda. I Know your SUPER busy Jammin and all so Thanks again for everything. I'm hooked on Flashifien !!!

[@flash001USA]

It would be the same size I'm using. My setup should technically handle anything from a 5 Hp engine up to a 15 or even an 18 Hp engine simply by changing out the air nozzle.

[@laserfalcon]

If you are running this lets say over 6 hr period,. How often to you need to shake the pot?

[@flash001USA]

There are two parts to this. The wood hopper and the grate. You shake the wood hopper about every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure the wood is moving down into the ember bed and shake the grate about every 5 minutes or so to clear the grate at the bottom of the wood hopper of biochar (spent wood)

[@laserfalcon]

@@flash001USA I was going to comment half way through video you need to automate that but you mentioned that. Good work you did Do you offer any down loads on design?

[@flash001USA]

Yeah everything is documented. Go to: www.miniwoodgas.com and reach out to me there through the contact the webhost tab.

[@kenjarjabka2648]

Did you get everything printed out to show how to build this

[@flash001USA]

Yes and the system has been upgraded. Go to www.miniwoodgas.com and contact the web host which will be me. I will send you the build for free.

[@sjf67gto]

How did you modify the generator?

[@flash001USA]

You make an external carburetor that can feed the factory carburetor through it's intake. Here is what I built. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaSznKGamJere6c

[@flash001USA]

My plan is to set up a website dedicated to small engine gasifiers that not only covers my build (And my new ultra simple designs I've been thinking about) but to consolidate other youtube users builds so people can find the info with ease.

[@tuckerdave1]

Nice job Flash !! ,I will give you a call , I have some ? If you done mind ok ? You live in a nice state , I wish I could have gone a little further west thought , I'm not much of a beach guy !! I like the hills and woods , maybe next time I can head your way ! Thanks again for your grate video !!

[@flash001USA]

Jack this gas is better being used on demand. You really cannot compress enough of it to make it worth while. Propane gas is in a liquid state in the bottle and once you open the valve, the propane comes out as a gas. You need specialized equipment to compress any gas much less woodgas.

[@jims5785]

Flash001usa, is there some way I can contact you aside from this format? thanks

[@flash001USA]

Yeah, shoot me a personal message thru youtube or leave me a email in the blog board here and I'll get back at you.

[@eldonbarnett1902]

Will this gas work on a gas grill or will it leave a funny taste in the food

[@flash001USA]

Technically it could be modified to run a gas grill but this would be overkill and very inefficient to use the gas in this manner.

[@donduebon]

Good Job !!!

[@region-7]

If you did this in 2013, where are you at today? :)

[@flash001USA]

It's totally automated now. It's on standby for issues like we have today.