Wood Gas for stationary engines.

[wagoo]

I live on a 45 acre mostly forested block away from the electricity grid.
My present 18hp 6kva petrol powered generator set is ok and economical enough when throttled down for charging the bank of deep cycle batteries for household use, but gets a bit thirsty when I require 240 volts for vehicle fabrication work running welder, grinders, chop saw etc. i want to buy a lathe and possibly a milling machine in the future to pursue my hobby, and obviously running these will require more electric power. Being a pensioner I have to count my pennies re ongoing running costs, and have considered making use of what is on my block a wasted resource.Trees fall down all the time over here, and they grow just as quickly.Producer gas from wood is an old technology that at times such as world war 2 has been employed to power vehicles when petrol and deisel supplies have been severely rationed.
Initial internet research indicates that engine performance is reduced somewhat, and the gas producer takes up quite abit of space, so running my swb LandRover on this gas might not be too practical unless I was somehow able to compress it into portable CNG type storage containers.
However, for a stationary power unit where space is not an issue this may be a practical alternative solution to my energy needs.
Does anyone here have any hands on experience with producer gas regards gas producer/engine maintenance, wood consumption/ labor intensity,Availability of commercially manufactured units, fire hazard (I live in a bushfire zone) etc ? Any useful input would be appreciated.
Wagoo.

[Tank]

You have your location as Melbourne, how far from the grid could you be in Melbourne. Wood will become a valuable resource as a producer of Ethanol which would be much more viable than Wood Gas, grow some more trees and become an Ethanol producer in the future, Regards Frank.

[Mick_Marsh]

Bill,
I remember seeing on telly not that long ago a wood chip powered electricity generator. It was about the size of a hot water service.
I think the program might have been Landline.
I think the generator was designed and being built in Australia for third world countries.
regards
Mick

[wagoo]

You have your location as Melbourne, how far from the grid could you be in Melbourne. Wood will become a valuable resource as a producer of Ethanol which would be much more viable than Wood Gas, grow some more trees and become an Ethanol producer in the future, Regards Frank.

How far away from the grid am I? In my area of the Toolangi region I'mabout $50,000 away.
As far as future is concerned, I might be lucky and have 10 good years before pushing up daiseys or moving into a retirement home.

Mick, I downloaded some plans to make my own old style producer, but have since read(this morning) that modern units are much more refined regards maintenance, efficiency and gas quality.
Wagoo.

[Mick_Marsh]

$50,000
What, two or three poles from the grid? So close and yet so far. I'll be in a similar situation soon (I hope).
With so much wood available I would have thought efficiency would not have been a concern. Perhaps steam power generation would be worth considering. You could perhaps couple an old tech steam stationary engine with a relatively recent generator.
Working in a power related industry, I'd be very interested in seing what you do.

[wagoo]

Mick, poles are no longer permitted here due to bush fire concerns. (black saturday gutted the whole region)
Wood consumption is only a concern regards labor for cutting/chipping and cleaning/replacing filters ,tar scrubbers etc.
Re commercial ethanol production. My land is not zoned to allow for any commercial enterprise.
Wagoo.

[justinc]

What kinds of timber are available? IE calorific values? IIRC some types of timber even semi dry have way higher values than others, possibly something to do with their oils/ sap contents. This I guess could have a bearing on the type and size of machinery required at end stage.
I too would be interested to hear how it pans out.

I like your thinking:)

JC

[wagoo]

Justin, I have a mix of stringy bark, peppermint gums, and black wattle, plus far too much Mallaluca Ti tree that I would love to be rid of, although its one saving grace is that it seems to be impervious to fire when alive.
I had a thought earlier. There is a saw mill about 5km from me, and if they don't have a market for their saw dust, collecting that could further reduce costs of chainsaw fuel and maintenance plus time and labor in cutting and chipping my own wood, because I've become a bit of a lazy bugger in recent times.:)
Wagoo.

[bee utey]

Have you considered steam? Try this mob:

STEAM ENGINE MANUFACTURERS (http://www.strathsteam.com/)

I have heard good things about this mob.

