Wood gas
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:16 am
A while back, while searching for bus conversion pictures, I found a picture of a bus in china with a large column of smoke coming out of some machine on the back. The caption said the vehicle was coal powered. I studied up on it and discovered that it ran on producer gas. This is a really cool way to create a fuel suitable for motor vehicles from solid fuel such as wood or coal. It's kinna like making charcoal/coke but using the by-products: carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane to fuel your vehicle, and the charcoal/coke burns to heat the next layer of wood/coal.
The basic idea can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgu9BdHeUYg
and heres some people who converted their Volvo to run on it: http://www.vedbil.se/indexe.shtml
This isn't new technology, it was popular during World War 2 due to petroleum shortages. Mother Earth News has had articles about wood gas and have plans to build a gasifier, but they want $15 for it.
FEMA has plans for free download:
"Construction of a Simplified Wood Gas
Generator for Fueling Internal Combustion
Engines in a Petroleum Emergency"
here: http://www.woodgas.net/files/FEMA%20eme ... ssifer.pdf
It would be cool to make a vehicle run on it (Silverbear's bus, for example was set up for it) but I would really like to make a gasifier to run a stationary engine powering a generator for my house electricity. Wood chips aren't hard to get here (free from the DPW down the street) and coal is also available (steel mills and power-plants)
The basic idea can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgu9BdHeUYg
and heres some people who converted their Volvo to run on it: http://www.vedbil.se/indexe.shtml
This isn't new technology, it was popular during World War 2 due to petroleum shortages. Mother Earth News has had articles about wood gas and have plans to build a gasifier, but they want $15 for it.
FEMA has plans for free download:
"Construction of a Simplified Wood Gas
Generator for Fueling Internal Combustion
Engines in a Petroleum Emergency"
here: http://www.woodgas.net/files/FEMA%20eme ... ssifer.pdf
It would be cool to make a vehicle run on it (Silverbear's bus, for example was set up for it) but I would really like to make a gasifier to run a stationary engine powering a generator for my house electricity. Wood chips aren't hard to get here (free from the DPW down the street) and coal is also available (steel mills and power-plants)