My Small Gasifier for Cooking

[DevilsBrew]

My latest project is the small cook stove gasifier. I couldn't find any info here through a search so I thought I would start one. I've become obsessed with these little stoves since the weekend. I'm planning on building a large can stove soon. Hopefully this winter will be mild. Here are a few youtube links that got me started on my quest:

Aprovecho Gasifier


Silverfire Gasifier


Wood Gasifier Smoker

[pa_friendly_guy]

Go for it Devil. Wood Gasifier Stove are great. They work similar to a Rocket Stove in that they burn all the combustibles and gas in the wood. The design is fairly simple and it works well. We have talked about wood gas some here, Graham also likes the idea, you can actually run cars, generators, anything with an internal cumbustion engin on it. Let us know how your stove works out, and what you are able to cook on it.

[DevilsBrew]

[pa_friendly_guy]

I think some of that information is posted on alternative energy threads on here. Here hey are again,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr3Y9l87UxE

This guy is using wood to power a generator that produces electric for his property. Forget about the inefficiencies in converting one form of energy to another, think about taking something that you have, and converting it into something you Need.

Here is some information about running your car on wood.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas

Here is some more info about what happened in WWII

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2010- ... -fuel-tank

I like the technology, but its range is limited. And there is No Such Thing as A Free Lunch, most of the trees were cut to run the cars during the war, so there are still a few bugs in the system.

[hpmer]

I've built some like the third video but, unlike the claims made by the second video, mine was not cleaner burning than my rocket stoves. The do burn cleanly as long as there're flames, but once the wood gas has all burned and I was down to charcoal it smoked quite a bit and for a while.

It could be linked to my construction technique and I've read where you should have a 5:1 ratio of top air to bottom which mine likely does not have.

They are pretty cool though.

[GrahamB]

I made a coffee can stove and produced about a third of a can of biochar. With a cut down coffee can on top and a couple of small cans to make a chimney, I was really impressed with the clean burn and the amount of heat it produced.
At the time we were doing it for a school video to show the benefits of biochar, but I have wanted to take it to the next stage and use the heat it prouced on a larger scale. It's just another of those things on my to do list. If I had my way, the backyard would look like something out of a steampunk movie, but I don't think the rest of the family would be too impressed.
After watching the wood gas powered generator I can definitely see a good use for that, especially as I now have a supply of free wood chips whenever I need them.

[DevilsBrew]

I am off to work so I will catch up on those links a little later, Guy. I am on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning the information and uses of gasifiers. So far, the stoves are pretty rad. Super easy to build, a multiple of uses, and different materials can be used as fuel.

Down the road, I have some duraboard to try out and wasn't sure if it would work but I noticed the katydid stove uses vermiculite panels. Basically, the gasifier cores are small round or square kilns with air vents/pockets for mixing the gases. Seems like it anyways. I may be wrong. I can't be right ALL the time.

[DevilsBrew]

A tip I read about the biochar - put it in the compost first, then the garden.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I have not hear that before Devil. I thought you just spread it on the garden direct. Why is it better in the compost pile? That happens to it when you compose it ? I am not questioning what you have heard, just curious why it works better.

[DevilsBrew]

I picked that up from Donkey's board. The compost will charge the biochar.

"Major reason for charging is the bio char would suck the nutrients and water out of your soil.
So to wee on it or shove it in your compost before you put it in your garden means its ready to deliver nutrients not take."

I want to clarify that I am not a member there. I only stopped in to ask the Big Guys a question that I couldn't get the answer to. They seemed in agreement about the charging of the biochar. The trick makes sense.