Making wood gas using my Wood Gasifier. Introducing my Imbert Gasifier Part 1

Wood gasifiers are old technology that has been overlooked but it may be a route to lessen our dependency on fossil fuels.
I have made a wood gasifier along the lines of an Imbert gasifier that uses a constricted reduction zone inside. This is only an introduction to what I have made and what it does.
My aim is to run a generator that will charge a battery bank. From this battery bank I hope to run the house via an inverter.
My generator will be a 13hp engine. Therefore my constriction zone is about 50mm (2 inch) in diameter.
A big thank you to Flash for making so many useful videos on this topic. His channel can be found here: / flash001usa
For further reading, just good wood gasifiers and sit back and soak all the information up. This could be a way to reduce our dependency on Saudi oil.
/ mycountrylife Join us on Patreon for lots more info and behind the scenes videos.
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[@markimarku]

my grandfather had a smaller version of one of these on his car during the war

[@mycountrylife810]

That's amazing! - I think it was the government encouraging people to be less dependant on petrol in times of rationing. I know that America published detail plans on how to make a gasifier. They were popular all over the place, but not so much in the UK as far I understand.

[@michaelb.42112]

This is my next project in the backyard. It is so logical, and it's funny how all the preppers were doing this 10 years ago on TV as people snickered in the background. I always knew they'd have the last laugh. OK, I had no idea how close we are to Walking Dead type of lawlessness...

[@reer5340]

What a neat piece of work! amazing!

[@mycountrylife810]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@YouKnowTheyExist]

I did not spot an explosion release cover on the filter can, as well there needs to be adequate release points throughout. I jump through vids quick, but I do know at least one guy in modern age of W-G got himself killed by a tank explosion. The problem is always at potential, if you have any leaks after the hot spot then there can be air getting in that makes a bomb-mixture in some tank or tube. Some kind of cap on a chain that blows out quick is needed, adequate to release the shredding pressure.

[@user-hd1uf6so9y]

with all those piles of wood in the background i can see why you’re so happy with your project. so much fuel!

[@mazdalorean]

Nice job. Flame looks good. I also built a Flash001usa type gasifier. I'm just getting ready to fire up a wood processing machine to make consistent size cubes out of logs. Video coming soon. Thanks for the show. Joe

[@alisonbeaty6127]

What a beautiful clean build! Looking forward to your next video!

[@davedave492]

Looks great, finally started my own using flash 001 and Mr teslonian ideas both clever fella,s keep up the work and please more vdos

[@mycountrylife810]

Thanks, will do!

[@cetate93]

As far as gas cleanliness is concerned, when not lit if it only looks a little hazy it is plenty clean to run an engine safely. Colors themselves can be an indicator but I don't stress too much over color.

[@harrymills2770]

Fouled plugs, gummed-up valves, gummed-up intake manifold, ... Seems like the cleaner you make it, the less maintenance on your engine. And it's easy enough to get a clean end-product.

[@randalmoroski1184]

Very nice!

[@elibaier]

Great video! Glad to see some modern gasifier videos! After you do get a generator running off of the gas you shoudl try to figure out the efficiency of the gasifier!

[@migueljose2944]

very impressive! thank you! keep on posting!

[@cottonpreppinpoor2709]

Glad I found this. Have been planning on building one myself. So far I've bought a book n watched dozens of videos lol. I do work 80-100 hours a week so time isn't really on my side.

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. Thanks for your comment. I know what you mean about to time. I started mine back in March this year and only just got it working in August. Good luck of you decide to build one.

[@bigrob1887]

The Wayne Keith gasifier makes way cleaner gas than the imberts. Worth paying for the book with blueprints.

[@RenaissanceThinking]

This is a very informative video. A follow-up on this would be great.

[@CharlesGann1]

Glad to see you doing arun up.

[@michaelgarcia4204]

Great video!

[@mikeharley3304]

Excellent video! I am looking forward to future videos on this project. A wood gasifier build is definitely on my todo list in the future. (Two other projects on the short list first before I can start on it, but I will build one in the not too distant future hopefully.) Yours seems to be one of the nicest gasifiers shown on KZbin! (Too many look like they were built by a 3-year-old out of old soup cans.). Do you have any plans on writing up anything to outline what you learned from the project? It looks like you have done an outstanding job with it!

[@SANTO971]

Nicely done. Also consider wet/ water filter.

