Mason

Frank Shields Demonstrates the Gasifier Experimenter's Kit (GEK)
Tom Miles, August 8, 2008

Frank with GEK at ETHOS Stove Camp 2008
GEK and Burner

Frank Shields demonstrated Jim Mason's Gasifier Experimenter's Kit (GEK) at the ETHOS 2008 Stoves Camp in Cottage Grove, Oregon, August 5-9, 2008. Frank gave the gasifier it's first trials at the Stoves Camp which is held annually at Aprovecho Research Center to train people in making improved cooking stoves for developing countries.(See Biomass Cooking Stoves http://www.bioenergylists.org)

See the kit at All Power Labs: http://allpowerlabs.org/gasification/gek/index.html

Jim has done a very nice job of designing and fabricating an Imbert style gasifier that can be used for learning about gasification. The gasifier is larger than it appears on Jim's website. It is built so that it can be easily loaded, adjusted , disassembled, poked, shaken, and all the things necessary to learn about how fuel moves in a downdraft gasifier. It has a removable hopper for extended running. It's a great way to get a number of people familiar with gasifiers. I think Frank was pleased as he tried different fuels - chunk wood, chips, almond shells, manure - and different firing rates. He was able to easily stop gasification, disassemble the gasifier and inspect the fuel, charcoal and reduction zones after each run. The gas burner was simple and ran with a clear and self sustaining flame.

This is a great tool for anyone wanting to explore downdraft gasification. Thanks to Frank for trying it out for everyone to see at Stoves Camp.

Tom

Gasifier Experimenters Kit (GEK)
Jim Mason, March 4, 2008
Gasifier Experimenters Kit

The Gasifier-Powered Cafe Racer: The Car of Yesteryear . . . Today!

Chicken John converted his 1975 pickup truck to run on coffee grounds or walnut shells or pretty much any other trash you can burn. And not only does it run on trash, but it's a carbon-negative vehicle. Seriously. The truck itself is completely unmodified. Chicken just added a gasifier to it. It can run on gasoline with the flip of a switch. Gasification isn't some new-fangled technology. In Europe during World War II, over a million vehicles ran using wood burning gasifiers when gasoline and diesel were unavailable. The Cafe Racer: the car of yesteryear . . . today! How does it work? Watch the video . . . "at

http://www.chickenjohn.com/mayor/innovation.html

Pictures of Woodgas Truck
Jim Mason, to Gasification Discussion List, April 13, 2007