[Bigbjorn]

Don't you have to turn the wood into charcoal first, before you can use it in a gas producer?

[bee utey]

Don't you have to turn the wood into charcoal first, before you can use it in a gas producer?
Naah, turn the wood into rustic furniture and tourist artefacts, when you have sold $50,000 worth get the power put on.

[Mick_Marsh]

Have you considered steam? Try this mob:

STEAM ENGINE MANUFACTURERS (http://www.strathsteam.com/)

I have heard good things about this mob.
I'm ten to fifteen minutes from Goolwa at the moment. Think I'll pop in for a looksee.

[wagoo]

Have you considered steam? Try this mob:

STEAM ENGINE MANUFACTURERS (http://www.strathsteam.com/)

I have heard good things about this mob.

I've often thought that steam power had a certain appeal, relative quietness being one. I can't get my welding, grinding , drilling etc over and done with fast enough with that bleedin noisey Briggs and Stratton hammering away in close proximity to my work station.
Wagoo.

[windsock]

Hi wagoo,

I had some experience a few years back when I was involved in some research revolving around wood gasification etc. You are correct, it is old technology but with a few refinements it can be a very functional piece of kit in the righ location. There is still lots of research going on in a few locations, principally in relation to developing countries revolving around wood suitability trials and platation work etc.

First experience involved an old Fiat van from the commune I stayed on periodically with wood gasifier on the back fuelling the engine. I was too young to appreciate it at the time so paid little heed to the inner workings. Needless to say, it travelled well and with a few stops to gather wood, travelled long. This was in the late 70's and early 80's.

The second involvement was slightly more recent, 1999. Check out Doug Williams website - Fluidyne Gasification (http://www.fluidynenz.250x.com/) and a PDF document (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/csrc/conferences/rera/presentations/sanderson_john.pdf)that may be of interest out of LaTrobe Uni. Loads of links from Doug's site. Last time I met Doug was at a large rock festival (Sweetwaters 1999) in NZ where we (two of us from Massey University) connected our converted Datsun 120Y motor onto his gasifier and ran it on offcuts from one of his neighbouring furnture joinery factories on a variety of timbers. All timber was very dry as you would expect from a joiners factory. The motor was a re-tuned Datsun 120Y motor with intake converted to run on gas. This 120Y motor ran a genset which powered the main display marquee housing all the usual weird and wonderful stuff found at such events. My memory of the details of this gasifier and our motor is jaded now after 20-odd years of different work.

Another link you may be interested in if not already in the know of it - Bioenergy Lists - Gasifiers and Gasification (http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/taxonomy/term/48). Loads of links off this one and it is a forum type environment once signed up etc.

For further research into such a technical topic, abandon Google and use Scirus (http://www.scirus.com/). This search engine is specifically orientated to searching scientific and technical websites etc. Many of the websites referring to journal articles will cost to download the article but if you live within an easy travel to a University library, take the reference for the journal and see if they have it on their shelf and photocopy the article. other websites will obviously still be freely accessible. A quick search using the term "wood gasification" yielded 6,825 Journal articles, 5,373 other websites including research centres, and 27,000 other websites.

Good luck

Cheers, Phil

[bee utey]

Your 6KVA generator sounds like a bit of a dinosaur. I suggest a little Honda is better for charging batteries, then a bigger inverter to run the shed. Then your steam/producer gas generator can be smaller as you mainly use the batteries as surge levelling.

The other thing to do is banish the briggs to a dog house lined with rock wool blankets. My mate built a portable sound cover for his briggs so he could power the local Safety House trailer at fairs. Worked a treat.

[CraigMarlow]

This site : Power Pallets: Integrated Gasifier-Genset Skids Gasifier Experimenters Kit (http://www.gekgasifier.com/gasification-store/gasifier-genset-skids/)
Advertises a complete gassifier and generator on a pallet. Interesting idea, shame about the price. I can't imagine shipping would be cheap either.

