rocket heater+ gasifier + electric primer +vid log

[phillipjacks]

cant get the video up, still working on this thing. don't have much time but wanted to post some pics and get some feedback/opinions on wither this is gunna be a disaster or ok or success. i'll get back online later when next i get internet access and give more details. this is our first attempt. we've tried to design for max radient heat, which we will deliver from basement to house via duct fans. basically heat up basement, transfer air. if we get it working, we will install on all homes in our urban commune in Flint, Mi (facebook.com/peacemobgardens)





the two pictures above show our rocket core before wood gasifier added. its a j with a front access for cleanout. inner dimensions of everything shown is 8x8, except of the elbow that transfers from the horizontal burn tunnel to the heat riser. we expanded that slightly to allow for ash build up and less restriction via turbulence. its welded together out of 1/4 plate steel we got from the scrap yard. pretty sure it was a cut up dumpster.

heres some measurements from the pics above
1) clean out (left) 8"x8" inner. 12" long - also nice for secondary air intake while getting the thing started
2) feed tube: 8"x8" inner. 10" above top of clean out & burn tunnel. 4" below for ash pit.
3) horizontal burn tunnel: 8"x8" inner. 12" long, then has an additional 2" that expands to 8"x12" corner/elbow.
4) corner/elbow: 8"x12" kinda. corners are at 45 degrees
5) heat riser: 8x8 inner. 54" tall from bottom to top. 44" tall from corner/elbow to top. 46" from top of burn tunnel to top of heat riser.






heres us adding on the gasification chamber. basically imagine a 22"x18" box saddled over & around the burn tunnel & feed tube. we've added a lid to seal it up. and a small hole to let the gasohol into the feed tube. our theory is that the heat from the burn tunnel will gasify wood chips (a free resource for us), and push it out the small hole into the feed tube/burn tunnel for extra fuel. fuel (wood chips) + spark (heat from burn tunnel) - oxygen (sealed chamber except for small exit hole) = wood gas. well we are hoping. if it doesnt work we have a nice oven, or we can just fill with cob. when i can figure out how to get the videos off my phone and onto the facebook i'll add links.

not shown in the photos above are our insulation ring (sheet metal to hold in verm/clay for insulation around heat riser) and our barrel. we are going with a 4 inch top barrel gap and 2.5 inch barrel side gap. but we built our system so we can adjust our side gap to various sizes. we will probably test with dry verm as insulation first, till we get the right size for best draw/burn, then fill it in with verm/clay.

any opinions? stay tuned for more. gotta go cut & weld again.

[kirkerik]

Hmmmm, very interesting.

How are going to clean out gasification chamber? Scoop it out?

You probably already know but if any air gets in the chamber then you may have a big fire on your hands in the basement.

Seems like a good idea. Keep us posted.

I gotta get a welder ;D

[kirkerik]

Are those rods welded in to the riser for turbulence?

[kirkerik]

It may be difficult to get the chips to pyrolize more than a few inches from the heat source, hmmm
Curious now, i am.

[phillipjacks]

How are going to clean out gasification chamber? Scoop it out?

scoop & vacuum. after it's cooled down of course. we will find out as we test.

You probably already know but if any air gets in the chamber then you may have a big fire on your hands in the basement.

indeed we're pretty sure our chambers air tight. only one hole, and its hopefully small enough to only let wood gas out. we purposely didn't yet put a latching mechanism on our lid for the gasifier. this way if it builds up pressure faster than the hole lets the gas into the burn tunnel, or if the exit hole is too big and it lets too much air into the system, then it will just kinda "blow" the lid right off a little, like a pot lid burping itself from pressure build up. we expect this would just shoot out a bit of super heated wood gas allowing it to mix with oxygen and make a small burst of flame, quickly disappearing. in our experimental phase we will get to test these and our other theories.

I gotta get a welder

your more than welcome to come play with us. after we get this one tested and installed, we gotta do some work for a month or two to pay some bills, then we will be working on our next one. who knows, maybe we will get crazy and work and build at the same time and might be started in 2 or 3 weeks again. we are located in Flint Michigan. 1400 & 1500 blocks of illinois, indiana, davison & broadway streets. trying to purchase up all the houses and land here and build an urban eco-village/commune. we need more like minded individuals, wither to visit or live. my numbers 810 429 7729. unfortunately its off right now cause i'm too poor to pay my bill, and too busy trying to make heat for our house to work and make money.