[@fireandforge]

I would just add another saw dust filter after your existing filter

[@kenboak]

Hi from Redhill, Surrey. Great videos, I will email you shortly.

[@abhijitkher145]

Very informative video. Thanks for sharing 🙏 🙏

[@bobbylong4443]

Awesome looking great keep moving forward you can do it.

[@lesthompson5907]

That will run a gen set . it quit clean at that but it not as much as is possible ironically drying out your wood chips as evaporated the full potential in it wood fibbers , the water with in. but never the les it will run a combustion engine. but if you pull it in to a charcoal colom now you would increase it within the colom & if you dript, Water in the entrance so it can flash to steam & be sucked in it would burn of it oxygen & enrich it even more. Test out my suggestion & get that eureka moment . for your self.

[@mycountrylife810]

That is a fantastic suggestion. I will definitely try that and see if makes a difference. I can see the logic of what you are saying.

[@bobbylong4443]

I would keep top shut don't want in fire jumping out maybe put gasification system away from wood :)

[@christianlords1340]

I am starting the same thing, ran into this video

[@anvarisamukhamedov4961]

thank you for the video, will subscribe to and follow your channel for wood gasifier videos.

[@mycountrylife810]

Thank you Ray. I do all sorts of videos here, so some may not be of interest but I will be doing more gasifier videos soon.

[@BigBeavrSlayer]

Don't worry to much on flare color, if it is just a haze and not smokey then it is plenty clean. You can see in several of my videos I don't care about the color of the flair at all, if it's a nice haze it is ready to run the engine just fine

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Marcus, thank you for that. I’ll have a look at your videos. I think I’m pretty close but not quite there yet….

[@BigBeavrSlayer]

@@mycountrylife810 have you tested to moisture content of your chips? This will make a big difference in temperature and how fast you get clean gas. Ideally you want say 10-12% Mc, that’s what my truck likes the best this leaves a little water to get converted to hydrogen as it passes through the glowing hot char bed

[@nghermit4922]

Saw someone using a water scrubber, think it was just pouring in at the top and splashing down on sink strainers. Maybe you’ve seen that? In fact it may have been flash that did it. I can’t remember.

[@justinmason993]

I've been studying this for awhile now I try to research everything I do sometimes to the point of over complacating it. So am I wrong when I say all you really need is to felter the smoke really good.

[@philroe2363]

One video I would like to see done on wood gas electric generation: The condition of the engine after running for several hundred hours. As you point out, the tars are more or less removed, and the gas is cooled and filtered. How does the best possible quality wood gas affect the life of the engine? Do they need to be torn down and cleaned anymore than a gas fueled engine? I would like to believe they run as clean or even cleaner than gas fueled engines.

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Phil. Yea, it would be interesting to strip an engine after hours of use. I think the tars are the biggest enemy, but as I understand it a small amount is not too bad especially if the engine is run for a few minutes at the end of the run with a bit of regular petrol. I’m hoping to keep tars and particulates to a minimum but will make another video soon.

[@dodgeplow]

@@mycountrylife810 Valve deposits (and spark plug fouling) would be the main problem. Life of the engine would otherwise not be an issue. Water filtering should help considerably as those should precipitate out

[@harrymills2770]

@@dodgeplow Maybe build-up on valves causing them to burn out as well?

[@dodgeplow]

@@harrymills2770 I think more so on the intake valves, but on the exhaust as well to a lesser amount. It would cause bad valve sealing after a while. The water filtration could reduce that but I don't know enough about it.

[@terrymiskimmin9226]

Ben Peterson, has great books with detailed plans “ Wood gasifier Builders Bible “ you can buy online

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

Looks great! I'm building one right now. I wonder if your radiator is large enough and is maybe that's why the flame is so orange? Mine is 6ft tall 2" pvc pipes, I watched Flash001's vids too lol. 😎 Will you be using the tri-filter too?

[@obhatlem]

Hi! Thank you for interesting stuff. I am working with making a wood-gasifier, and wonder if you can give me a hint on which kind of air-fan you use? Best regards from Norway. OBH

[@christophernunn943]

What a great video from a nice Chap too? First time I’ve seen an Englishman doing one, usually from Eastern Europe or the states I’m interested and will fabricate gasification setup some time soon. After seeing many videos on truck powered gasifiers I’m still collecting as much info before starting. I don’t know what DVLA will make of it, as far as I know there are no wood gas vehicles here in UK?