Still, worth a look if you're interested in this stuff.

[wagoo]

Your 6KVA generator sounds like a bit of a dinosaur. I suggest a little Honda is better for charging batteries, then a bigger inverter to run the shed. Then your steam/producer gas generator can be smaller as you mainly use the batteries as surge levelling.

The other thing to do is banish the briggs to a dog house lined with rock wool blankets. My mate built a portable sound cover for his briggs so he could power the local Safety House trailer at fairs. Worked a treat.

Not really a dinosaur, That's just the way Briggs and Stratton are.Crude, noisey but reliable and easily serviced or repaired.The 240 volt alternator is belt driven off it at 3000rpm.I run the engine at 1000RPM to drive a Bosch 85amp alternator through a step up pair of pulleys to charge a bank of 6x100amp deep cycle batteries.A small Honda may be better but fuel consumption and noise of the B and S at 1000rpm when charging batteries is not a great concern.
I've got a load of used bricks to build a dog house for the gen set but a portable sound cover is a good idea as this unit is trailer mounted.
wagoo.

PS, what is rock wool? (asbestos?).are the blankets available still?

[bee utey]

PS, what is rock wool? (asbestos?).are the blankets available still?

The stuff used in R1.5 wall batts. Glass fibre insulation, used to be called rock wool. Not sure why. Used to come in rolled up in blankets, probably when it was thinner than today. Try an insulation specialist for some fire and noise retardant insulation.

[F4Phantom]

The stuff used in R1.5 wall batts. Glass fibre insulation, used to be called rock wool. Not sure why. Used to come in rolled up in blankets, probably when it was thinner than today. Try an insulation specialist for some fire and noise retardant insulation.

its called rock wool because its fibres made from rock melted down and turned to fibres, it looks like fibreglass but because its rock, it can withstand temps of up to 1100c.

I dont know if these guys sell them yet but about 10 years ago I went and visited Ted Pritchard at his house, he was in his mid 70's then and has scince passed away. He made a steam car and then moved to steam generators. This comany seems to have taken his company on and are looking to sell steam generators. Probably much more efficient than coal gas.

Uniflow Power Ltd - Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency (http://www.pritchardpower.com.au/)

[isuzurover]

There is a group here doing R&D on gassification and liquefaction of mallee. I think it would be more trouble than it is worth - seeing what they have to go through to harvest a very small amount of gas or liquid. There is a reason why lots of people don't have wood gas/oil powered stationary engines (yet).

I think steam would be a much more viable proposition. You could possibly even use a direct/belt drive from the steam engine for equipment like lathes and mills???

I am sure the steam option would be much more efficient, as a much greater proportion of the wood would be used.

Alternately - relocate or soundproof the genset and find a source of waste veg oil to run it on.
To stop sound transmission you need mass (to stop sound reverberation you need foam-like materials). (Rockwool is a good thermal insulator, but not as good against sound transmission). So building a brick/stone/concrete box for the genset should work - with some foam/rockwool on the inside to minimise reverb.

[Veryan]

In 2008 there was a episode of 'planet mechanics' by Dick Strawbridge where they made a wood gas powered hilux.

From memory it was a fairly shonky affair, but might be of some use for the basic principles and parts for a stationary engine. Most of it was built out of scrap materials, a little more refined than something from scrapheap challange - only just! Plus they had a few issues which they had to solve, so possibly more useful information.

[easo]

The Road Transport Hall of Fame has Kurt Johannsen's wood-gas car. Here are some photos of it for you.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/01/904.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/01/905.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/01/906.jpg

They also sell the plans to build your own, Road Transport Hall Of Fame (http://www.roadtransporthall.com/)

Regards Easo

[Hoges]

I showed this thread to my Dad who is a spritely 88...and still drives :(:wasntme:
anyway he was most interested and recalled that during the depression and early WWII years his father (an insurance inspector) had an "Essex" with a canvas roof and at times, towed a trailer with a wood burner unit fitted to it. His favorite recollection of the Essex was the pedal operated valve which when used on the open road, diverted the exhaust gases straight from the engine out the side of the car ...no muffler... was a standard feature apparently to improve fuel economy and performance :twisted:

[wagoo]

Thanks again for the info gents.
I didn't know that kurt used his gas producer on his big rigs! I thought he just had them on his service truck and old station wagon.
Wagoo.

