The new A1 Gasifier Internals, part 3

A video showing the internals of the A-1 gasifier soon to be modified from shallow dual cone Imbert to deep single firecone cone design.

[@mazdalorean]

nice work. I got the link for your vid through the miniwoodgas website. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[@flash001USA]

My original top cone dimensions were damn well identical to the top cone you have in this video! The only thing I did different from the design specs was I made the bottom inverted tar bell shorter! Ahhh ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa! I was just thinking that your bottom cone should have been on the top and I'll be a son of a gun if you just didn't say you were going to move the bottom cone to the top!

[@flash001USA]

You never know. When I built up my first Imbert gasifier it ran really good but at times the embers would fall through the top cone thru the bottom bell and cause all sorts of issues like a sudden loss of gas followed with a hard foop since oxygen would rush into the system My gasifier definitely cracked the tar but for me it was unstable and I just didn't trust it. When I built my first FEMA gasifier it was a nasty tar machine but it was stupid stable even when I would run it for 6 hours at a time non stop but it was just too dirty so it was useless. My new Imbert gasifier I built was a much better build mechanically but it wasn't stable so I went went with a straight pipe instead of the inverted tar bell on the bottom too for the same issues he is seeing with his setup. Once I made the adjustments with my grate that gasifier went from being temperamental to stable plus it cracks the tar and I can run it for hours on end with no issues but you also made a real good point too and that is the fuel and the air mixture has to be right for things to be stable and clean. I learned that by trial and error and you can't use damp wood or the wrong sized wood chunks either. You have to experiment to find the correct sized chunks for your build in order to tune the gasifier up and then you have to stick to what works to make it dependable. Once I figured out that a hot start-up using nothing but biochar was the ticket I no longer see any tar in the system even at start-up and I've ran the generator in 4 hour runs non-stop and my jar and my expansion tank either had captured a deep purple water or nothing whatsoever depending on how long my runs were. I even noticed that a high humidity day would cause my system to capture more water in it. My setup is a bit unconventional too and I took a beating from a few other youtube users over my straight pipe over the inverted bell but it burns very clean so let's see what he comes up with. Does it make the build wrong not to use a long bell on the bottom? In the end all that will matter is if the gasifier burns stable and that it makes a good fuel and burns clean without any tar issues. That's where the rubber meets the road and if it passes those test all is good. For the record, a deep fire cone is a bit more forgiving on cracking the tar because even if you have temperatures in the 2000 F zone you can still have tar if the gas moves too fast thru the ember bed where it doesn't have enough time to be cracked. A deeper fire cone allows for some fudge room so it is a bit more forgiving as long as the temperatures in the reaction zone are hot enough.

[@flash001USA]

You know man, that's a damned good question because I never mentioned in my videos that the water that I was capturing in my system was also a black-purple color under bright sun light and then you mentioned it in one of your recent videos but yeah I'm not quite sure why it's purple but I do have an idea. I think it's burnt tar soot and water with some fine ash mixed together. I know this much. If the tars are not being cracked you will ALWAYS have a Coca cola colored water that will stain anything it comes into contact with a piss yellow color. The very first thing that I picked up on with my Imbert was that when the tar was being cracked the water went black (dark purple) and it will not stain anything. I even poured it over a paper towel in one of my videos and rinsed it clean under a spigot with cold water just to prove the point that it wasn't tar. When I first seen it I was fooled into thinking I had tar in my filters with what I now call "fake" tar where I would see this goo that would stick to your hands in my filter medium but it turned out to be this purple black stuff mixed with ash and water that would just rinse away with the hose or you could even let it dry and just crumble it to a powder. Tar is worse than ink. If you get it on your skin it doesn't wash off! I went around in circles thinking it was tar until I realized that it wouldn't stain your skin. But here's the deal, even though it isn't gooey tar this crap WILL gum up an engine. It will clean off easier but it can cause issues. This is why I don't follow Wayne Keith's logic that the engine will just pass it thru. Maybe on a large engine but I don't think a small engine like a Briggs & Stratton can handle it and that's why I filter the ever loving crap out of it before I run it into my generator. I want to know that I'm not gumming anything up as others on youtube have on their setups.

[@TheWerdSmith]

are those one inch nozzles?

[@flash001USA]

***** Tom what's up? Have you been experimenting with your gasifier since the last time we spoke?

[@TheWerdSmith]

been sick as a dog. But I did light it with just the cyclone. I got some nice orange red flame too. It really burned up the wood quick though. I have been rebuilding my cyclone for better heat resistance. I think it is producing more gas than I need for the generator.

[@flash001USA]

Hey man, how goes it? Have you had anymore tinker time to work on your gasifier?

[@plasmacutter1]

Hey flash, glad you asked, i went the whole way with the insulation, i used 9 kg of plaster of paris and dry sand to plaster the steel cavity around the firecone i fabricated, and also did the entire inside of the barrell , which was tricky ,, 1 1/2 inches thick, i am pissed i didnt get a video of all the upgrades but time was precious. I did a trial run with the new firecone set-up,, and as you predicted i got a halloween orange flare, almost see thru,, there is too much to mention in writing of what changes i made and what i discovered on inspection,, gotta fix the leaking hopper lid, and the 2 leaks in the first crossover pipe elbows, might start playing with different filter mediums coz what i am using is not doing much at all,, i switch over and back again and dont see any difference in the flare,, hmm ? The flare really is promising though, and once this Gasifier heated up it was a pleasure to see and use and hows this,, I was called to come inside for dinner so i shut everything off with half a hopper full of fuel,,, 45 minutes later i decided to go back out and have another play around with the gasifier. I shoved the gas torch into the ignition port and in 2 minutes she fired right up and low and behold flammable gas !! the insulation is awesome, keeps the heat inside the barrell and in turn doesnt heat up the surroundings,, radiator was nice and cool too ,,,outgoing gas temp was 30 degrees C, i ran my hand thru the flare,, Freaky !! So there you have it,, i have done some late night work on the gasifier and i will get a video out in the next month or so,, trying to juggle life and everything that goes with it keeps me anxious to get back to the gasifier ,,

[@flash001USA]

***** Welcome to the world of cracked tar. Now you know what you are looking for and it sounds like you are at the stage of fine tuning the gasifier.