I'm thinking that at least a few of you probably have built working gasifiers, and in the process you must have done plenty of research first. I've been looking at building one for a few years now in an on-again, off-again kind of approach, but i think i really a going to do it now. the one last thing i am looking for before i start is a good sounding board - ideally a forum. the problem is that i haven't found a place like what i want yet. i have seen a ton of sites with people's builds and lots of design information, but there are always hidden things that they did that you can't see. hopefully i can ind people willing to share the details.
i found one alternative energy forum that literally had one post in the gasifier section, made over a year ago. i've also found others that seem to be mostly built around the community that have bought the gasifier kits they sell. what i'm looking for is basically a forum with an open-source attitude with people who have built their own units from scratch. i know that a build is likely to involve some tweaking and possibly rebuilding after the fact, but i figure that if i can find a group of people who are already in the know, they might be able to tell me some things i should not do, or should do differently.
as a bit of background, i'm planning on building a gasifier to run a 16hp 2 cylinder engine, powering a belt drive generator head. i'm not looking at this as a necessary item that i'm going to depend on, though it would be nice if it turned out to be that good and reliable. i was the kid who tore apart every toy he had, just to see how it worked. i've always been fascinated by anything mechanical, and i've spent a lot of my life building and working on things, so this is really just natural progression. it's also a matter of availability - i have a 16hp wisconsin-robin engine, a few good air compressor tanks that were donated due compressor failure, a good hot air furnace heat exchanger, and even a 4kw belt drive generator head. though, if i can get this to work, i'll likely buy a slightly bigger generator head.
i found one alternative energy forum that literally had one post in the gasifier section, made over a year ago. i've also found others that seem to be mostly built around the community that have bought the gasifier kits they sell. what i'm looking for is basically a forum with an open-source attitude with people who have built their own units from scratch. i know that a build is likely to involve some tweaking and possibly rebuilding after the fact, but i figure that if i can find a group of people who are already in the know, they might be able to tell me some things i should not do, or should do differently.
as a bit of background, i'm planning on building a gasifier to run a 16hp 2 cylinder engine, powering a belt drive generator head. i'm not looking at this as a necessary item that i'm going to depend on, though it would be nice if it turned out to be that good and reliable. i was the kid who tore apart every toy he had, just to see how it worked. i've always been fascinated by anything mechanical, and i've spent a lot of my life building and working on things, so this is really just natural progression. it's also a matter of availability - i have a 16hp wisconsin-robin engine, a few good air compressor tanks that were donated due compressor failure, a good hot air furnace heat exchanger, and even a 4kw belt drive generator head. though, if i can get this to work, i'll likely buy a slightly bigger generator head.