[wagoo]

I showed this thread to my Dad who is a spritely 88...and still drives :(:wasntme:
anyway he was most interested and recalled that during the depression and early WWII years his father (an insurance inspector) had an "Essex" with a canvas roof and at times, towed a trailer with a wood burner unit fitted to it. His favorite recollection of the Essex was the pedal operated valve which when used on the open road, diverted the exhaust gases straight from the engine out the side of the car ...no muffler... was a standard feature apparently to improve fuel economy and performance :twisted:
:) Ask your dad if accidently he started many bushfires with that exhaust diverter.
Wagoo.

[Hoges]

Wouldn't need to..even at this late stage :D
...he NEVER does anything 'accidentally' ... reckons he always knew exactly what he was doing ..
come to think of it...guess that's why i'm here :eek::eek::eek::twisted::wasntme:

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

got any chooks around?
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/02/1229.jpgCHICKEN MANURE FUEL: "Put a chicken in your tank" may never match the zap of Esso's "Put a tiger in your tank" slogan. But British inventor, Harold Bate, will tell you you that chicken power will run a car faster, cleaner, and better than gasoline.

Bate has found a way of converting chicken droppings to gas -- and runs his automobile on it.

By processing methane gas from rotted chicken manure and feeding it to the engine through a special device he invented, Bate says, he has managed to drive his 1953 Hillman at speeds up to 75 m.p.h. without the use of gasoline.

At his farmhouse in Devon, Bate, 62, told an ENQUIRER reporter:

"This is the thing of the future... all you need is a couple of buckets of manure, a tin drum and my carburetor conversion device, and you're in business."

Bate's "chicken coupe" has been investigated and upheld by the British Ministry of Transport.

"We've looked into it," Frank Standing, information officer for the ministry told the ENQUIRER, "and the device works perfectly.

"However, as to mass use, that seems doubtful. There is simply not enough of a supply of chicken manure to provide fuel for autos on a mass basis."

Bate says he has been running his car and five-ton truck on the methane gas - as well as heating his home with it - for years.

"The method is really very simple," Bate, said. "You just put about three buckets of manure into a sealed oil drum. Put a small oil heater under the drum to keep the manure at a steady 80 degrees.

"There are two microbes in the manure which, when heated, eat each other - this produces the gas.

"You can collect the gas in bottles or in plastic balloons for storage. Then all you do is feed the methane through an adapter into your carburetor - and you've got chicken power.

"I keep replenishing my manure supply. I run my car for about six months before I clean out the tank and start with fresh dung."

Bate said the conversion from gasoline to methane power can be made in two hours and requires no special tools. The only engine alteration required is the installation of Bate's patented device which feeds the methane from the bottle to the carburetor.

The gas, sucked into the engine by the cylinders, is ignited in the usual manner by the spark plugs to produce power.

Methane is not only cheap and efficient, said the inventor, but it is better for your car - no carbon deposit on your cylinders and no engine wear and no poisonous carbon monoxide fumes.

(From NATIONAL ENQUIRER June 1970)


The Marvelous Chicken-Powered Car

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/02/1230.jpg Harold Bate, chicken farmer and inventor from Devonshire, England says that you can power your motor vehicle with droppings from chickens, pigs or any other animal of your choice ... even with your own waste! To prove his statement is no idle boast, Harold has been operating a 1953 Hillman and a five-ton truck on methane gas generated by decomposing pig and chicken manure for years.
He claims that the equivalent of a gallon of high-test gasoline costs him only about 3 cents and that the low-cost methane makes his vehicles run faster, cleaner and better than they operate on "store bought" fuel. Mr. Bate stands beside his famous Hillman in the photo above.

