Making wood gas using my Wood Gasifier. Mods and Temperature readings Part 2

Making wood gas from my imbert wood gasifer was proving difficult until I made a few simple modifications. No more bridging issues.
My initial constriction in the reduction zone was 50mm or 2 inch and I was finding that my wood chips would simply block and bridge at this point. By widening the constriction to 3 inch or 75mm, all my problems went away, and the volume of wood gas went up.
My intention is to run a 15HP engine and a 3 inch constriction is perfect according to the FEMA guidelines.
In the video I reference the FEMA plans and if you haven't found them on google, then here is the link to the rather impressively detailed plans that were drawn up in the 1940's:
www.driveonwoo...
The other really useful link is the site where you can make you cone templates. I have used these all the time and they really do work. Aside from making cones, you will find this website full of useful things you never know you needed.:
for metric: www.blocklayer...
for imperial: www.blocklayer...
Anyway, I am getting closer to hooking up my engine, but first I need to sort my filters out. Stay tuned on how I do this to create the magical blue flame that indicates low carbon and low tar......
A big thank you to Flash for making so many useful videos on this topic. His channel can be found here: / flash001usa
/ mycountrylife Join us on Patreon for lots more info and behind the scenes videos.
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✅I've written a book!! On how to start a vineyard and is available on Amazon on the following link: amzn.eu/d/5ZER7c8
If you want to see my other channel that is completely unrelated to this one then you can do so on this link:
/ @talkingmoney5990
Music by : www.bensound.com

[@flash001USA]

I also wanted to tell you that you did a great job on your build. If a 3 inch restriction throat works for you then that's great! It also comes down to the fuel you are using so for your build and the wood chips you are using a 3 inch restriction appears to work just fine... You mentioned back flashes and you can loosely pack a small ball of course strand stainless steel wool about an inch iside the top of your flare tube right where you light your flare and that will come close to completely stopping any back firing at the flare tube or flash back issues at the flare tube. Also you mentioned the flare being orange and that's a good indication you're cracking the tars. What you don't want to see are any yellow milky flares or purple milky looking flares. Yeah a blue flare is great but as long as it's orange you're safe. If you can extinguish the flare after the gasifier has warmed up and not see any smoke or vapor it doesn't matter if you don't have a blue flare. I've seen a solid white flare on some runs which means I was producing a lot of hydrogen in the woodgas and I've seen the flares with a transparent Halloween orange even with red hues which means that there is probably some micro carbon particles in the gas but no tar issues. A lot of the pro builds are only concerned with removing just the large particles from the woodgas and they will tell you that the engine will not be harmed as long as the temperatures are hot enough so that the tar is being broken down BEFORE the gas enters the filters and the engine. They will also use simple straw media filters to capture large particles and to help with not restricting the engine's ability to breathe and draw the woodgas from the gasifier itself. I went with the extra filtering because I just wanted to play it safe. Hope that helps.

[@bacskje2598]

Cant wait for the new episode, very cool project

[@energieundhobby]

It is best to optimize the gasifier without a filter until it delivers an almost blue flame. With an electrostatic precipitator and wet filter you immediately get a nice blue flame, but still a lot of tar is produced and the filters will sooner or later have a problem. Nice project you started there =) Greetings from Bavaria (Germany)

[@ChuckMorton]

Would that be burning hotter to avoid creosote buildup?

[@paulansette6145]

Good to see someone else this side of the pond having a crack at this. I thought I was alone.

[@mycountrylife810]

Never alone on you tube🤣

[@paulansette6145]

@@mycountrylife810 I can see the Brecon Beacons from my fence.

[@Dream.big.dreams]

Enjoyed your video. I too have unlimited supply of wood chips and would like to convert them to fuel, so I can power a furnace to keep my barns warm all winter. Then later to power my generator to power my AC to keep my barns cool in the summer. With Spring time to reduce my energy bill. Looking forward to following your progress and hopefully get my own unit up and running. I need to make mine low key, so as to not upset my noisy neighbors!

