Has anyone here made their own gas? Wood gas!

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oneway71

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In my spare time I make syngas with my gasifier. I use trash and wood as fuel.

Here is a pic from tonights experiments.

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I've separated water into hydrogen and oxygen and burnt it through a regulated cutting torch head.
 
bkbond12 said:
I've separated water into hydrogen and oxygen and burnt it through a regulated cutting torch head.
Click to expand...

Cool! I always figured one day that I would tap into my battery and capture the hydrogen coming off that while driving.
 
I saw some show once where they made a gassifier to make wood gas. I had never heard of it before then. They used it to somehow generate power.
 
64physhy said:
I saw some show once where they made a gassifier to make wood gas. I had never heard of it before then. They used it to somehow generate power.
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Yes, In the early 1900's there were 12,000 towns in the US and Canada that used it to generate electricity.
Gasification made it possible for the industrial revolution to happen.

Gaslights in the early 1800's were operated with wood gas.

During WWII nearly 1 million cars used wood gas for fuel around the world.

I will be off the grid by the end of summer. I am currently building a larger unit to power and heat my home.
 
I dont know nothing about this stuff, but being as it has been around for the longest time ,is it economical or it it something that has something to do with your region ie lots of wood ect. How does it work ? Sounds pretty cool
 
For some it is economical. For instance I heat with wood pellets, the same fuel I use in my gasifier. (I also use trash)
With the wood pellets I can create gas, run an engine with for electricity and still heat my home at the same time. You need to cool the gas before you run an engine. Gas temps are about 1100f. You can use this extra heat for a radiant system.

With wood or biomass you are just scratching the surface. Dow in Midland MI gasifies 20 tons of trash a day.

If you have wood or almost any biomass source it can be affordable.

I should have an engine running sometime in July. and I will have all the radiant lines buried and running by the fall.

A couple of videos on it: 1st Video History of wood gas - The 3rd video is a van running with it.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV6Pcmbmqxg"]YouTube- Wood Gasification: Gasification 101 - Module 4[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6URPC1YPKM"]YouTube- Off Grid Personal Power Station- WoodyGasifier.com[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhmTjLZKing"]YouTube- Werner's Chevrolet powered by wood gas[/ame]
 
oneway71 said:
Cool! I always figured one day that I would tap into my battery and capture the hydrogen coming off that while driving.
Click to expand...
Dude that might actually work!!! hang with me here... Build a glass box around your battery with a hole in the bottom (hydrogen is heavier that oxygen so it won't escape from there) and then pip it into your air cleaner.

But that Idea is just nuts anyways :angry7:
 
A few do break away from the norm' , either forward to solar, or backward to the woods but our civilization as a whole can never leave fossil fuel dependence.
I expect the next cilivilization on this rock we call earth will be a bit smarter just as we were smarter than those before us.
Sound is the ultimate energy souce and it's abundant as waves crashing against the shore. Thunder is the primary clue but will they recognize it ? God only knows.
We didn't, or atleast not until it was too late.
Read up on sound energy or just call me crazy.
I'll go watch Monsters Inc. again :)
 
RedFish said:
A few do break away from the norm' , either forward to solar, or backward to the woods but our civilization as a whole can never leave fossil fuel dependence.
I expect the next cilivilization on this rock we call earth will be a bit smarter just as we were smarter than those before us.
Sound is the ultimate energy souce and it's abundant as waves crashing against the shore. Thunder is the primary clue but will they recognize it ? God only knows.
We didn't, or atleast not until it was too late.
Read up on sound energy or just call me crazy.
I'll go watch Monsters Inc. again :)
Click to expand...

With biomass gasification you can use the syngas in a Fischer Tropsch system with a catalyst and create liquid fuels; such as gasolene, kerosene, diesel, methanol and several others, including waxes.
This is being done on a few continents. I read that 70% of the fuel used in Africa is from Gasification.

Sound waves are cool. I have seen a diaphram sealed heated and produce electricity. The heat caused the diaphram to move rapidly. The coil attached to it generated electricity.
 
/6 Matt said:
Dude that might actually work!!! hang with me here... Build a glass box around your battery with a hole in the bottom (hydrogen is heavier that oxygen so it won't escape from there) and then pip it into your air cleaner.

But that Idea is just nuts anyways :angry7:
Click to expand...


In order for it to work you will need to over charge your battery.
Everyone I know that has done hydrogen quits. It requires so much energy to make hydrogen that is isnt worth it.

Locally cost $54 per gallon of gasolene. Going by the btu's.
 
oneway71 said:
In order for it to work you will need to over charge your battery.
Everyone I know that has done hydrogen quits. It requires so much energy to make hydrogen that is isnt worth it.

Locally cost $54 per gallon of gasolene. Going by the btu's.
Click to expand...
I wasn't thinking to run the car completely off of that which we take from the battery, it would just be a supplement to the intake charge of atmospheric air whenever the battery charges or discharges.
 
Reminds me of my grade 10 chemistry class. We did an experiment called destructive distillation. If I remember correctly, we reduced a couple of tongue depressors to various volatile components and the residue was charcoal. It was fascinating and probably a little dangerous. What fun!
 
Gryzynx said:
Reminds me of my grade 10 chemistry class. We did an experiment called destructive distillation. If I remember correctly, we reduced a couple of tongue depressors to various volatile components and the residue was charcoal. It was fascinating and probably a little dangerous. What fun!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what gasification is! Speeding up what nature does naturally.
 
/6 Matt said:
I wasn't thinking to run the car completely off of that which we take from the battery, it would just be a supplement to the intake charge of atmospheric air whenever the battery charges or discharges.
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I kinda changed the subject to running it completely, sorry.
If you do attempt it, to supplement your fuel, you will need to seperate the positive plate vents from the negative plate vents. Otherwise when two molecules of Hydrogen meet one molecule of Oxygen you will have water going into your intake. imo maybe not exactly correct.
 
I've played with this idea a little, then realized the DMV/LEO will give me a hard time on the roads, so maybe generate electricity or melt metals.

Lots of information in this Yahoo group.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/WoodGas/

Incomplete combustion smoke(less Oxygen) can be very dangerous!!! Add the Oxygen back.....poof to say the least.

Some of us will recognize the term used by our grandparents.
"Don't gas-light me"

Browns gas, wood gas is a good BTU source, therefore it's explosive and deadly. Handle with the all safety gear possible and don't breath ANY of the smoke.

A properly running gasifier puts out very little smoke, but getting it going may bring the firemen to your location, post-haste.

My 2 cents,

LCjeff
 
Mother Earth News has several issues on this in the late 70's. If I remember correctly they did a chevy truck with the gas reactor in the back. Its a neat ideal.

Whip
 
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