Detroit and the large petroleum interests keep saying it can't be done but a 62-year-old English inventor has already done it. Harold Bate, British chicken farmer and experimenter, has developed a small conversion unit that makes any ordinary automobile virtually pollution-free. What's more (and hang on to your hat for this one) the Bate converter can also cut your fuel, oil, sparkplug and other miscellaneous automobile operating expenses by a factor of ten! The Bate system accomplishes these amazing feats as naturally as a compost pile by recycling animal droppings and sewage into methane: a colorless, odorless, flammable gas. This means that, as a bonus, Harold Bate's development just may go a long way toward safely and naturally reclaiming the mountains of waste with which "civilized man" seems determined to bury the planet.

Interestingly enough, Bate did not make his noteworthy breakthrough in a well-equipped laboratory or while working on a multi-million dollar research grant. The converter and other parts of the Bate system were developed by Harold from odds and ends at hand as he puttered about his 450 year-old cottage and chicken farm in the heart of Devonshire. To be sure, Harold Bate has invented nothing new in the way of a basic process. Methane has been forming naturally in swamps and waste organic matter since long before man walked the earth and many ingenious experimenters have harnessed this source of fuel in the past. But Harold does seem to be the first to have actually put the whole idea on a workable, homestead, "anybody can do it" basis.

From a 450 year-old cottage in the heart of Devonshire, England, a 62 year-old inventor is selling a remarkable chicken-powered car to the world. Yes, you read correctly. A chicken-powered car ... for Harold Bate has devised a way of producing automobile fuel from animal droppings. The secret is methane, a common by-product of the natural process of decomposition and a much cleaner fuel than gasoline. Mr. Bate generates methane in usable quantities by simply speeding up nature a bit with a pressure "digester" ...just as an organic gardener speeds up the decomposition of natural matter with a compost pile.

There's nothing complicated nor expensive about the Bate digester. Whereas the large petroleum corporations must refine gasoline in complex, multi-million dollar plumbing nightmares, Harold's methane cooker looks more like a recycled home fruit canner and is small enough to fit into the corner of any basement or garage. Converting a private car to operate on this natural fuel is just as straightforward and economical and - for an initial investment of $100 or less and a little elbow grease - almost anyone should be able to start riding the roads virtually free of charge ... assuming there's a supply of animal droppings and/or other organic waste at hand.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/02/1231.jpg

ABOVE LEFT: Harold Bate's pilot Manure Extractor and the Manure Digester that he uses for day-to-day generation of automobile and truck fuel. Note the high-pressure compressor with which Bate fills a storage bottle (lower left of photo) to a pressure of 1100 pounds per square inch. ABOVE RIGHT: From this cluttered home workshop, Harold Bate challenged the multi-billion dollar petroleum industry and won! BELOW RIGHT: Graphic proof that Harold's small pilot Manure Extractor does the job! Methane from the digester first bubbles into a gallon bottle of water and then passes to a small gas jet where it is easily ignited and supports a flame. Obviously, part of the methane generated by a large digester can be piped to a burner under the extractor for use in maintaining the tank at the optimum gas generating temperature. BELOW LEFT: Harold Bate holds pressure tank of home-made methane.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/02/1232.jpg


Their closest friends are numbered amongst the local wildlife community and, throughout the day, a variety of birds fly into the open windows of the family cottage. Rabbits and squirrels are also a common sight on the Bate homestead.

In this tranquil setting, I asked Mr. Bate how he came to start work on his "free and clean" automobile fuel. "It all started with the Suez Crisis in 1953," Harold said. "When Egypt closed the canal, it blocked England's supply route with the Middle and Far East. This meant that petrol imports were crippled and fuel here in Great Britain was rationed. I got fed up with that and started looking round for an alternative form of power. I knew that gas engines were used before petrol (gasoline) and I also knew that gas was more efficient than petrol ... so I began to experiment.

