Wood Gas Generator Produces "Free" Power

Wood Gas Generator Produces "Free" Power ENERGY Wood Gas 31-2-18 Owners of a Manitoba company say they've almost perfected a patent-pending wood gasification process that could be economically viable on a commercial scale. They gasify wood and other organic material and burn the gas in big engine-powered generators. Arthur Zegil and Jude Sanson of W2E Technologies, say what makes their system different is that they've come up with a way to burn the tar out of wood gas. This has been a big stumbling block in the past. Tar from wood gas would gum up engines. The key to their success, according to Zegil, is they've found a way to operate at a high enough temperature (3,272¦ F), and distribute that heat evenly across the gas fire bed. The gas that's produced passes through funnel-shaped cyclones, which filter off the large dust particles and soot. Then a large condenser cools the gas, making it denser to produce higher horsepower. "The energy generated by the process has commercial uses that include large-scale electricity production and water purification," according to Zegil. "We're currently operating a privately financed project at FinMac Lumber near Winnipeg. We're converting thumb-sized wood chips into a flammable mix of hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide. By adding 4 percent diesel, we're using these gases to run a huge Mirrlees stationary diesel generator." The Mirrlees style of engine has been around for many decades and is designed to run 24-7, for years on end, he says. It produces 175 kilowatts of electricity on about 4,400 lbs. of wood chips per hour and just two gal. of diesel. The current system could produce two megawatts of electricity but the company doesn't need that much power. "This prototype heats and lights our buildings, producing all the power we need," Zegil says. "The next step will be to get hooked into the power grid system." The system will also work well with crop residue such as flax straw and hemp, once they've been pressed into cubes. Zegil says they have experimented somewhat with plastics, garbage, paper and coal with good success. However, the gasifier hasn't yet overcome the challenge of using wheat straw, since it's difficult to filter out the silicate residues it produces. "We've also had good results using biodiesel made from pig lard and canola," he explains. Zegil says more work needs to be done to find a way to use waste heat from the gasifier and engine exhaust. The temperature reaches 604¦ F, and it may be possible to use this heat for drying the wood chips or heating buildings. The heat could also be used to purify water through distillation. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, W2E Technologies, Arthur Zegil, 820 Bonner Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R2G 2J7 (ph 204 955-8837; thezegils@shaw.ca; www.fluidynenz.250x.com).

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