[@cetate93]

Do you have a condensing/monorator hopper? It would allow you to dry the wood as it's in the hopper, steam from the rising heat will condense on the cool walls and go into a gutter ring leading to a container outside the gasifier. You could make one that bolts onto your existing unit if you don't have one. Also if you have a few extra bilge blowers connected to each other it will get warmed up a bit faster.

[@mycountrylife810]

very intersesting - I will definitely have a look into this.

[@ravelkoff3549]

Wow :) I would have been proud if my first attempt would have been that successful :) Nice build. Have you ever considered using a column with electrostatic precipitators? I use 4 of these in a row and it works like a charm. Invisible gas (no smoke) with a slight woody odor.

[@mycountrylife810]

Your set up sounds amazing!! I will definitely take a look.

[@ravelkoff3549]

@@mycountrylife810 As I stated out earlier, I will make a video when everything is up and running. My gasser is ready but the CHP takes still a lot of time. One day when everything will be assembled and the shed has been cleared, I can present it to the public. ATM everything looks like chaos. Especially the shed. :D And since this theme is very time consuming and based on try and error, there are some things which are more important than this hobby. Slowly but steady.

[@harrymills2770]

​@@ravelkoff3549 Slow and steady is hard to learn, but very rewarding.

[@joshsundiwa]

Nice project, thanks for sharing, what material did you use for filtration?

[@CarveLife]

I have a CNC machine and I get an endless amounts of very dry sawdust and wood chips. Could that be used as my wood or a mixture of?

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. I would say that the sawdust probably won't work as it would be too fine but the wood chips should work so long as they don't get caught in the neck of the gasifier. I have been told that having bone dry wood chips don't work quite so well as having chips with a slightly raised moisture content. So much to learn with this technique and I must admit I have not quite mastered it yet. Thanks for watching.

[@fraid5508]

Very nice video. I would like to see how you designed your condenser.

[@mycountrylife810]

The condenser for this sized gasifier was so overly engineered that in the end, I replaced it with a single longer copper tube. All will make sense in my follow up video.....

[@rewIndustry]

you seem to have no throat or hearth in your reactor (burner). have you read the literature on throat diameter versus flow rate? this is the heart of wood gas production - you have to maintain the temperature for pyrolysis, high enough to crack all the tars, and, without a throat to entrain the air for pyrolosis, it will spread out, and will not get hot enough. i think, or am i just not seeing the constricted reduction zone you mention?

[@ultrastoat3298]

Kind of a ecological nightmare scenario, people going back to individually burning wood for energy :D. Neat build though. You called a couple of the components "condenser" The burnable gas isn't actually condescending is it? Its just cooling it right?

[@MrBigShotFancyPants]

The tar, water from wood and etc impurities condense. Maybe it's what he meant?

[@bobbylong4443]

I'm learning too I got to finish mine .I see when gas leaves small lp tank and goes in radiator and at bottom it looks like it is same level when going in filter may let it go up a foot then go into filter. Just thinking

[@brianmurphy8790]

Don't put anything other than gas with a perfectly blue flame through an engine. You'll get away with using dirty gas for a short while, but soon you'll be stripping the engine to clear out the tar. Any yellow in the flame is some form of un-burned carbon, which will deposit in the engine. Ultimately, a diesel engine will be more forgiving of dirty gas - and it will happily eat waste oil too.

[@mycountrylife810]

Good advice Brian. Thank you.

[@thelastengineer2315]

So could one use a large scale charcoal production kiln and capture the gas produced as fuel for the kiln ?

[@hughcoutts4020]

Did you make a 3rd video? If so, where can i find it?

[@KattyCloete]

Im from Namibia..africa pls

[@middleway1885]

Howdy, would using a fresnel lens and metal plate be a feasible way to dry the wood chips faster?

[@davidlaw233]

Question is the hot gas to dry and a lubricant added for the pistin etc

[@lesthompson5907]

The cooler the gas the more power with in the gas Now to run on a combustion engine we must let the gas in & the air in at the same time at the entrains to the inlet valves of the gen set . ones it fires up august to fins the sweet spot in the gas air mx . .

