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A Homemade Wood Gasifier To Keep You With Power After The Grid Fails
by Master of Make-Do on March 15, 2015

Table of Contents
A Homemade Wood Gasifier To Keep You With Power After The Grid Fails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Intro: A Homemade Wood Gasifier To Keep You With Power After The Grid Fails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 1: First, Do Some Homework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 2: Gather Your Parts and Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 3: The Burn Chamber and the Cyclone Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 4: The Solids Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 5: Coming Out of the Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 6: Sealing the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Step 7: Some Finishing Touches Before First Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Step 8: Preparing for the First Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Step 9: Tweaking and Improving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Homemade-Wood-Gasifier-To-Keep-You-With-Power-Af/

Intro: A Homemade Wood Gasifier To Keep You With Power After The Grid Fails
After the April 27, 2011 outbreak of tornadoes in the state of Alabama, half a million TVA customers were without electric power for up to FIVE days. I have lived in the
region for most of my life, and this was by far the longest period of time without power that I've ever experienced. We squeaked by with a 350 watt inverter hooked up to
my car battery and a propane grill to cook on. Ever since that experience, I have studied ways to prepare for another disaster, natural or man-made. One thing I wanted
to be sure of was that we never went without power again! I eventually came across information about a centuries-old technology that promised to produce fuel to run
any internal combustion engine, provide light or heating a home.
Wood gas has been used for lighting, heat and engine fuel since the 1790s. Gasification uses natural forces to obtain otherwise wasted elements for more efficient use of
woodburning. When you burn firewood in your fireplace, the smoke you see rising up the chimney is in fact burnable gases, mostly methane, hydrogen and carbon
monoxide. The gasification process draws off these byproducts to make a gas that can run an engine such as a generator, lawnmower or even an automobile! This
instructable will show you how I built my first portable wood gasifier to run a 1350 watt generator. If this is successful, I will upgrade to a 4000 watt generator and attempt
to run the basic needs of my house. In an emergency situation, this could keep your compound or your bug-in location with electrical power when the rest of the world is
plunging into darkness!
WARNING! Working with flammable materials and gases can be very dangerous! Please use all precautions to protect yourself and others from fire and toxic fumes! Do
NOT attempt to operate one of these indoors! I will NOT be held responsible in any way, legally or otherwise, if you do anything that brings harm to yourself or others
trying to follow the instructions herein. So please don't do anything stupid!

Step 1: First, Do Some Homework

I studied this subject for at least two years in my spare time before I began to gather materials for my gasifier project. I watched dozens of Youtube videos, I read dozens
of websites and asked question after question and studied every different individual design to get as much detail as I could about the design and building process before I
started my project. I was interested in making my gasifier as simple and inexpensive as I could while still getting a machine that would work decently. My goal was to get
it up and running with as little modification and adjustment as I could get away with.
There are several basic designs for a wood gasifier, whereas the variety is mostly in terms of scale and available materials. The two most frequently used basic designs
are the Fema and the Imbert. I won't go into any detail about the differences in the two, or debate the pros and cons of each. I chose the Fema design because it's
simpler to build. I suggest, however, you should go read up about both designs and decide for yourself which would serve your purposes better.
My design ended up being an amalgamation of all the similar gasifiers I studied in a more compact scale to set on a metal cart to make it portable and use mostly
materials I either had on-hand or could easily buy at the hardware store. I made two purchases through eBay, one of which was the 20-gallon metal barrel with locking lid
that I will use for my burn chamber, the other an inline marine bilge air blower. I bought several pieces of hardware as I needed them to complete my setup, but the major
components were things I already had in my possession. As you will see, I made every effort to reuse items I already had in interesting ways for this project.

