iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Biomass to Electricity

Started by Rachiano, December 06, 2013, 12:12:45 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rachiano

I searched for such a topic here and found one dating back to 2005. That's why I am creating e new topic on this.
Are there any of you out there whom have build a gasifier to tutn your woodwaste to electricity?

looks like there have been greate development over the years on this "new" technology.
"new" because it was used back in ww2.
Some interesting info can be found at http://buildagasifier.com/ to build your own gasifier fueling generators.
There are also turn key solutions available. See them at http://www.gekgasifier.com/  ...check their products section especially the power pallets.

A lot of nice vids and explanations on youtube too.

Wish I can build myself one if I have time.
Rachiano

WM LT70
WM EG50
Werklust WG25 Wheel loader
DAF 2100 HIAB truck

drobertson

this is a great idea, pretty cool stuff, and so much waste that goes unused,   david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

wolf nemeth

It's an interesting idea; interesting enough that I went to both sites and did some shopping.   It would be really ideal for the farm-based sawmill, especially if the mill is close to the house and hauling chips/dust/scrap is easy.  Color me interested!  I will do a lot more reading on the subject. thanks for bringing it to the attention of the Forestry Forum!
If you  don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else!

wolf nemeth

Hey  DRobertson, is that photo of you and your lady taken at Pictured Rocks in Michigan;s UP? I sure looks familiar.  I used to camp up there a lot and could swa\ear i have a shot of me in the same pose (but without your lady friend!)
If you  don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else!

bandmiller2

Rancho,theirs a lot on the internet about gassifiers.Folks today are spoiled by convenience its so easy to jump in the pickup and turn the key.No reason a stationary mill engine couldn't be run with wood gas but it would require skillfull management.One advantage is you don't need a high pressure steam boiler,just some cleverly built gassifiers and filters.Let us know what you find,it is an interesting project. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

pineywoods

There are a couple of forum members with woodgas pickups, another with a woodgas tractor. Try using the forum search function. Google "wayne kieth" an alabama farmer who runs all the farm machinery with woodgas. I think he has a web site.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

Magicman

Ron57 brought his truck to the 2011 Pig Roast.  Scroll down in this LINK and you will find it.
98 Wood-Mizer LT40 SuperHydraulic    WM Million BF Club

Two: First Place Wood-Mizer Personal Best Awards
The First: Wood-Mizer People's Choice Award

It's Weird being the same age as Old People

Never allow your Need to make money
To exceed your Desire to provide Quality Service

r.man

For those of us who require a fair bit of house heat a tweak on the system might be in order. My friend who has built two small gasifiers claims that the majority of the WW2 units used homemade charcoal as their fuel. This has two advantages for the user, it allows the unit for the motor to be smaller since part of the overall process has already been accomplished and it would allow the user to make use of some of the waste heat by capturing it during the charcoal making process. These advantages would be very desirable in a mobile unit as opposed to a stationary. If gasifiers did become popular a whole new market would open up for waste wood chunked and bagged for sale.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

dboyt

Great thread!  A gasifier has been on my wish list for a long time, but that gasoline is just so blamed convenient!  The GEK unit looks promising, and they have a lot of units out there, but pricey.  Thanks for the links-- I'll check out buildagasifier.com.  From what I've seen, it looks like you're on the right track, running a generator instead of trying to fuel a motor on the mill itself.  Also gives the unit multiple uses.  I've even seen photos of gasification-powered motorcycles.  I wonder if a wood gas/ propane generator would be feasible for quick start-up and rapid high demand on propane and the base load on wood gas.  Waste heat to the house or kiln.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

r.man

Don't see why you couldn't build in two fuels for convenience and quick start. Tractors that were primarily powered by kerosene of distillate had very small gasoline tanks on them as well for starting and warming up the engine before switching over to the main fuel. In the case of wood gas the propane would run the engine while the fire reached a proper level of wood gas production. You might even design it like some old time wood oil combination furnaces. There was a hole between the oil area and the wood area so all you had to do to light it was put the wood in and run the oil for a while.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

dustyjay

What's the best way to turn slabs and sawdust into fuel for one of these things? What about saw chips from cutting firewood? I imagine sawmill chips and chainsaw chips would go right into the hopper, but how to turn slabs into the right sized fuel?

Does anybody here have experience with burning slabs, primarily softwood, in an outdoor wood boiler for Radiant heat flooring in a building?

Could a wood gassifier for electricity somehow be combined with a boiler for hot water? It'd burn lots of wood, but that's a resource I've got plenty of.
Proper prior planning prevents pith poor performance

r.man

The guys on the web that talk about running wood gas vehicles/motors like wood chunks for fuel. There are designs for simple chunkers that would work well for slab wood. Everything is time consuming but for personal use it shouldn't be too bad. This video shows you the basics of a chunker. This style of cutting head is also used on European machines for processing pole and branch wood. Most of the machines I have seen videos of use truck differentials and make the cutter out of the truck rim, shaped and sharpened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0VKvYB4xss
You can burn softwood slabs in a OWB but it should be downwind from everybody since it tends to produce a lot of smoke. Most OWBs get paired up with a heat exchanger to produce household hot water and any device that produces waste heat could be piped to do this.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

thecfarm

I have burned just about all types of wood in my OWB that is on my land. Be it green,which does not work the best,and dry or dead wood. I have burned white pine slabs. I did not notice much more smoke than hard wood. But I was not really trying it on the smoke part either. When wood is green is when I see the smoke. And I do mean smoke. When it dries the wood out inside the OWB,than the smoke is not all that much. Not many coals from pine either.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Ianab

QuoteDoes anybody here have experience with burning slabs, primarily softwood, in an outdoor wood boiler for Radiant heat flooring in a building?

Not in an outdoor boiler, but pine mill slabs is the most common firewood locally. Not the best firewood, just the cheapest and most used.

Softwood wont make excessive smoke if it's reasonably dry. Green, not so good, hard to get a fire hot enough to give full combustion and bun that smoke before it goes up the flue. But dry, no worries. 

BTU's of dry wood is about the same per piound, no matter what the species. But of course most softwoods are lighter than most hardwoods, so you burn more volume. But if it's mill "waste" that needs disposal anyway, throwing it in an OWB is a good option. Just let it dry for a while first.

QuoteCould a wood gassifier for electricity somehow be combined with a boiler for hot water? It'd burn lots of wood, but that's a resource I've got plenty of

If you are going to run an engine on the wood gas, it's going to produce a lot of heat. An IC engine is what, 30% efficient? The rest of the energy from the fuel goes out as heat. Run that though a heat exchanger instead of a radiator, and you will have hot water. Recovering that waste heat will improve the overall efficiency of the system. It's a common practice with "off grid" diesel generators to make hot water as by product. No reason you can't do the same with any water cooled engine.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

r.man

OWBs are really very simple devices and if you were going to burn softwood slabs you would want a long firebox with a large volume as well. Custom built might be the way to go, not talking a gasifier here, just a great big firebox with a waterjacket around it and a few simple controls. My first one was homemade with a hot water heater thermostat on it to control the draft. Cheap and easy. That stove had about a five foot firebox on it and I frequently wished it was longer because I burned a lot of slabwood in it. The slabwood is so small and light that the one advantage that it has over body wood is that you can cut it very long and still not have to strain to handle it. Less cutting to help offset the labour of handling so many pieces.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Thank You Sponsors!