[@TheKlink]

surprised you didn't use the biochar for a filter

[@mycountrylife810]

I may well end up using biochar as the fuel at this rate. I am still a bit of a way to getting it to run stable

[@TheKlink]

@@mycountrylife810 do you mean as heat source? Because what makes biochar charcoal is the fact that all the volatiles have been boiled off.

[@_N4T3]

Hi is it possible to gasify diesel cars? Or is it just petrol?

[@lesthompson5907]

yes but the is no spark plug so a mens of ignition is required son drip a little deal in with the gas. I have never done it my self but I have seen diesel running on gas.

[@davedave492]

Hi could you please let me know the bilge pump details thank you

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Dave. The bilge pump is a 4 inch pump (ie the entry and exit holes are 4 inch. Standard bilge pump that I found on ebay. The motor is encased so the terminals are not exposed to any gases. I think the flow rate is 270 cfm (cubic feet per minute)

[@RhumRunner41]

My ignorance of this process will surely show. Will this contraption be directly connected to the engine? if so, how will the overflow gas be dealt with? If it's not connected to the engine, how will you store the gas you produce? And how's the vineyard coming along?

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. Good question. Once the engine is running the suction from the engine will provide the flow through the gasifier and the fan motor can be switched off. For this reason, the gasifer is built to the specification of the engine to be used - ie if running a 100hp engine, the gasifier would need a wider constriction in the 'reduction zone' inside the burner compared to a small engine that I will be running. Therefore there won't be excess gas produced that needs to be stored - the engine inself uses all the gas being sucked into it. Vineyard coming along nicely now - a new video will be posted shortly on summer pruning. Thanks for your interest. much appreciated - regards Anthony

[@KattyCloete]

Where can i buy a wood gasifier..what does it cost

[@marctorrades1760]

Very good build , but you buy tge wring generator in a previous vid. Diesel engine, not great . Petrol engine your only man for gasifier .

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Marc. You are quite right, the diesel generator in the previous video was purchased in the likely event of power cuts here. The Gasifier will indeed run a petrol engine and hopefully charge a battery bank for long term off grid power. Good to have a back up.

[@marctorrades1760]

@@mycountrylife810 but saying that's , there is youtubers who have shown that they were using woodgas with diesel engine. So , it might be something to try 🤔

[@U100Maciek]

And how is your wineyard? :) No updates since April.

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. New video coming shortly. they have just been growing, but the next vido will be on summer pruning since the vines grow rapidly during the summer - as the fruit develops we limit the runaway growth of the canes.

[@bschwand]

I imagine running a Stirling engine directly on the wood burning heat would be more efficient

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi there. I did initially look at making a Stirling engine but apparently gasifiers, of done right, are even more efficient (and easier to build).

[@bschwand]

@@mycountrylife810 maybe the gasifier, but the IC engine is definitely not the most efficient at extracting energy from any fuel.

[@pauldean9671]

You could extract the waste energy for heating water, driving a fan or heating a greenhouse. There are probably many ways you could make it more efficient.

[@Scott-lz2th]

@@mycountrylife810 I would use the heat to help dry the wood chips. Maybe a drying bin with a fan channeling the hot air?

[@harrymills2770]

@@Scott-lz2th I think he's getting his chips pretty dry before using them.

[@barbarapesa-yocum7753]

Where can we find plans for

[@backhoefred]

The us government posted detailed information for building those during WW2.

[@mycountrylife810]

You are absolutely right. FEMA produced them and they are still downloadable on line. Good resource and very detailed.

[@TheBelrick]

@@mycountrylife810 FEMA produced them for the 1970s OPEC oil embargo crisis.

[@marctorrades1760]

FEMA no good , to much problems with tar

[@fraid5508]

Do you put something inside your abs pipes (your filter)?

[@thaifreeburma]

What is left in the combustion chamber - ashes or bio-char?

[@mycountrylife810]

Usually biochar left after I shut down. I don't get much ash. Still trying to improve everything. Early days so far....

[@David-dv6yv]

I can’t hear it well enough. Why can’t they record at FULL VOLUME! Because we can always turn it down; but we cannot turn the volume up if you record at a whisper. The sad part is, that I would really like to know about this ‘gasifier’

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi David. That's interesting, I've just played it back and it seems to be ok on volume here. If anyone else is having a problem, let me know.

[@David-dv6yv]

@@mycountrylife810 it wasn’t said in order to be mean, it was said to be helpful. I’m so glad you are able to understand what you said.