"During the war I had done quite a bit of pig farming, and I knew that manure contained gases and that pig manure was very potent. A number of experimenters and sanitation facilities have been extracting gas from sewage for years now, but it's diluted so much that the process is slow. I therefore decided to concentrate on animal manure and find the best blend from which to extract methane ... and then develop a method of feeding this gas into a car's engine.

"After experiments with just about every type of animal manure, I found I got the best results from mixing that of chickens and pigs. Chicken manure contains more nitrogen than others and pig droppings are useful because they generate heat so well."

Bate has also found a certain amount of straw and/or vegetable waste to be a valuable addition to his methane raw materials. The manure contributes mainly nitrogen and the straw provides carbon, it seems. The ideal mixture is about 75% droppings (half pig and half chicken) and 25% straw. Methane brewed up from this formula has a caloric value per liquid pound of 22,000 B.T.U. as compared to gasoline's 19,000, propane's 19,944 and butane's l9,680.

The excreta-straw formula is first stacked up into a compost pile, doused with water and left exposed to the air for about a week of aerobic pre-fermentation. When this pre-fermentation is complete, about three hundred pounds of the mixture is shoveled into a heavy steel container (Bate recommends a trash-mongered domestic water heater) and sealed shut. A wait of four, five or even seven days - depending on conditions - is then necessary before fermentation of the first batch starts. If a little of the original mix is left behind as a starter, however, gas production will usually begin within 24 hours for all following batches.

The real secret of a rapid, strong and complete transformation of waste into the maximum amount of methane is the maintenance of the 85 to 90 degrees F. temperature at which the necessary bacteriological digestion is most active. If the temperature of the digester rises above 104 degrees F, no gas will be produced at all and -- in extremely hot regions -- a methane production unit should be shaded or otherwise protected from the heat. A digester set up in a temperate or cooler zone, on the other hand, may need some supplemental heating from an electric element inside the tank or a small kerosene (or methane!) flame under the unit.

By the way, for those who speculate that the methane used to heat the digester might total more than the gas produced by the unit ... taint so! An extremely low flame (a car sump heater is ideal) under a Bate digester can cause the tank to yield a right vigorous flow of gas.

Bate has fitted his digester tank with a safety valve set for 60 p.s.i. "just in case". Pressures in the extractor seldom reach a third of that level, however, because Harold considers a digester internal pressure of 20 p.s.i. to be the signal to start up a high-pressure compressor (of the type used for filling aqualung diving bottles) and pump the collected gas from the extractor into an ordinary high-pressure bottle.

A filter between the digester and pressure bottle extracts the small quantities of phosphoric acid and ammonia that are present and the remaining almost pure methane liquefies at a pressure of 1110 p.s.i.

Bate figures that it takes about one-half hour of steady pumping to fill a 32-pound (4.5 Imperial gallon) bottle to its capacity of liquid methane. This figures out to approximately 200 cubic feet of dry gas ... or a fuel equivalent of seven gallons of good petrol (about eight and three-quarters gallon of high-test gasoline, to readers in the US).

The digester will continue to produce for several weeks and will then have to be topped up with more manure and the sludge run off. All in all, a single filling of 300 pounds of manure will produce about 1500 cubic feet of methane equivalent to roughly 50 gallons of petrol (62 US gallons). That's not bad and Bate figures it costs him only three cents to produce the equal of an Imperial gallon of petrol.

Once he had a guaranteed supply of methane, Harold next faced the problem of getting the high-pressure gas into his car's engine in the exact amount required by the power plant under all operating conditions. His answer, of course, was the now-famous 6" x 5" carburetor attachment which he calls the Bate Auto Gas Converter.

The attachment (it looks like a model flying saucer) fits between the methane pressure bottle and the car's carburetor and allows the cylinders of the engine to suck just enough methane - and no more - from the bottle as the fuel is needed. The only modification made on the engine itself is the simple tubular jet which is threaded into the choke tube of the carburetor before the throttle butterfly valve. A run of rubber tubing connects this to the Bate converter and a further run goes back to wherever the methane bottle is carried. No mechanical linkage or other complicated modification is necessary.