[@brianeustace4175]

Josefppaz has some good ideas i`m adding to my gasifier. He is sending the gas through a water shower as the first stage scrubber then steel wool.....worth a look

[@nadiarawson4626]

Really enjoying your channel. Keen to know when the next video is coming? 😃 how was the harvest?

[@dedotatedwam6001]

next video please

[@flash001USA]

Hi I just found this video and on my earlier builds I dealt with every issue you could imagine when I first tried my hand at building gasifiers. Originally I used a 3 inch diameter restriction that was bell shaped starting at 3 inches from the hearth and expanding out to 5 inches. This is actually called an inverted bell restriction throat and they do that to keep the restriction throat from jamming up. I had nothing but issues with the biochar along with the embers falling straight through and causing flashbacks. I wound up going with a straight pipe restriction throat that was still 3 inches in diameter and that helped a lot but I was not quite hot enough to crack the tar but I was producing a stable woodgas. Keep in mind that I was running small engines from 5.5 Hp up to 6.5 Hp so to raise the temperatures up enough for a small engine I had to go down to a 2 inch restriction throat and to stop the blockage I took a "ice cube tray design" approach where I made my restriction throat 2 inches that only spread out to around 2-1/4 inches and you can even go up to 2.5 inches. Just making the restriction throat taper out a little kind of like an ice cube tray solved the clogging issue for me and with the smaller 2 inch restriction throat I got the correct temperatures to safely run the engine without dealing with tar issues. Now in some areas people have clinker issues caused by the different minerals in the soil that the trees take in and as you consume the wood you actually make a hard rock called a clinker that can clog the gasifier up. Where I'm at I don't see that mineral issue and I only use seasoned wood which for me is dead branches I can find in the woods literally laying on the ground that I cut into 1/2 up to 3/4 inch chunks. Now that I found your videos I'll sit down and watch them because we all can learn from each others builds. My build is far from perfect especially compared to a commercial or a professional design but it works and others have taken it and made improvements on it which is what I really wanted to see happen with the build when I posted the videos. Have you been to the blog on www.miniwoodgas.com? You can not only post your ideas there but you can also ask others questions too. Thank you for the mention in your video. Flash...

[@DanielJAudette]

Very nice next video?

[@mikaelmesfin1357]

Hello! How are you? I was looking forward on how the gassifier project is going for you? Did you succeeded in making the blue flame? Please do a video like before on your progress! And Thank you very much!

[@ThePandaBeat]

Awesome series

[@Pentagathusosaurus]

Hi, how well has this build held up over time? I was wondering whether the oil drum is sturdy enough to cope with the heat output from this, but the temperature readings are much lower than I expected

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. The structure holds up well and the steel drum should last quite a while as the main heat is contained in the inside 'propane tank'. I have noticed that the rubber seals are the first to perish such as the boot that links the electric fan to the metal pipework. I think this is probably mainly due to sun damage.

[@Thrive-Off-Grid]

Need to make that reduction tube larger. The depth is fine but you could go twice the diameter. Think of the reduciton like a battery for the char. You want some excess so if there are hang ups above you can burn some of it out while things catch. But those inconsistancies are just the nature of the beast. They all do this at this scale physics is physics you can change that with archetecture alone. You need to automation to overcome that. It looks like you could convert it to charcoal as well. You should look at giving that a try. Its much easier and waaaaaay more stable. People spend way more time fiddling with a gasifier and then say Oh :well charcoal is a waste" Yeah your time is more valuable than that little bit of wood waste fidling around with that wood gasifier trying to make it work. lol

[@Thrive-Off-Grid]

By the way a wood gasifier does not produce a '' blue flare" the H2 is dirty it will not burn blue it generally is orange. CO will make a beautiful blue flare. Lab grade hydrogen will be more of a faint blue but not from a gasifier. Generally after the machine has ran and been shutdown; on the next light up the fuel left in the unit will have converted to charcoal. This is where you see a nice blue flare from the CO. Then as soon as the fresh fuel you have put in the unit hits the reactor it will shift to a proper wood gas flare. That is typically orange with a blue base. violet/pinkish is showing a rich CH4 gas.