Are those rods welded in to the riser for turbulence?

no, those are spacers for our insulation ring. we cut the shell off a water heater, and zip screwed it to the right size to give us a 2.5 inch barrel side gap. those spacers hold the water heater shell (insulation ring) centered and in place.

It may be difficult to get the chips to pyrolize more than a few inches from the heat source, hmmm
Curious now, i am.

we think the same thing. we too are curious. on the other side of the thought spectrum, we wonder if the mass of chips will retain enough heat to keep themselves pyrolizing, or gasifing for some time after the burn in the feed tube/burn tunnel stops.

[phillipjacks]

www.facebook.com/v/418840484835853 - video of us lighting up our j-tube for the first time. this is pre-gasification chamber & barrel

www.facebook.com/v/418843468168888 - video of finishing up the welds. has some further explanation of how our works and some of our mods.

www.facebook.com/v/418845721501996 - video showing how we are sealing our gasification chamber.

www.facebook.com/v/418846598168575 - here i explain our insulation ring spacers, how we are attaching our barrel to barrel connection, and talk about how we intend on adding in a hot water heater to the system (well after we can save up the money)

www.facebook.com/v/418847194835182 - just a video of us loading in the truck to take from the pink house to the brown house. nothing important in this video.

[phillipjacks]

www.facebook.com/v/418855424834359 - trying to get the stove fired up. we didnt work fast enough and our draw reversed on us fail.

www.facebook.com/v/418857761500792 - got a fire lit, well sorta, its not great cause were burning green wood, but it made us happy. this video is just a few hours old from right now. we pull the lid off our gasification chamber and explain a little more. tomorrow we will fit our barrel, do our insulation, maybe install ports for our water, and get a real good test fire.

will post more pics tomorrow. outta time for the day. peace

[phillipjacks]

we start cob tomorrow. will try and get the rest of our pics and test results and blueprints and info up after that.

[phillipjacks]

www.facebook.com/v/421881494531752 - Getting ready to move the rocket stove to the basement.

[phillipjacks]

www.facebook.com/v/421882851198283 - Making cob, processing ash, clay, and sand. Also going over our installation site and reviewing our plan.

[phillipjacks]

www.facebook.com/v/421883661198202 - How to mix cob on a tarp with your feet, aka dance party!

[phillipjacks]

www.facebook.com/v/421885204531381 - Installing Ash & Lava Rock as insulation under our burn tunnel & heat riser

www.facebook.com/v/421885881197980 - Encasing our front clean out in structural cob.
Installing our exit exhaust pipe.
Going over our plans for barrel to bench transfer and bench to exhaust transfer.
Showing our foundation under our thermal bench and laying the first courses of bricks.

www.facebook.com/v/421886517864583 - Showing a finished clean out door and half of our bench to exhaust transfer. Also showing some finished cob work on our front clean out. Also showing our mock up of barrel to bench transfer & other unfinished half of our bench to exhaust transfer pre-cob.

www.facebook.com/v/421888324531069 - Finishing our courses of brick for our thermal bench.
Showing some applied thermal cob to our thermal bench.
Showing finished transfers, exhaust primer & some more clean outs.
Giving away some of our "top secret" dimensions, recipes, and materials!

www.facebook.com/v/421889257864309 - Showing our first fire in the house, and explaining more of our system. Also rocking some Bob Dylan

www.facebook.com/v/421891127864122 - Adding electric fan to "auto-prime" and increase draw.
Using our wood gasifier box to dry green wood out.

www.facebook.com/v/421891887864046 - First real successful test and lesson of our gasifer.
Showing initial cracking & drying of our structural cob.

[Rinchen]

Hi Guys,
Good work on building the bench.
But I would advise not to use it as a gasifier, because of serious risks involved. Just use it with the box empty and you'll be fine.
Dont insulate your burntunnel because with the added insulation your steel will be eaten away very rapidly.

[phillipjacks]

We've been thinking/considering the same thing. We really are at least gunna give it a thorough test. Our biggest concern is that creosote builds up in the small hole from gasifier to feed tube. If (more like when) this happens we would be building pressure like a bomb. Our solution is to install a blow plug (like from a pressure cooker), so that if/when that happens the blow plug will melt and release the pressure/wood gas into the feed tube. I don't want to use the toggle style valve like from a autoclave or modern pressure canner cause it could clog before a blow even happens.

What do ya think?

[phillipjacks]

thinking something like this
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusible_plug