How To Build A DIY Gasifier To Run Generators, Stoves & Even Vehicles

If you've never heard of this before it wouldn't surprise me but it's pretty darn cool! I've been fascinated by gasifiers for some time now. I made contact with Wayne Keith whose made some legit advances with running trucks on wood gas to discuss which trucks are ideal candidates for this project. You can find answers to your questions and chat with people who've completed projects too by going to this forum

This technology goes back to WWII and has since been for the most part lost/forgotten but for the past decade or so people have been redeveloping and improving it. The emissions given off are much less polluting than fossil fuels.

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A photo of Wayne's woodgas truck hauling tons of hay

A video by Wayne Keith explaining the gasification process

Mr. Teslonian shows us how to build a simple gasifier from scrap materials to power a generator or stove

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Wood gas is a syngas fuel which can be used as a fuel for furnaces, stoves and vehicles in place of gasoline, diesel or other fuels. During the production process biomass or other carbon-containing materials are gasified within the oxygen-limited environment of a wood gas generator to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide. These gases can then be burnt as a fuel within an oxygen rich environment to produce carbon dioxide, water and heat. In some gasifiers this process is preceded by pyrolysis, where the biomass or coal is first converted to char, releasing methane and tar rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Wood gas vehicles were used during World War II as a consequence of the rationing of fossil fuels. In Germany alone, around 500,000 "producer gas" vehicles were in use at the end of the war. Trucks, buses, tractors, motorcycles, ships and trains were equipped with a wood gasification unit. In 1942, when wood gas had not yet reached the height of its popularity, there were about 73,000 wood gas vehicles in Sweden,[2] 65,000 in France, 10,000 in Denmark, and almost 8,000 in Switzerland. In 1944, Finland had 43,000 "woodmobiles", of which 30,000 were buses and trucks, 7,000 private vehicles, 4,000 tractors and 600 boats.[3]

Wood gasifiers are still manufactured in China and Russia for automobiles and as power generators for industrial applications. Trucks retrofitted with wood gasifiers are used in North Korea[4] in rural areas, particularly on the roads of the east coast. source

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