[@aaronfrancois3996]

Would raising the temp and focus of heat in the hearth create a cleaner fuel? Maybe a reduction zone and increased velocity could bump up those temps

[@mikecarlson6416]

don't know if you'll make some improvement to compress the wood gas for later usage. and I think it may be better to insulate the burning chamber to increase the temperature

[@mycountrylife810]

Yes, that's a fair point re insulating the burn chamber. I may have to try that.

[@johnbaudino2535]

How about a shaker?

[@chrisbryant5749]

Maybe a silly idea but the end goal is to run a generator off the gasifier so why not mount the gasifier and generator on a solid base that has vibration dampeners under it allowing the generator vibrations to help clear the hanging material in the gasifier. You could simulate the generator vibrations by running the genset on standard fuel while continuing your development of the gasifier unit.

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

That's a great idea because the one's mounted on trucks don't need a shaker grate or bridge much at all from what I've seen.

[@rograham1]

@@kittywampusdrums4963 It's a standard solution. You can even install a rod between the generator and the gasifier to cause vibrations.

[@meilyn22]

Doesn't have to be all blue. Stop wasting time and hook up the generator. People use orange flare all the time.

[@brianmurphy8790]

50mm is about right for a small generator. Maybe a tad too small. I'd go with 70mm. If you want to run a decent 4 cylinder, you're gonna need about 150mm - 200mm throat. My reasoning for wider/less taper - you need the gas to move slowly through the embers. Too narrow and the gas will speed up, moving through the bed before it's had enough time to crack the hydrocarbons. It needs time in the embers. A deeper, hotter ember bed is better for making wood gas - with air inlets at different positions through the full length of embers. Charcoal gasification is easier, more forgiving and requires less effort to make clean gas. All the tars have mostly been removed already. You need less heat and less embers to make clean charcoal gas, so a shorter, narrower burn zone will work. Charcoal will give blue flame gas easy. It's nearly all CO - unlike wood gas. Heat is your best friend when making wood gas, the hotter the better. Insulate the hearth/throat. Aim for 1,200c and keep the gas in there as long as possible. Bubble the gas through several water traps. Cleans out tar and dust better than anything else - and it removes some carbon dioxide, while leaving the carbon monoxide in. It makes a vortex filter redundant. A regular car air filter will be sufficient, once you've condensed all the moisture out the gas.

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Brian. That is excellent advice- thank you. I was considering making the throat longer for the very reasons you gave. Although I am running my 15hp generator at 230v and 50hz, I cannot yet put too much of load on it without losing the revs. So my thoughts were similar to yours. I have been intrigued with the charcoal idea too and will have to experiment with that too. I shall make some more videos shortly. But thank you for taking the time in commenting. A

[@brianmurphy8790]

@@mycountrylife810 I enjoy sharing my thoughts on it. I'm no gasifier expert, but I sure as heck been a firebug all my life. Small fires, big fires, huge fires. If it burns, at some point in life, I've made fire with it. Pretty sure I know, understand and respect fire way more than most. Something I've got planned for my gasifier - injecting super-heated steam into/through the embers. It has water cooling. The plan is to take some of the hot water and run it through a coil inside the main cylinder - in the hot gas flow and around all the really hot bits. Hopefully, by the time it reaches injection points in the embers, it'll be 1,000c. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZ6lnpeVf6eqqdE

[@jajsjjijsksls3256]

What about simple cone shared iike funnel gasifier with cyclone filter and water tank and gas outlet for direct IC engiines?. ❤❤❤😊

[@DeweyKentM]

When you said filtration socks, it made me think of proper socks. Because of how cool the gas is, there isn’t any worry of burning or melting conventional fabrics, right? So in theory, you could use old socks, stockings, or other clothing materials, the problem is just how effective those materials would be at filtering the gas? I wonder how effective charcloth would be. I suppose the problem would be the density of the layers you use and the fragility of the material. I’ve been fascinated with wood gasifiers ever since I learned about them a few years ago, but I don’t have the skill to build one, so videos like these are perfect for satisfying my curiosity. Although, sometimes it can also peak my curiosity, as you’ve read.

