Wood Powered Generators

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I am currently researching how to make power without beign connected to the grid, obviousely solar panels are the most used method for this but I am interested in others ways such as wood Powered Generators. In the past people have managed to get cars, trains and ships to move by using it and I have seen many people create homemade generators from old scraps. What are your thoughts and suggestions? Plus share your own opinions and ideas.

Very much not a logical idea, would use up way to much wood and not produce enough energy 

Wertinas

Very much not a logical idea, would use up way to much wood and not produce enough energy 

If done properly it could work.

You have two paths available. 

you gasify the wood and combust the gas in a spark ignition engine. This has been done since the beginnings of reciprocating gas engines. Literally, Ford model T's were made to run on wood gas almost as soon as they were made.

Fuel selection, gasifyer design, and engine maintenance are all challenging. have fun. 

 

second scenario is high pressure steam cycle. not suitable for the home environment.

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

MBC

If done properly it could work.

Just like communism!

I can be done and it is done. 

It requires a whole bunch of work, and a fair measure of technical experience.

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

Mr. Midnight

You have two paths available. 

you gasify the wood and combust the gas in a spark ignition engine. This has been done since the beginnings of reciprocating gas engines. Literally, Ford model T's were made to run on wood gas almost as soon as they were made.

Fuel selection, gasifyer design, and engine maintenance are all challenging. have fun. 

 

second scenario is high pressure steam cycle. not suitable for the home environment.

 

 

 

During times of crisis many vehicles have been converted to steam and other fuels. Such vehicles also could be used in post apocalyptic situations.

MBC

Mr. Midnight

You have two paths available. 

you gasify the wood and combust the gas in a spark ignition engine. This has been done since the beginnings of reciprocating gas engines. Literally, Ford model T's were made to run on wood gas almost as soon as they were made.

Fuel selection, gasifyer design, and engine maintenance are all challenging. have fun. 

 

second scenario is high pressure steam cycle. not suitable for the home environment.

 

 

 

During times of crisis many vehicles have been converted to steam and other fuels. Such vehicles also could be used in post apocalyptic situations.

Yes, farmer level craftsmanship can get a wood gasifier fueled car going, but such a vehicle need to have a carburetor you can connect a pipe too, and be able to adjust the mixture and idle control.

 Cut off for such a useful car would be around 1998 I think. Out of the question to convert a modern fuel injected computer controlled vehicle.

An older vehicle without any microprocessors at all would be the best candidate for this. 

The idling car engine can both heat and power a home.  The alternator provides plenty of 12 v dc for a small household or camp site. 

A 12 volt battery bank is a must for a home owner, regardless of how they receive power, PV or otherwise.

Waste heat capture from either jacket water or exhaust piping is also farmer level tech. 

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

To be totally self-sufficient & not have any electricity from the grid you would have to have a battery storage pack system. It's no good generating the electricity, if you don't store the unused power it is just going to waste.

The battery pack will be a fair size cash outlay but if you gradually add things like a couple of solar panels it should be worth it.

Merv

To be totally self-sufficient & not have any electricity from the grid you would have to have a battery storage pack system. It's no good generating the electricity, if you don't store the unused power it is just going to waste.

The battery pack will be a fair size cash outlay but if you gradually add things like a couple of solar panels it should be worth it.

 

Yes, I also have heard of a machine that can effectively drain car batteries this could be useful if all else fails.

It would also help if you had a small petrol or diesel powered generator as an emergancy backup.

If you could find a way to capture pure carbon from the CO2 emitted, you could recycle the emissions and further improve the efficiency.

Voided_Username01

If you could find a way to capture pure carbon from the CO2 emitted, you could recycle the emissions and further improve the efficiency.

Yes, always keep gas canisters as you may never know when you need them, plus they don't require electricity.

Voided_Username01

If you could find a way to capture pure carbon from the CO2 emitted, you could recycle the emissions and further improve the efficiency.

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Le professeur Tournesol — Tintin.com

 

There are some cogeneration wood boiler with stirling engine to produce electricity.

Referee of south atlantic islands

Voided_Username01

If you could find a way to capture pure carbon from the CO2 emitted, you could recycle the emissions and further improve the efficiency.

Sorry y’all, I meant that as half theoretical, half sarcasm lol. Obviously it’s next to impossible to capture pure carbon, let alone do it efficiently.