Step 2: Gather Your Parts and Materials

Once I knew about how I wanted to build my gasifier, I made a list of the parts I would need. The first major hurtle was a large metal container for the burn chamber. I
wanted to keep a smaller scale than most of the designs I studied, while still being able to use certain items. The "hopper" to supply the wood to be burned into the burn
area was made from an old, rather large steel funnel my father left me. I've had this thing nearly 20 years without having a real use for it, but now I know what to do with
it. I chose to buy a 20-gallon metal barrel with a locking lid because the size suited my purposes and the funnel fir very nicely in the lid once I made an opening for it to set
in.
I also needed something to make a 'cyclone filter' out of. This is the first chamber the smoke is drawn into from the burn chamber. The idea is to have the smoke drop
down to the bottom as it cools and let the liquids (tars) run out the bottom. I chose to use a balloon inflator tank I had. Once the tars are removed, the gases then go into
the next container for filtering out any solid impurities, such as creosote. At first, I was going to use an ammo can I recently bought, but then I spotted an old galvanized 5gallon gas in the shed. I will be putting some kind of media that will be easy to pour or out of the top for the purpose of capturing the remaining impurities as the gases
rise from the bottom and out the top.
After the filtering process, the gases should constitute a relatively clean-burning fuel. They will rise through PVC pipes, through a ball valve and up to a burner. They will
be drawn through by the action of the inline marine air blower mounted inline in the PVC pipe. This acts as a substitute for the vacuum action of an engine pulling the
vapors into the combustion chamber until the gasifier warms up enough to produce burnable fuel.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Homemade-Wood-Gasifier-To-Keep-You-With-Power-Af/

So, a brief list of things I used are as follows:

20-gallon metal barrel
Balloon inflation tank
5-gallon galvanized gas can
Inline marine air blower
3/4" galvanized floor flanges
3/4" black steel nipples, various lengths
old galvanized pipes, elbows
1" PVC pipe
1 1/2" PVC pipe
2" PVC pipe
2" x 1 1/2" PVC reducers
3" x 1 1/2" PVC reducer
Self-tapping screws
1/4" x 1" bolts and nuts
Fire sealant
Ball canning jar with lid

Step 3: The Burn Chamber and the Cyclone Filter

I needed to fit the funnel in the lid of the barrel, so I cut a 12" circle in the lid and dropped the nozzle end of the funnel through the opening. It fit fine. The leftover metal
will go back onto the opening of the funnel. A 3/4" floor flange is attached to the side of the barrel. It gets adapted up to a 1" nipple than runs over to the side of the
balloon tank and enters it at a tangential angle. This would send the smoke spiraling down to the bottom so the tars would drip into a Ball jar mounted beneath. Another
floor flange is mounted in the bottom of the tank and a 3/4" nipple drops down to the lid of the canning jar. I put a galvanized adapter under the lid to secure the pipe. A
second pipe comes out of the tank at a steep angle for the smoke to be pulled into the next chamber.
I wanted the burn chamber and the cyclone filter to be permanently mounted to the dolly, so I used some lengths of slotted angle to make legs for the barrel and the tank,
then bolted the legs to the sidewalls at one end of the dolly. This helped me to visualize where to connect the two together near the top.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Homemade-Wood-Gasifier-To-Keep-You-With-Power-Af/

Image Notes
1. Opening cut to 12" in diameter with a jigsaw

Image Notes
1. Steel strap wrapped around the tank and bolted to the angle
2. The 4000 watt generator I hope to use later
3. Three of these bolted to the barrel and the frame of the dolly

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Image Notes
1. Was a round hole at first, then I muscled the pipe at an angle to form the oblong
opening it is now

Image Notes
1. 1" diameter hole marked in this location

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Image Notes
1. 1" pipe inserted at an angle

Image Notes
1. Locating the floor flange at the bottom of the tank

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Image Notes
1. Another view of the floor flange

Image Notes
1. See how the pipe is secured inside the jar
2. Had to use self-tapping screws to secure flange to the tank

Step 4: The Solids Filter

A length of PVC pipe drops down into the spout of the galvanized gas can and to the bottom of the interior. Inside the can will be some kind of filter media, probably wood
pellets. As the smoke rises through the media, tars and creosote are caught in the media, making the smoke cleaner and much closer to being a burnable gas. It also
protects the rest of the system from gumming up.