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

The tar should crack in the fire-cone the most then get spun out in a vortex filter right after. Look up Flash001USA channel on youtube he has a tri-filter setup with hanging "socks" of something in them at the end of the filtration train.

[@fordsiera1950]

Hi! From ukraine!

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Ukraine😃

[@gpowell511]

Any updates?

[@Mat-hh6hj]

Take a look at a cyclone filter design for a dust extraction there needs to be a cylinder and cone shape m. What you have is an expansion tank.

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Mat. Yeah my design is not ideal. I am getting quite a lot of condensate dropping out at this stage along with some tars and larger particles. I think this may be happening because this tank is acting as an effective heat sink and cooling the gas. I may well redesign this part later.... Thanks for your comment though.

[@fraid5508]

Nice video btw!

[@user-udTiffanywang]

next video plz

[@1992jamo]

I've been wondering if using an old boiler tank could work well as a cooler. Running the gas through the copper coil inside.

[@roryhealy8656]

Great video. I can't seem to find the 3rd video. I would love to see the units performance and also the practicalities of using it as an energy source.

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

This is a great video we get to see the temps at the different areas. Thanks for uploading! I'm building mine with a 2" PVC radiator and I think it will be just fine after seeing your temps. I have a 2.5" cone if I remember right. I haven't fired it up yet but that was the math for a 5-10hp engine/generator. As long as the wood is cut small enough there shouldn't be too much bridging.

[@Kampup]

Whos flash?

[@BubbleheadDiver]

So did you ever make the third video, and get the blue flame by tweaking your filter setup?

[@fraid5508]

Where did you get the connector between your reactor and condenser? How much are they? For my part I bought a union type connector but expensive...

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. I found these connectors really useful as they take a range of pipe sizes and ready to undo. If you Google search for a exhaust tube pipe connector joiner sleeve clamp connector, you should get something close. I think I got moved on eBay.

[@mazdalorean]

I had the same issue with bridging. I also increased the reduction to about 3". Also removed the sides on my ash grate. That way I can shake the hopper empty if I want. Doesn't bridge anymore. Orange flame is fine. Yellow is tar. I've run a lot of pellets through my gasifier and although it doesn't bridge anymore, I'm not happy with the pellets. I even mixed 50/50 pellets and charcoal pellets and still struggle to not produce some tar. The polyester fiber filter does a good job of capturing the tar. After that I also run through a coffee filter and that doesn't seem to collect anything. I also use pot scrubbers for first filter, wood shavings for second filter, then pillow fill polyester for the third filter. I have found running a 5,000 watt generator ( producing about 2,000 watts max) doesn't quite keep the hearth hot enough at least on pellets anyway. I'm now in the process of getting a 13,000 watt generator setup and running on 3/4×3/4" cubes. I can't wait to see how much load I can put on the bigger generator and what the temperature runs at. Anyway I enjoyed the video. Joe

[@brandonharvey7939]

To make cones just cut out a perfectly round circle, cut a slit in the circle in a straight line that starts at the center and ends at at the outer edge of the circle, open a bench vise to the diameter of the circle and then clamp onto the circle so that the jaws rest on the sharp edges of the circle and so that the slit you cut in it runs parallel to the jaws of the vise, then tighten down the vise and let the circle fold into itself like a tulip until you get the size of the cone you want and weld the seam. Try it with a paper plate and it'll make more sense

[@i.eduard4098]

Hello, you good, healthy?

[@bobbylong4443]

Awesome

[@solexxx8588]

Buy Ben Petersons book. His fundamental understanding of wood gasification will help you improve your design. Your problem is not filtration. Your pyrolysis zone is not hot enough or deep enough.