Wood Gas! Wood Gasification Powers this Truck
(Page 5 of 6)
May/June 1981
By Mother Earth News editors
Bad News with the Good
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Like any device that depends upon "unfamiliar" technology, our scrap-fired pickup does take some getting used to . . . and it, admittedly, has some drawbacks that should be carefully considered. For one thing, the power output of the engine is noticeably reduced. Even though the truck starts easily, and idles and runs smoothly, the relatively low-BTU fuel smokes the tiger right out of its tank. (As one of our mechanics noted, "It's like driving with two pistons removed.") Nonetheless, with the ignition timing advanced to accommodate the high "octane" fuel, the truck keeps up with traffic easily, and can maintain speeds beyond the legal limit.
A second, and extremely important, factorone that cannot be overemphasized — is the potential danger from carbon monoxide gas that may find its way out of the cooker or the supply pipes. If care is taken in the construction of the system, and no leaks are present, the engine will consume the toxins . . . exhausting CO2 emissions which — throughout our preliminary tests — registered 33%, lower than those given off in the gasoline mode. (Hydrocarbon emissions were reduced by half!) However, breathing the fumes from even a small breach in the fuel feed pipe — or the smoke given off when the gasifier is reloaded—could cause severe headaches and a feeling of intoxication. And exposure to the odorless, colorless, and highly poisonous carbon monoxide fumes can bring about collapse or—in an extreme case-even death! (Of course, the exhaust pipe of every automobile puts out the same toxic gases . . . although in much smaller concentrations than would occur should the supply line feeding unburned smoke fuel to the engine rupture.)
Finally, wood power simply isn't as convenient as are the more conventional methods used to get you down the road. We've found that the filter medium should be replaced every several hundred miles, and the condenser ramrodded with a shot-gun cleaning brush (or flushed with a garden hose) and drained periodically.
It would be difficult to find fault with the price of the fuel, however. Virtually every bit of wood used in our approximately 1,500 miles of producer gas driving has been obtained for free . . . and we've burned everything iron castoff shop scrap to dead roadside brush to contractors' tailings (by the pile! ). Furthermore, our local electric company was more than happy to get rid of a truckload of chipped trimmings cut from trees that had been encroaching on the powerline's right of way. And, even though the fuel hasn't cost us anything, we've found that the truck is thrifty with the wood it uses. Our vehicle, with a full wood supply and passenger load, goes about one mile on a pound of chunks . . . which figures out to some 75 miles per tankful.
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