Charcoal Gasifier

[Paul_H]

I've been wanting to putter with another gasifier in the winter but work has been steady enough that I can't build another full size woodgas system so I've been looking into a smaller charcoal system.
On  www.driveonwood.com  there is a section for charcoal gas systems and there are a few pretty neat systems.

A fellow named Gary Gilmore has built a few that he call's Simplefire and they are made out of a metal 5 gal pail and other cheap and accessible parts.

http://youtu.be/EbI6r7hPmHA

Gary has a few vids out but this is a good introduction.

I scrounged some parts together over winter to build a small gasifier from a small 5 gal hotwater tank and other parts and pipes from here at the saw shop and the plumbing shop across the alley.
The lid is built from a garden tractor rim and a pulley from a mower deck and all the rest is out of the scrap metal bin out back.


This cooling rack on the back has a cyclone and if you look close you can see arrows showing the direction of flow on the cooler. The ABS pipe will contain the foam filter


 

Next is the 6" nipple and stainless steel sleeve(consumable) that will screw on inside the tank for a nozzle. The SS came from an old serving tray in the trash that I cut out and hammered over a pipe to form a sleeve.



 

The last pic is a view looking down through the lid to the nozzle in the bottom center.

 

By watching Gary Gilmore's videos you can see that the T at the bottom of the gasifier in the first pic will be to introduce exhaust from the engine back to the nozzle to cool and burn any waste from the combustion.
I'll post the progress as time allows.

[Joe Hillmann]

I have built two wood gasifiers for small engines that probably produced more tar than gas.  After just about every run I would have to pull the head from the engines and clean the top of the piston, the head and valves.

I am collecting scrap metal to build a simplefire based on the design the video you posted shows.  I plan to use it to run a two wheel tractor I have.  I had originally planned to use a 5 gallon jerry can to build it out of.  But I want to restore the sheet metal on the tractor this summer so I am now looking for a more stylish container to build the gasifire out of.

[Paul_H]

Joe,

what type of gasifier did you build for the small engines? They can be trickier that the ones for larger engines and apparently "pulse" with the one cylinder engines.
The charcoal gasifiers make sense for the smaller engines but I know that heat recycling on the wood gasifiers has made a difference.
Please post pics of your progress when you build,I'd love to see it come together.

[Joe Hillmann]

I built them similar to the fema design.  One was made out of a propane cylinder.  The other one was made from a 5"x5" piece of square tubing and was pretty compact.  The one made out of tubing got much hotter and had made slightly less tar.

[Paul_H]

This book by Ben Peterson is well worth the few buck it costs to buy it.Lots of photos and instructions as well as a detailed material list and even a list of sources for the materials if need be. I heard of the book through Steve Unruh,a man who's opinion I trust on woodgas related issues so I bought it and have read and re read the book.
Ben shows how to squeeze every bit of heat from the gasifier to preheat the wood in the bunker zone, intake air and reduction zone to crack the tars and get more out of your fuel.
When I build the next gasifier,it will be for a small engine and will use Ben's design.

http://www.woodgasifierplans.com/

In the mean time it will be a charcoal gasifier but I have an ever increasing stock pile of 45 gal drums,hotwater tanks and propane tanks for the next builds.

[magicmikey]

 I will be watching the build Paul tho it does add a new dimension to the term  "yardwork". I know where is some available charcoal as well. 8)
mike

[Paul_H]

Hi Mike,
I was hoping you were still saving me some charcoal  ;D
Today after work I cut a couple 45 gal drums up and stuffed a bunch of pallets from work into it and lit it from the top then placed the drum with both ends cut out on top as an after burner. It smoked quite a bit and I realized the retort should have been full past the top to burn the smoke off. The smoke cleaned up when I threw some paper down the afterburner.
Let it burn awhile then sealed the drum and let it cool til morning.Hopefully there will be some good charcoal.

I think this video shows charcoal system on the car

http://youtu.be/cbCiMFF1YSE

[Paul_H]

These next three vids are Gary Gilmore with a simple but effective method of making batches of charcoal. You can see how he sets up his reactor and afterburner.

http://youtu.be/XiFHXg9o2wo

http://youtu.be/LyzY9D_rgeg

http://youtu.be/tyJO8mKvKsM

[Puffergas]

Nice! Charcoal and single cylinder engines work well together. I've been using a charcoal gas producer with my Wheel Horse garden tractor repowered with a Honda clone 6.5 HP engine and love it.