Image Notes

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1. Duct tape to seal the spout and make it easier to remove for emptying

Image Notes
1. Some pre-fitting of the chambers

Step 5: Coming Out of the Filter

A 1 1/2" x 2" reducer is attached to the screw-on cap of the gas can. A 1 1/2" PVC pipe rises out of the reducer, attaches to the tee, then goes up to a PVC ball valve then
runs up to a marine inline air blower, which is used for creating a vacuum and pulling the gases through the system. I will have a burner mounted atop this stack so I can
check if the gases are ready to light and to check the quality and color of the flame. If the system is working properly, not only should I be able to light the burner, the
resulting flare should approach being blue in color. This is considered a sign that the gases emitted are free of impurities and under the proper amount of pressure.
Once I'm satisfied that the system is running right, I will close the ball valve, uncap the line going to the generator, fit the elbow into the gas tank, sending the gas to the
generator. Once the generator starts and runs, it will draw the gas through like the air blower did, feeding fuel to itself.

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Image Notes
1. Attaching the adapter to the cap of the filter can with self-tapping screws

Image Notes
1. 3" x 1 1/2" reducer to fit on outbound side of air blower
2. 12 volt marine bilge inline air blower available all day long on eBay

Image Notes
1. A 3" x 2" reducer will go onto the inbound end of the blower

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Image Notes
1. 2" PVC ball valve
2. 2" PVC Tee

Image Notes
1. Some pre-fitting of the chambers

Image Notes
1. The inline air blower assembly installed on the stack

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Step 6: Sealing the System

I dry-fitted everything to work out where each section would set on the dolly. I then loosened or removed, as the case may be, each connection along the way and
squirted some fire sealant underneath to seal that connection. The worst problems with a gasifier are as a result of leaks in the system. I decided on fire sealant because
it claims to be able to withstand heat for several hours. Every point where there is a floor flange got a generous portion of sealant. Where the galvanized pipe meets the
PVC on the way to the filter I wrapped with duct tape to close the gap. At that point, I figure the smoke will be cool enough not to be a problem for the PVC.

Image Notes
1. Fire sealant inserted underneath the floor flange (the bolts were tightened back
after the sealant cured)
2. The opening is covered all around as well

Image Notes
1. Outbound pipe opening is sealed

Image Notes
1. Plenty of sealant is used under this odd-shaped area

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Step 7: Some Finishing Touches Before First Test

I added a strainer plate near the bottom of the funnel to keep the burning media from clogging the neck. A stainless steel bowl went into the bottom of the barrel to catch
any hot ash that dropped from the burn area. I also mounted a length of flat metal across the lid of the barrel to hold it in place because of the need to severely limit
oxygen flow through the burn area. I then capped an opening in the center of the lid to complete the sealing of the system.

