Is a Gasifier the Newest Alternate Energy Source?

Posted by Rolf Joho on August 9th, 2010 filed in Global Warming

A gasifyer is used to heat wood or other organic matter to  a temperature high enough to liberate the volatile elements inside. These gasses when released can be burnt for heating, or used in an internal combustion engine to make energy. The gasifier is fundamentally a container that is insulated to hold in the heat.

within this container is a small-scale bed of burning fuel. This has access to outside air, allowing a small percentage to burn, but under controlled conditions, and start the gas production.

The whole operation can be self contained.

This small-scale controlled fire is exactly what is needed to allow the gasses to be released uniformly. The heating produced is also used to dry and heat the wood chips, so that as they drop into the grate they are in the ideal condition to replace the burnt-out mass. Realistically the fire should reach about 1200 degrees F. The top of the cylinder has a pipe that allows the combustion gasses to escape. They are then cooled, to make the gas denser, and filtered particulary if they are to be burnt in an engine.

A small power station, transportable and self contained, is one of the clear-cut advantages of the gasifier. An oil drum sized producer should be able to fuel a small four cylinder engine, and the gas from a substandard fuel is as beneficial as that from an costly one.

Waste products such as chipped branches and wood, rice, maize coconut remains, in any combination, even chicken litter. Even fast growing willow could be planted as a fuel crop.

The sum of money spent by commercial agribusiness disposing of it’s waste, and landfill usage, may be saved by using this as a fuel. The gasifyer residue, or char, is an excellent soil conditioner, making it a very environmentally-friendly alternative.

But, I am more concerned with smaller gasifyers to subsidize house hold costs, or off grid living.

The gasses, frequently called syngas or producer gas, can be really clean burning with little or no contamination.

The claim is that 20lbs of dry chipped wood is equivalent to 1 gallon of petrol. A gasifier of suitable size will supply all the gas to run a certain engine, the bigger the gasifier the bigger the engine. A gasifyer does not necessarily call for any external power nevertheless this will help to start the machine, someone will still have to fuel the machine. Once functional the induction from an internal combustion engine will pull air through the hearth, helpfully making it self sustaining.Check Out The Gasifyer.com

A gasifyer with a gasoline or diesel engine generator and a prepared supply of fuel, makes this an ideal alternate energy source.

 

Tags: gasifier, energy, fuel