BACKYARD HOMESTEAD UTILITY

(Page 4 of 4)

July/August 1981
 
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AND THERE'S MORE!

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Our experimentation won't end there, either. As soon as we're totally satisfied with the electricity-producing portion of our setup, we're going to bolt an air compressor onto the accessory bracket at the front of the engine, strap a belt around it, and run a pneumatic line into a buried air storage tank next to the shop. The cool earth will help to condense any moisture . . . and the pressurized "atmosphere" can then be used to drive tools or spray paint.

Actually, we're limited only by our imaginations when it comes to thinking up new tasks for our generator to perform. There seems to be enough surplus power in the engine to allow us to operate even an automotive air conditioning compressor, which should be capable of cooling a small house . . . and at least one member of our research staff feels that it's possible to develop a wood-chipper/auger-feed mechanism—driven by the engine crankshaft—that could convert large pieces of wood into "bite-size" chunks and feed them into the gasifying chambers!

At any rate, we feel that we've made a number of noteworthy discoveries in the course of our small-scale research, not the least of which is the fact that a home's electrical needs can be supplied by wood gasification. The tab on MOM's Lilliputian utility—not counting labor—came to approximately $6,000, including its "housing", which consists of a slab and a protective roof. Of course, this cost could be reduced substantially if a used alternator and an unmodified engine were utilized. And it doesn't take a very sharp pencil to figure out that a household or farmstead that eats up perhaps $1,500 annually in purchased energy (in many areas that would be considered a modest figure) would have to operate with a selfcontained system for only four years—provided the fuel is scrap—to pay off the investment.

But we're not, by any means, finished yet. Keep an eye on future issues for more reports about our cogeneration system, because we'll be keeping you informed of our progress as we go along.

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  • John Guynes 9/9/2008 2:09:21 PM

    Do you have any updates to this experiment?

  • John Guynes 9/9/2008 2:03:42 PM

    Do you have any updates to this experiment?

  • Pete Stanaitis 7/14/2008 6:19:51 PM

    My son and I will build 2 separate 25KwHr wood gasifier plants, one at his house and one at my house, 15 miles away.
    We plan to run these into the grid via current net metering programs available to us.
    We want to know if the MEN 10KW generation plant for the your "Eco-village" workshop is still operating and, what have your experiences with it been?
    We are having a hard time finding equipment for connecting our generator to the grid. If we were using wind or solar, no problem. Or, if we were using tons of methane from a huge hog operation, generating 150KW to a megawatt, again, no problem.
    But in the 10KW to 75 KW range their seems a great void.
    What we think we can do at present is to use induction motors as generators, but since they don't come in sizes bigger than about 10HP in single phase, and since we need about 40 HP, we will attempt to use 125 HP 3 phase induction motors to do the job.

    Any input you can provide will be much appreciated.

    Pete Stanaitis
    you can see what we do at: www.spaco.org

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