Step 8: Preparing for the First Test

The beauty of the wood gasifier is that you can use just about any kind of wood related product as fuel. You can burn leaves, acorns, twigs, wood chunks, wood chips,
pellets etc. There is reportedly a wide variety of materials that can be used in the filter to trap the tars and creosote. I will be using wood pellets at first because the size of
nuggets make it very easily pourable into the gas can/filter can and just as easily removable for replacement. They also provide plenty of area for the impurities to be
captured.
I have nearby to my location a tree service which gives away wood chips for free, so I gather up 5 gallon buckets and fill them up with chips for fuel. There are many
sources of free fuel if you just look around. Every time I drive through my neighborhood when people have been trimming trees, I see not piles of branches and twigs by
the side of the road but piles of free fuel! So, I have several buckets full of test fuel and a promise of a continuing supply.
Taking the cap off the filter can, I pour in wood pellets (you can buy 40 lb. bags of grilling type wood pellets at Lowe's) and fill the can about 3/4 full. I then fill my burn
chamber almost to the top with wood chips and replace the lid, leaving the small opening in the center. I plug in the air blower to start the downdraft and apply flame from
a butane torch to the opening to start the fire. The wood should catch quickly and start to burn fast and hot. We want the fire to burn as hot as possible so the process of
pyrolysis (look it up) will give us plenty of good clean fuel.
It takes a few minutes even with the best designed system to get up to temperature and become ready to light a flare. Smoke will rise out of the stack, and you can try to
light it until it actually begins to burn. You'll know then that you have fuel just about ready to run your generator!
With my design, when I want to switch over to the generator, I would take a cap off the tee'd off 2" pipe, add the 90 degree angle and attach it to the gas tank of the
generator. Then I would close the ball valve and try to start the generator. If it starts and runs, then I know I was successful. Once I am sure it will continue to run on the
wood gas, all I will have to do is make sure I always have wood chips in the burn chamber burning. And as long as there is wood or wood related products available to
burn, I will never be without power!

Step 9: Tweaking and Improving

As with any homemade project, improvements and tweaks are practically inevitable. I plan to fiddle with parts and methods to make this a better more efficient machine.
The fun is in the journey, not just the destination. It's my hope that you, dear reader, have your interest in this tried and true, almost-forgotten technology piqued and that
you'll go and study its interesting history for yourself and find your own reason to reach for self-sufficiency!
Here are a few resources to get you started if you're interested:
Go to www.youtube.com and type in the search bar: "Wood Gas" or "Gasifier"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasification
www.build-a-gasifier.com
www.driveonwood.com
www.allpowerlabs.com
PLEASE study these materials carefully and PLEASE be careful when designing, building and operating one of these machines! They produce flammable and toxic
gases and should NEVER be operated indoors! As the old saying goes: Safety first! Thanks for reading!

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http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Homemade-Wood-Gasifier-To-Keep-You-With-Power-Af/

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Comments
14 comments Add Comment

ventura38 says:

Mar 24, 2015. 8:51 AM REPLY

i have a some questions. how do you determine the size of the gasifier to HP of the engine. can you refill it while the generator is running. did you say you
would take a cap off the tee'd off 2" pipe, and attach it to the gas tank of the generator? not the intake on the carburetor

ccronkhite says:

Mar 24, 2015. 8:05 AM REPLY

I wonder how difficult it would be to use an air compressor and large tank to capture and store the gases? subsidize your home heating in the winter with wood
and store the gasses for later. Maybe even set it up as a dual system that can also burn the gas for heat. It could be as simple as a gas grill or camp stove
burner in the bottom of your wood stove or fireplace.

Ottoclav says:

Mar 24, 2015. 7:26 AM REPLY

Freaking Amazing!! Been wanting to do this since I watched that TV show where they ran a truck on Wood gas. My grandfather told me that when he was in
Germany he saw vehicles converted to running a wood gas system since wood is about the only fuel that people could find after the war.

hminnich says:

Mar 24, 2015. 7:21 AM REPLY

Very cool. After a storm where I lived, we didn't have power for a couple of weeks. It is incredible how creative one can get! I will try this, to teach my kids about
an alternative fuel as a by-product. Thanks!

Invention1 says:

Mar 24, 2015. 7:07 AM REPLY

Having studied disaster preparedness for large industrial clients as a Professional Engineer, I am totally on board with getting ready for a power outage up to
two weeks long. At the same time, I am not too keen on the idea of preparing for a highly improbably complete breakdown of society. Best way to prepare for
such a time is to be tenaciously and creatively resourceful. Pack a bug-out-bag, which I have. Do I have a bunker stocked up with guns, food and ammo?
No. Absolute chaos is absolutely impossible to plan for. I have two weeks, at most, of nonperishable food at any time. Also have some ways of making
backup power. Power outages up to a couple of weeks can and do happen if you are in hurricane country, ice-storm country, or earthquake country, or way
out in the country (I am in at least two of those categories!) Longer power outages are increasingly less likely, unless you live in the Lower Ninth Ward or
straddle the San Andreas fault. St. Louis had two week power outages in a few neighborhoods after a bad ice storm a few years back, my neighbor was out
for a week in the same storm, mine was out for a day.
Most disasters, in the developed world, are local. Huge F5 mile wide tornado? You've likely got a neighbor two miles away who still has a roof. Massive
earthquake? Destruction over about 40 square miles in most big shakers, someone ten miles away probably a house still standing. Hurricane Sandy? People
ten miles inland lost a window, not a whole house. All of these neighbors, most of them in walking distance, would be glad to help. In a disaster, a smile is a
lot more powerful than a gun.
This is a great Instructible, and I'd like to build one myself!

Apature says:

Mar 22, 2015. 9:04 PM REPLY

this looks awesome, i saw some one on dooms day crazy prepers make a car that Runs off wood gass

instructible01 says:

Mar 24, 2015. 6:06 AM REPLY

if you have ever watched Escape from New York, I am pretty sure Ernest Borgnine's taxi was supposed to be run off of wood gas.

Master of Make-Do says:

Mar 23, 2015. 4:25 AM REPLY

The first time I ever heard of a vehicle being run off of wood was back in the early 80s. I saw an article on TV about a guy who was driving cross-country
in a pick-up truck with a trailer stacked with equipment to make it run off wood. I didn't know what the process was, but I thought it was very cool. There
is a man on YouTube who runs all his trucks on his farm using wood gas. He has several videos you might like.

Snerdguy says:

Mar 24, 2015. 5:53 AM REPLY

Mother Earth News publishes information about constructing wood gasifiers. If you look in their archives, you can even find how to run a vehicle on wood. It
needs to be a vehicle with a carburator. They are not terribly efficient and they pollute rather badly and can be kind of dangerous if not operated properly. If
you feel the calling to build one, make sure you know as much as possible

heathbar64 says:

Mar 24, 2015. 5:07 AM REPLY

I have built a tiny fema style gasifier and am running an old lawn tractor with it. My plan was/is if it proves to not gunk up the engine to switch it over to the
generator.
the fema style is known to make a lot of harmful tar so I don't think I will do the next one that type.
I'm also working hard on a unit for my truck.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Homemade-Wood-Gasifier-To-Keep-You-With-Power-Af/

BG_instructs says:

Mar 24, 2015. 2:31 AM REPLY

Great experiment, the efficiency is rather low but you could use the gas to drive an old engine, modern cars angines have to much electronics and will not
work.
It is a way to create electricity at no cost with just thing syou can find in nature, but something tells me there are more efficient ways to generate electricity
with natures resources?

More Cowbell says:

Mar 23, 2015. 1:26 PM REPLY

I've had good luck with charcoal.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Charcoal-Fire-Powered-Generator/

tim_n says:

Mar 23, 2015. 7:48 AM REPLY

Keep us updated as to when you've got it working!

I think a flaw in many preppers ideas are that they are trying to maintain a lifestyle at current standards, whereas having the ability to survive without fancy
modern attachments is much easier, cheaper and more fool proof.
Obviously as a standby this is fine. But I'd rather keep some fuel oil in storage and use the generator as designed when required than build specialist kit.
If I'm planning a long term solution (a full failure), I doubt I'd have the expertise, tools or materials to build spares for generators, so it's easier to prepare in
other ways with lower tech. No point having a gun when you run out of bullets unless you've got the ways and means to make your own etc. Even then, you'll
run out of casings and bullets eventually, or the chemicals to make them.

Master of Make-Do says:

Mar 23, 2015. 10:02 AM REPLY

Well, I figure if I can keep a supply of electrical power that will run any tools and lights I would require, then I would be capable of producing any standard
of living of which I'm physical capable. By the same token, I like the concept of living on 12 volts DC, and will be working on projects in that realm as well.

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