Jeff

[Paul_H]

I was thinking about you this morning,Jeff. You had your charcoal tractor at the Indiana Woodgas meet didn't you?

[Puffergas]

I'm learning how to use a smart phone so let's see if I can post a pic.



The gas producer is on the front.

Jeff

[Puffergas]

I was thinking about you this morning,Jeff. You had your charcoal tractor at the Indiana Woodgas meet didn't you?

I just got it running the week before Indiana Woodgas meet. I missed last year but will be there this year. I hope it's on for this year..!!

Jeff

[Puffergas]

Looking from the drivers view.



Spraying for tree seedlings.



Jeff

[Paul_H]

I like the looks of the gasifier with the spiral cooler,almost Jetson-ish  8)
The first picture is interesting to see it has the power to haul small logs and by the looks of the backgound,you have a great fuel potential in the slash from logging.

[mad murdock]

That Gilmore gasifier and his methods for makingn charcoal are very cool. Really makes it look simple. Thanks for posting up those videos!!

[Paul_H]

MM,

You're right,he makes it simple.

I followed his instructions yesterday and began cutting the barrels around 3:30 pm and by 5:30 had capped the reactor and blocked the air holes.



  

 


I filled the reactor with old pallets and some dry birch then top lit as instructions suggest. There was a lot of smoke initially and that was in part because of the hydraulic oil that was left in the barrels.Once the fire got going and the afterburner was in place there was a good roar coming out the top and no smoke.



  

 

I opened up the barrel this morning and saw that I was hasty in capping the reactor yesterday,it could have gone another hour for the larger pieces but there is still a good jag of charcoal.
I'll either run the "brands" again or cut them up for the woodgas truck.



 

[mad murdock]

That is awesome!!

[Puffergas]

No logging slash just a poor job of pine planting by someone before me. Most are dieing because of spacing and the wrong soil. But great fuel source.

Jeff

[r.man]

That looks like a nice simple way to make charcoal but in an area that gets cold for part of the year I think charcoal production should have its waste heat harvested.

[Al_Smith]

Thanks for posting the vids .Although gasification holds very little interest to  me ,lump charcoal does .

Gas grills are okay and "kingsford "charcoal is a step better , nothing beats lump charcoal .

I'm going to try that method .I've got scads of hickory scrap and that would be a better use than burning it on my slash pile .

[Paul_H]

That looks like a nice simple way to make charcoal but in an area that gets cold for part of the year I think charcoal production should have its waste heat harvested.

I agree and if you decide to make some,please share the different ways you utilize the heat.In this case there is around a two hour burn so the top heat could be used easily.

Al,

I just lit the second batch and there is very little smoke compared to yesterday,from a distance you can't see anything but heat waves.Yesterdays smoke was the hydraulic oil so it was a relief to see it clean today.

[Puffergas]

That looks like a nice simple way to make charcoal but in an area that gets cold for part of the year I think charcoal production should have its waste heat harvested.

   That's kind of easy to do with a barrel stove because of the lack of grates. The down side is screening out the extra ash. Some people place the wood in a container (retort) with a small hole and place this container in the stove along with their firewood. Some people make a large cook stove that makes charcoal as they cook or heat something.

Jeff

[Al_Smith]

You can make charcoal just like they did in medevil days for that matter .Set a huge pile of wood on fire and cover it with dirt .Then sit 3 or 4 days before it burns out .

The problem is who needs a ton of charcoal and can tend it for 3 days straight .A half a barrel full should certainly suffice for most people .

My father RIP showed me years ago how to burn coal into coke for forge use but my charcoal experiance is just raking the ashes from my slash pile.Might get a 5 gallon bucket full if lucky .

[Paul_H]

I paid more attention to the second batch but less time watching.Once lit and burning well I would glance over occasionally while doing other chores.One half of the barrell was glowing just above the air holes on the bottom so I covered the holes on that half and let it develop another half hour then capped the reactor and cut off the air.
This morning I popped the lid and had a 1/3 of a barrel of beautiful charcoal with a couple of small brands.I poured the 1st batch in with the 2nd and have 2/3s of a barrel which will be sealed and kept dry until the time comes to process.

Jeff D,
do you have a good method to break the charcoal down to size?

[beenthere]

The old hand-crank corn sheller seems would be a great way to break up the charcoal if one could be found to try.

Good to read of ways to easily make charcoal.