He Runs His Tractor On Grass Pellets

He Runs His Tractor On Grass Pellets ENERGY Alternative Fuels As Dave Dolan’s small diesel tractor sputters to life at his Flying Rabbit Farm in Otego N Y he’s proud to tell visitors that it’s powered by an unconventional biofuel made from grass With help from a Sustainable Agriculture Research Grant Dolan has been exploring the feasibility of transforming grass pellets into useable fuel He and his son and nephew built a gasifier that chemically transforms the pellets into syngas a form of hydrocarbon fuel He got the idea for using the pellets for fuel after a grass pellet manufacturing facility opened in a nearby town The trio of inventors which included his chemistry major nephew built 15 different variations before finally settling on a version that produced what they wanted The device is made of a series of metal drums each one sealed to create a pressurized environment Barrels are connected by a series of tubes that travel through filters and allow syngas to flow through the apparatus The device is fed as Dolan pours 2 medium-size pails of grass pellets into the first barrel That quantity can produce gas for up to 4 hrs Then he ignites a fire in the tank and seals up the system When the temperature in the first tank reaches 650 degrees centigrade when syngas is produced the crude syngas fuel passes through a series of filters and other barrels that purify it It goes from the final tank into his tractor Dolan fires up his 3-cylinder diesel tractor and it sputters to life ready for work “It’s not the purest syngas in the world but it works for my tractor ” Dolan says He uses by products from the system elsewhere on his farm The leftover ash can be used as a fertilizer similar to lime that neutralizes pH The system also produces biochar which Dolan has used on his crops and in his greenhouse as a soil amendment He’s also tried using syngas for his home heating system though he says the process needs further refinement to be effective and economical Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dave Dolan Flying Rabbit Farm 174 Main St Otego N Y 13825 ph 607 746-8956

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