That's why we replied with humour.

Even though there are some attempts to convert CO2 for example in CO which is widely used in industry.

But if you've found any solution, don't hesitate to publish it, it will be a good surprise for tomorrow which is “world climate day”

Referee of south atlantic islands

Frenchlover

That's why we replied with humour.

 

…if you've found any solution

It was too early and I was far too sleep deprived to comprehend humour 😂. Sorry about the miscommunication lol. Boy, would it be great if I had found a solution but alas, it is not my forte. 

Voided_Username01

Frenchlover

That's why we replied with humour.

 

…if you've found any solution

It was too early and I was far too sleep deprived to comprehend humour 😂. Sorry about the miscommunication lol. Boy, would it be great if I had found a solution but alas, it is not my forte. 

There is nothing worse than when you fail to land/understand a joke. 

The stirling engine is an interesting option. 

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

Mr. Midnight

The stirling engine is an interesting option. 

You can get them on Amazon.

There are only toys nowaday.

The only actual commercial stirling generator was made in the 60's by Philips at about 200 copies.

Currently Stirling engines exist only in addition to a boiler 10kw of heat plus 1kw of electricity

Referee of south atlantic islands

MBC

I am currently researching how to make power without beign connected to the grid, obviousely solar panels are the most used method for this but I am interested in others ways such as wood Powered Generators. In the past people have managed to get cars, trains and ships to move by using it and I have seen many people create homemade generators from old scraps. What are your thoughts and suggestions? Plus share your own opinions and ideas.

I feel like solar would be a lot more efficient than a wood generator

Gavin33

MBC

I am currently researching how to make power without beign connected to the grid, obviousely solar panels are the most used method for this but I am interested in others ways such as wood Powered Generators. In the past people have managed to get cars, trains and ships to move by using it and I have seen many people create homemade generators from old scraps. What are your thoughts and suggestions? Plus share your own opinions and ideas.

I feel like solar would be a lot more efficient than a wood generator

Yes true, just I find the concept of wood Powered technology interesting.

I really think the stirling engine would be ideal. It is farmer level tech.

you can definately fuel it from heat off your wood stove.

the electric end charges your lead acid battery bank.

for residential battery you just can't beat lead acid. 

Last for decades. NO microprocessors. Modern lithium batteries have controllers with loads of (poorly written) code running on cheap (chinese) 3rd party platforms. some of them require internet.  f that. 

the good old car alternator and battery charge controller are perfectly suitable for stationary use. 

the stirling engine can take heat from your woodstove uptake pipe and crank a car alternator. 

I have not looked farther than e-bay, but I liked what I saw, albeit all very small models. 

I didnt see a 1KW. That would be perfect for home use! 

Efficiency? Irrelevent. when your fuel is free -  your power is a byproduct of heating your house, efficiency don't enter into the equation. 

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

In reality there are many types of Stirling engines (αβγ) and they are not developed for the public except some toys and add-on for co-generation where there are a few rare models for individuals, but these are not stand-alone motors, they are just add-on to the boiler.
So imagining building an installation all by yourself is what you could call a challenge!
We are far from farmer level tech 🤔

Referee of south atlantic islands

Have you looked into a generator that would run off waste cooking oil. I'm sure that local chip shops & resturants would be happy to let you have there used oil.

In spent some time looking for steam electricity generators and I didn't find any machine suitable for home.

Yet this search was fun and, among numeous fakes, the most ridiculously laughable document I found was this steam lada 🙃

Referee of south atlantic islands

Merv

Have you looked into a generator that would run off waste cooking oil. I'm sure that local chip shops & resturants would be happy to let you have there used oil.

Yes, I have heard of some cars that run on chip oil as well. 

Diesel engines can burn vegetable oil. 
Rudolph Diesel himself advocated peanut oil burning generators for rural communities to liberate them from reliance on the petroleum oil market.

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

Theoreticly a diesel engine will run on vegetable oil, but the filtration of this vegetable oil needs the highest attention!!
A modern (car)diesel engine with injection-pressure around, or even more, 2000 bar do not allow ANY dust or dirt whatsoever in his fuel. The standard fuelfilters are not able to deal with vegetable oil or even worse, used frying-oil.

...you can run,  but you can't hide...

Mr. Midnight

Diesel engines can burn vegetable oil. 
Rudolph Diesel himself advocated peanut oil burning generators for rural communities to liberate them from reliance on the petroleum oil market.