Incidentally, the storage of the methane need not be restricted to high pressure bottles. A rubber dinghy, air bed or even giant inner tubes carried on the roof of the car would be just as effective ... or as Bate says, "Fill your tires with methane and run till they're flat!" Motoring on methane offers more than the $.03-a-gallon economy mentioned earlier.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/02/1233.jpg


ABOVE LEFT: Nothing fancy here! Harold has simply "hay wired" the methane gas cylinder valve to the steering wheel of his Hillman. ABOVE RIGHT: The Bate Auto Gas Converter (demand regulator) as mounted in Harold's 1953 Hillman. The white cover here is purely decoration. Note, again, the rather casual manner in which Bate has installed his accessories in his own car. BELOW RIGHT: We find secured by another twist of wire the pressure tank of methane which fuels the Bate Hillman. In this case, the tank is a recycled "camping gas" bottle of a type common in England. BELOW LEFT: The patented Bate Auto Gas Converter with all frills removed. This important piece of hardware and instructions for setting up your own methane plant is what you receive when you buy a converter from Bate. FAR BELOW LEFT: There are days when being a world-famous chicken farmer-inventor is a royal drag.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/02/1234.jpg


Mr. Bate finds that the gas gives 97 to 98% combustion compared to the 27% combustion (with the rest going out the exhaust in the form of carbon and pollution) of gasoline. So there's a definite ecological benefit. Engine wear is also markedly cut since methane, being dry, cannot dilute nor contaminate motor oil in the way that gasoline does ... and sparkplug's last much longer. "I've taken plugs out of my car after five years and more, and they've been as clean as the day I put them in," says Bate. "My car runs cleaner, smoother and has more power on methane."

To prove his words were no idle boast, Harold took me for a demonstration drive in his famous 1953 chicken-powered Hillman. When he started the car on petrol and the vehicle broke into a rather lumpy idle, Bate flicked a switch on the dashboard and turned a knob on the steering column. "I've cut off the petrol," he explained. "When the float chamber on the carburetor empties, we'll be running on methane. You'll see the difference."

And I did. In a matter of moments the rather weary 18-year-old engine settled down to a smooth purr and, on a short demonstration run, the bulky vehicle made light work of the switchback lanes around Bate's home. Throttle response was incredibly good and there were no fiat spots such as are common with carburetion using normal fuel in machines of this age.

"I get five more miles to the gallon on methane than I get from an equivalent amount of petrol," Harold said. "This is because the dry methane has a higher calorific value and there is no waste of unvaporized fluid. Absence of oil dilution and reduced carbon deposits are just bonuses."

Incidentally, all the advantages which methane bestows on an automobile - economy, pollution reduction, longer life and reduced maintenance - are just as evident when the gas is burned in tractors, trucks and stationary engines. Methane produced on the homestead can also be used to heat water, run a refrigerator, cook food, warm a house and do all the other jobs that we now do with natural gas. With a large enough digester and a ready supply of animal droppings, then, it is possible that a family farm might supply all its own power requirements from this one source alone.

Of course, it remains to be seen if such self-containment is desirable. Perhaps we're all better off simply recycling the manure back to the fields, selling the car and appliances and getting a horse. Time will tell. In the meantime, it certainly is possible to construct a methane generator large enough to power a homestead, and Mr. Bate has devised one that utilizes septic tank wastes.

This large digester consists of a pit dug in the ground and lined with brick or concrete (a tank built on a low foundation above ground would also suffice) measuring approximately 10-feet square with an adjoining storage tank of the same size or larger.

To prepare the system for non-stop production of methane, the usual septic tank vent pipe is fitted with a gas trap and any other openings are sealed. A no-return flap valve is fixed on the sewer pipe where it enters the digester (to keep the gas from escaping through the inlet) and another no-return valve is inserted in the line between the extractor and storage tank. This allows methane to pass to storage (but not return) as the gas is generated.

