Hey there. My husband has been reading up on wood gassification and is trying to figure out where he could get device for this. We're in BC so anywhere along the west coast would be great, but other parts of Canada-US good too if need be.
many thanks in advance
Mariah Wallener
Posts: 167
Location: Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada
I love the idea of wood gassification, and will incorporate it as soon as I have the funds to build a system. I plan on fueling it with wood from a coppiced woodlot.
Most of my knowledge of it came from youtube, however I did download plans for a gasifier from the FEMA.
http://www.gekgasifier.com/ They have CAD drawings for download. They also have parts kits and even preassembled "power pallets" that are a gasifier hooked up to a kubota natural gas engine paired with a 10kw or 20kw genset. The power pallets are really nice looking and even have a PTO to power a wood chipper. If you would try to provide all your power with gasification it would take a LOT of wood.
The power pallets are cool, just can not afford that expense right now. As far as providing all my power with gasification, I agree with you.
Wood Gas would only be a part of the solution, here are the rest:
1. Cut back on electrical usage.
2. Passive Solar Design
3. Animal powered turbines.
4. Solar Panels
The wood gas generator would only need to be used for big draws, like using the wood shop tools and air conditioning during the hottest part of the day. And as a replacement for gasoline in an engine, you can mount a generator right in the back of a pickup.
Thats exactly how I would use a gasifier shawn. I'd probably build the system myself as they are really expensive. Though, a 10 or 20kw solar array would be ridiculously more expensive. What I'm really curious about is whether you could setup a gasifier and a methane digester to run on the same engine. A natural gas engine should run on either. A dual fuel setup would be really nice since you could run on methane and only when you run out would you have to burn chips. How much methane would it take to run a Kubota 3cyl 962cc engine? Would it even be possible to generate enough methane on a small scale?
