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Power Gen

December 8, 2009 to December 10, 2009 – Las Vegas, NV
Pacific West Biomass Conference

January 11, 2010 to January 13, 2010 – Hyatt Regency
International Biomass Conference

May 4, 2010 to May 6, 2010 – Minneapolis Convention Center

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What is your experience with gasification?: Prototyping and design

Do you have a website?: http://victorygasworks.com

What are your goals with gasification?: tinkering, home power, investment, commercial, other

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Powerful Gasifier Built For A University

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Basics of Gasification Part 2

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Ben's Blog

New Group: Gas to Liquids

Chris Seymour is going to be sharing with us some of his research into GTL and I am playing around with Fischer Tropsch refitting on the Off Gridder so it is time for a group.

Liquid fuels make sense for a variety of reasons, but mostly energy storage and synergy with current infrastructure. It also releases heat t… Continue

Posted on November 8, 2009 at 10:13pm — 1 Comment

Fuel, Social Programs and Debt

I have been watching the dollar fall as of late and as a consequence I have watched stainless steel prices rise dramatically in the last few months. Some stock is up as much as 50%, ouch!

I was poking around CNBC and… Continue

Posted on November 5, 2009 at 8:03am — 12 Comments

Gasifier Flow vs. Reaction Area

Another topic we covered at the workshop is the balance of air/gas flow and reaction area in a gasifier. This is one of the key points to making a consistent quality and volume of wood gas and it's rarely talked about.

Flow is the amount of gas that can pas… Continue

Posted on November 1, 2009 at 11:51am — 1 Comment

Upcoming Events

Our friends over at Biomass Magazine are holding two events that you will want to attend in 2010.
The Pacific West Biomass Conference & Expo will focus on the western U.S. and be held January 11-13th, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento, CA.

Then… Continue

Posted on November 1, 2009 at 8:33am —

Gasifier workshop highlights- Gasifier Hearth Sizing

We covered lot's of valuable information at last weekend's gasifier workshop. One of the main concepts a gasifier owner must understand is proper hearth sizing. Proper hearth sizing is key to getting engine quality fuel gas.

Step 1. Reduction opening

… Continue

Posted on November 1, 2009 at 8:17am — 3 Comments

Comment Wall (23 comments)

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At 11:14pm on October 26, 2009, Chad E Jones said…: Hey Ben did you get my email?? Just wondering if you did!! The Sunchokes are way better than corn or sugar beets for producing Ethanol! Besides the stalks being made into briquettes for wood gas!
Thx Chad

A.E.R. Alternative Energy Resources

At 6:09am on October 22, 2009, Gerardo Marin said…: Dear Ben,
We are timber producers in south of Chile and we are involved in fire wood products too. I see some of your great videos and I´m very interesting in starting up working with wood gasification technology . We would like to test a model with wood chunks for heating my home wih a wood gasification furnace. How can you help me Ben? wich is the way to go to achieve this goal?

At 9:25pm on October 8, 2009, mike hartsgrove said…: hey ben ,i watched more of your vids .....loved the hempfest one ...funny and cool .......saw where you were building it 6 moago ?? and oven method for measuring moisture content...chip dryer/gas cooler cool....!!!..cant wait to make good gas to run small engine...bought blower today....and read fab shop blog ...on fabing cones..hope to make a cyclone this weekend and incorporate them ..inoticed .on the woody and dump truck you use compressed air......are you just forcing it into the air intake into the tuyeres?

At 9:05pm on September 30, 2009, ben said…: Art,

Bridging was addressed with an inverted conical hopper for wood chunks and the horizontal agitator is used for chips.

At 8:54pm on September 30, 2009, Art said…: Hi Ben,

Glad to see the Off Gridder in operation. I'm checking out my circumstances to see if it makes sense for me get one right now. I know the bridging issue is a problem with gasification. Have you considered using sand, stones, clay or any non-flammable material mixed with the wood to keep the fuels separated and perhaps prevent the bridge from forming? Even with the bridging, this an awesome technology.

Art

At 8:43am on September 29, 2009, Chad E Jones said…: Hey Ben, Sorry it's been a while I almost blew my hand off a couple months ago, so it's been hard getting back on top of things! But I am almost there! LOL
Hey I think you know I've been doing Ethanol for quite a while, from your last post it sounds like your thinking of doing it also. I have found Jerusalem Artichokes are one of the best crops you can grow, one of the highest Ethanol productions and the feedstock for your animals, the stalks I have been using in my gasifier. Let me know if you want to know more. talk later, Thx Chad

At 6:04am on September 28, 2009, Jim Trainor said…: Howdy folks
Great site, looking to learn from you guys.
I started out wanting to convert a truck to propane, to finding the FEMA site for Gasifier, to finding you guys.
I'm fired up and have the skill set to make one of these bad boys as soon as I figure out a design to start with. Any suggestions for a plan for a small emergency generator grade Gasifier. If not I will continue to collect materials for the fema trash can.
Also look forward to update on white label. That concept is awesome.
Ben, not quite ready to say you’re my hero but your gettin there.
Jim

At 11:40am on September 22, 2009, Joe Clarke said…: Hello Ben,
You are producing great information regarding our ability to get off the "Grid" and that is my intention, in the not too distant future. My wife, ( a postal Clerk) will retire in about 6 yrs. We presently live in Sebring, Florida. We will be relocating to North Florida when she retires. We plan to buy about 10 acres there and build a home that will not be connected to the "Grid". I have been gleaning the available information on the internet regarding the possibilities of utilizing wood gas along with a couple of home made wind generators, and maybe a solar panel or two to provide for our energy needs.
Here is my problem, I have the talent to construct the equipment I need to power up some small engines to produce the power I wish to generate. I do not need at this time to construct anything larger. I am very interested in building a "mini" version of your "ABE" model to mount on a good sized lawn tractor. Not for mowing grass but just to get around on and maybe pull a small trailer.

At 67 yrs. old I realize that my days of driving a car or truck will eventually come to an end. But that does not mean that I would not still be able to get around and be some what independent. I look forward to building an "MINI-ABE" to mount on the back of said lawn tractor just to be able to maybe go to town or the local convenience store. I would appreciate any help/advice you and your friends could offer before I start a project that may require redoing several times before I could get it right. Of course, I will share my results and information with Victory Gas Works & Friends.

TooMuchFun

At 5:54pm on September 18, 2009, Scott Hunt said…: Ben, Great combination of teaching and getting your hands dirty! I would like to purchase one of the woodys to run a Farmall M, a Ford Bronco ( 6cyl) and an engine/genset to power the house. I currently have a 12KW china diesel that works fine but I want to run wood gas. I would like to build one unit that I can use in the 3 applications. I would load the unit into each situation with my other tractor with forks. Is the Woody V1 big enough? Thanks for your time!

At 10:04am on September 16, 2009, Doug Leidy said…: Ben im interested in getting into building a Gasifier but I have no welding experiance. The real problem for me is were to get the raw materials. (old used tanks...etc)? I can even find an old 55 gal drum. Im on a budget and cant really afford to go out and spend alot of money on new stuff just to tinker around. Also ,what kind of welding/cutting tools will i need to make a gasifier. Again learning to weld will not be a problem.