A hole is then made in the digester cover and a thermostatic electric immersion heater is mounted so that it reaches well down into the raw sewage. The thermostat is set to give a steady heat of 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and another small hole is drilled in the digester cover for the insertion of a check thermometer into the sewage from time to time. This last hole is fitted with a gas-tight stopper except for the brief periods when a temperature check is being made.

If the tank is built above the ground, the digester can be heated by a steam pipe run through the contents and connected to the domestic hot water supply. It can also be heated by a gas ring or burner under the extractor and, once methane is being produced, this burner may be connected into the gas storage tank ... allowing the system to heat itself.

As ingenious as this arrangement may be, Harold Bate's restless mind is already far down the road to greater things. At the moment he's waiting for a patent on his discovery of a method for abstracting the liquid content from chicken manure. It seems that chicken droppings in their natural state are too sticky to be a convenient fertilizer ... but - with the liquid abstracted - the manure makes two very good fertilizers, one dry and one liquid.

"The so-called experts have been working on that one for years," chuckles Bate. "I solved it in no time. It's a question, I think, of overlooking the obvious. My next project, if and when I get the time, is the development of an electric car that will generate its own power. I know I can do it."

In the meantime, Harold is still faced with the problem of convincing the boffins and powers-that-be to accept his already proven ideas on methane. The Bate conversion, you see, has already received the stamp of official approval from the British Government's Ministry of Transport ... but it seems distinctly unlikely that those chaps - who collect a 75% tax from the price of petro - are going to advocate a mass changeover to homemade fuel at $.03 a gallon.

The story is much the same right down the line: it takes money to promote and market do-it-yourself methane on a large scale ... and the people with money generally find it to their advantage not to promote methane.

Be that as it may, the facts speak for themselves. Bate's invention is simple, it's incredibly inexpensive ... and it works. Hundreds of people, who are now driving chicken-powered cars the world over after contacting Mr. Bate directly, can vouch for that. And the word is beginning to spread.

So - until a large firm finally sees the light, buys Harold out and begins to promote his digester and converter in a big way - Mr. Bate and his wife, Evelyn, will continue doing the job alone. And that means that, for as many as 18 hours a day, Evelyn will sit in the picturesque 16th-century cottage answering letters while Harold handcrafts methane generators in a small workshop at the bottom of the garden path. That seems as nice a way to change the world as any. [[Barry Grindrod - The Mother Earth News, Issue 10, July 1971, Pages 14-19]

web site: www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/batesmethane.htm" (http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/batesmethane.htm)

[wagoo]

No Chooks. Having them here would just give the foxes and ferel cats a free easy meal.
Wagoo.

[isuzurover]

No Chooks. Having them here would just give the foxes and ferel cats a free easy meal.
Wagoo.

I am sure you have sufficient skill to build a fox-proof chicken coop Bill ;)

[wagoo]

I am sure you have sufficient skill to build a fox-proof chicken coop Bill ;)
Yes Ben but how many chooks am I going to need to run both my generator and my Landy? Besides, Chooks bring rats, and we don't want that kind of wildlife round here.
wagoo.

[isuzurover]

Yes Ben but how many chooks am I going to need to run both my generator and my Landy? Besides, Chooks bring rats, and we don't want that kind of wildlife round here.
wagoo.

If you catch enough rats you can build a "hamster" wheel instead :D

[mfc]

Don't you have to turn the wood into charcoal first, before you can use it in a gas producer?

nah brian theres two types one that burns wood and the other system charcoal

ive been toying with putting a wood gas system on a series engine as a project,i remenber the grandparents talking of using them before,during and after the war{2}...be an interesting project i think especialy with the amount of wood around here..
some links
The Gengas Page (http://www.gengas.nu/byggbes/11.shtml)

Fluidyne Gasification - Archive - Since 1976 (http://www.fluidynenz.250x.com/)

http://www.hotel.ymex.net/~s-20222/gengas/kg_eng.html
these cover deasel ,coal and wood converters

regards mark