Wood gas generator

Historically wood gas generators were often mounted on vehicles, but present studies and developments concentrate mostly on stationary plants.

In Great Britain, France, the United States and Germany, large numbers of such generators were constructed or improvised to convert wood and coal into fuel for vehicles.

Germany produced Gazogene units for vehicles including cars, trucks, artillery tractors and even tanks, to preserve the limited supplies of fuel.

In Brazil, a racer named Chico Landi won at São Paulo's Interlagos circuit in 1944, driving a wood gas-powered Alfa Romeo.

A new design known as the Keith gasifier improves on the FEMA unit, incorporating extensive heat recovery and eliminating the tar problem.

[9] This system set the world speed record for biomass powered vehicles[10] and has made several cross country tours.

[11][12] The United Nations produced the FOA 72 document[13] with details about their wood gas generator design and construction, as does World Bank technical paper 296.

Wood gasifiers of proven design and thoroughly tested construction are considered safe to use outdoors, or in a partially enclosed space, for example, under a shelter open to the air on two sides; they may also be considered relatively safe to use in an extremely well ventilated (e.g. negative pressure) indoor area not connected to any indoor area used for sleeping, equipped with redundant (more than 1), completely independent, battery-powered, regularly tested carbon-monoxide gas detectors.

Under no circumstances should wood-gas ever be compressed to more than 1 bar (15 psi) above ambient, as this may induce condensation of volatiles, as well as lead to the likelihood of severe injury or death due to carbon monoxide or deflagration if the vessel leaks or fails.

A 2010, Mother Earth News article discussed and showed pictures of a wood gas powered engine installed in a pickup truck.

[18] On the popular US radio program Car Talk, a caller in episode 1201 (which aired on January 7, 2012, and was subsequently named "20 Miles Per Woodchip"), described a wood gas generating vehicle he rode in as a boy during World War II in Germany.

Serbian TV sitcom "Truckdrivers 2" (="Kamiondzije II") from 1983. talks, as a part of plot, about a gas generator affixed to a chassis of a lorry.

[20] In Season 3 Of Mountain Men On The History Channel, Eustice Conway is shown operating a wood gasified Toyota pickup for hauling goods The Finnish prime minister Juha Sipilä has received some media attention also for the wood gas powered car he built as a hobby prior to his political career.