[@jfelshaw]

Is there enough wood available to do this at scale? Seems really complicated.

[@mycountrylife810]

We shall see. I shall report back how much wood it burns per hour in a future video.

[@BigBeavrSlayer]

My gasifier consumes about 50lbs of wood for 55-60 miles traveled in my truck. There are much more efficient systems depending on the needs of the engine it is powering

[@dodgeplow]

if the wood is free, it's great for the individual enthusiast. This would not work to large scale or industry would've done it already.

[@BigBeavrSlayer]

@@dodgeplow all the wood I use is free, pallet wood from my work or limbs from tree removal. Doesn't need to work large scale, people are way to lazy to do wood production for daily use like I do. And that's fine with me. Although there are many industrial systems in other country's, and several in the US powering small farms. Lots of off grid back up systems

[@dodgeplow]

@@BigBeavrSlayer I agree. I was commenting in reply to the initial comment. I used a wood stove to heat my home for years on just the downed trees and dropped limbs on my property.

[@flexflex3676]

can you use plastic instead of wood?

[@mycountrylife810]

No, I wouldn't use plastic. Too many volatiles that would gum everything up and would probably be too explosive.

[@flexflex3676]

@@mycountrylife810 do you think it could work with additional filters?

[@YouKnowTheyExist]

People have tried using small percentage of plastic, the ash is a finer powder and you don't want a whole lot blowing through. The volatiles will crack as expected for any carbon fuel and no longer exist as they were. I think finely chopped plastic mixed with small chunky coal going down a coal feeder pipe is the best approach, but I never built this yet.

[@NewPodComp]

big mistake having it radiate down

[@lesthompson5907]

run the gas threw a bubblers & that will clean it to, blue would indicate monoacid gas it nee to be mesentera Or yellow in colure To be an hydrogen rich gas This can be achieved by sending your gas into a charcoal colom before your filters & then to the power unit you interned to use. i prefer a dc gen set to charge you battery bank. it can be manually incest by hand to to the level's one needs is the best way forward, the ues of a bubbler in the early stages will cool it & clean it up . But it must be understudy The power we are after is not in the wood I repeat it's not in the wood But locket up in the wood fibbers in it's water content . Yes Yes YES. it not what we have been educated in But in 1962 i discover the real truth about the wood gas genarater & it not the wood in the siystom but the water it produces that provide the reel power with in the wood fibbers, that the wood gas genarater achieves to make coupes copes amounts of charcoal sufficiently. of a size, pre 'pyrolysis. to put in a charcoal colom & the charcoal. That i used was a fill & power the colom. it was a bad wet & cold year & the ability. for gas production fell in my farther old WW2 gas genarater, after experiments i discover. that puling the damp smoke into a hot charcoal colom Bern to the oxen in the damp gas & predust copes as amount of power. in the form of hydrogen gas. far more than was available in dry wood. Les England , Ps we had one for years at home when i lived of grid. but the charcoal colom will predust sufficient power with a water drip to power most genarater & combustion engines most feistily. triy it out & see for ones self , Les

[@justinmason993]

What's a bubbler

[@lesthompson5907]

@@justinmason993 a bubbler is a vestal field water & the gas is allowed to travel in & rise to the top to clean & cool the gas As it levs the top on it wat to a charcoal colom to barn of the oxygen in it's damp smock & expire in to the flair . & then to the Gen set . as hydrogen gas . its impotent to relies the value of the water in the wood & the work the wood gas genarater plays in extracting it as it convert the wood to charcoal . for ues in the colon. it the missing link in the wood gas generates development put simply it best id one sets up an experiment puling damp smock into a charcoal colom & observed the transformation of it gas as it levs for the fear.

[@marcwildner]

Way you make it so complicated? Way not simple biogas, is clean it's less work and no to maintain only dumb your organic west in. How simple it kann be done watch ( Marc Wildner biogas) on KZbin 😘

[@mycountrylife810]

Hi Marc. Looks like a good idea and fair play to anyone doing this. My only preference is that I'm handling wood chips but if it works it works.

[@YouKnowTheyExist]

With a good system on a pick-up truck you can put 3,000 pounds of wood on a trailer and cross country. Bio-gas not so easy unless you compress a lot of it... hmmm... how much, how many pressure-tanks ?...