Sure, Rudolf Diesel's first compression ignition engines ran on peanut oil at the World Exposition in Paris. 

Yet it was not an electric generator.

Referee of south atlantic islands

 you could get one of these. You can run it for peanuts

 

 

Opps up side down. Most people do duck decoys. then there's me.

It is, what it is, or is it.

Or put a bird feeder next to it. But you would have no power when he empties it.

It is, what it is, or is it.

yvon

Theoreticly a diesel engine will run on vegetable oil, but the filtration of this vegetable oil needs the highest attention!!
A modern (car)diesel engine with injection-pressure around, or even more, 2000 bar do not allow ANY dust or dirt whatsoever in his fuel. The standard fuelfilters are not able to deal with vegetable oil or even worse, used frying-oil.

Some cars could run on alcohol.

Diesel engines- compression-ignition engines - run on oil of the right viscosity. Of course the oil needs to be purified - you don't dump the chip fryer oil in the tank - Some one has the proper machinery to make fuel from the collected waste oil. This was actually fairly popular over here in the 1970s-80s. Diesel Mercedes cars were valued for this, they became “grease cars”, and the people who collected and prepared the fuel were called “grease farmers”. 

 

Spark ignition engines run on any kind of gas - this can be propane, or alcohol, methanol, ethanol, or the wood gasifier product, predominantly methane, that started this thread. the fuel has to be in the vapor state and mixed with the proper amount of air. many, many spark ignition engines run on pipeline natural gas.

The design and tuning of the carburetor is the only difference.

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

MBC

yvon

Theoreticly a diesel engine will run on vegetable oil, but the filtration of this vegetable oil needs the highest attention!!
A modern (car)diesel engine with injection-pressure around, or even more, 2000 bar do not allow ANY dust or dirt whatsoever in his fuel. The standard fuelfilters are not able to deal with vegetable oil or even worse, used frying-oil.

Some cars could run on alcohol.

But no diesel-engines run on alcohol.

...you can run,  but you can't hide...

Wood gas electricity generator might be a solution, but I don't know if there are units on sale which are user friendly. 

Afterall, wood gasifier engines were widely used ♨️

Referee of south atlantic islands

Frenchlover

Wood gas electricity generator might be a solution, but I don't know if there are units on sale which are user friendly. 

Afterall, wood gasifier engines were widely used ♨️

Eustace Conway from Mountain Men has converted his truck into wood power.

This guy looks interesting. He is attentive to the good management of resources, he is a “prepper”

Weren't the apostles of the great decline these Americans from MIT, the Meadows couple, authors of the Club of Rome report, this book which should be taught in schools: "The Limits to Growth".

 

Seen from Europe, the typical American survivalist image is more of a cowboy who piles up food and weapons in his ranch equipped with electronic intrusion detection sensors surrounded by several layers of barbed wire ready to annihilate the wild post-nuclear Comanche hordes who would like to commit suicide at his door.

 

In addition Eustace Conway lives on the Blue Ridge Parkway which remains for me a good memory of my trip through the Smoky Mountains

However Eustace Conway is quite skilled and technical and its creation is probably not within the reach of the first handyman. 

I would like to know if there is this type of gasifier in a standalone unit on sale.

Referee of south atlantic islands

Frenchlover

This guy looks interesting. He is attentive to the good management of resources, he is a “prepper”

Weren't the apostles of the great decline these Americans from MIT, the Meadows couple, authors of the Club of Rome report, this book which should be taught in schools: "The Limits to Growth".

 

Seen from Europe, the typical American survivalist image is more of a cowboy who piles up food and weapons in his ranch equipped with electronic intrusion detection sensors surrounded by several layers of barbed wire ready to annihilate the wild post-nuclear Comanche hordes who would like to commit suicide at his door.

 

In addition Eustace Conway lives on the Blue Ridge Parkway which remains for me a good memory of my trip through the Smoky Mountains

However Eustace Conway is quite skilled and technical and its creation is probably not within the reach of the first handyman. 

I would like to know if there is this type of gasifier in a standalone unit on sale.

If there would be a societal Eustace would survuve just fine.

None of this stuff is commercially available because it is too difficult to maintain without determination. 

This is what I mean by farmer. 

Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac

You're right, it doesn't seem easy to use

Referee of south atlantic islands

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