TOYOTA IS A GO!

2000 cc Toyota With Gasifier On Back	Video: It's running On Producer Gas! Sep 2005

Email from the Shop:

Sep 9 2005

I have finally gotten a coherent idea of how this gasifier that I built, works. Sadly, now that I have it built, I now know how it should have been built.

The producer only works when the throat is so hot that the outside surface starts smoking the paint off.

I produced gas from a cold start three times so far. I think I have the technique down. Or at least I have had the same results three times in a row. I am starting to get a feel for how to tune this animal.

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I put a six inch throat in the producer while the Toyota only has a inch and a half diameter intake.

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Okay not to lead the witnesses,

I start the engine on gasoline, open the air valve, open the tuyeres, then light the fire in the producer.

I run the engine on gasoline at a high rpm. I watch the tuyeres and make sure they are glowing white hot.

I continue this until the paint on the propane tank begins to smolder. The hopper is hot to the touch.

Then I shut off the gasoline. After the carburetor bowl runs out of fuel the engine will change its pitch.

When the engine runs on producer gas it sometimes surges. It will run steadliy but eventually its rpms will slow and finally chug to a halt.

I am assuming that the throat in the producer is too big. The air flow through the throat isn't enough to sustain white heat in the charcoal. So I believe it becomes a viscious circle. The low airflow causes less gas to be produced which in turn causes the engine to slow.

I am pumped.

Could I put a restricter plate in the throat?

I should take the thing apart and put a smaller throat in it with sloped sides in the hopper.

Anyhow, I am on my way now.

Sep 1, 2005

The Toyota ran quite well today for about 20 minutes with vigorous shaking and tapping to agitate the fuel. This was the best run yet. I saw some things that needed adjustment like pulling the tuyeres all the way out to the edge of the wall. Am encouraged by the commander to continue my efforts.

Yeah, my goofy little gasifier on my junky little Toyota doesn't seem like much. Later when I get back to the bush, the knowledge I gleaned from my work here will serve my family well.

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Thank you Doug, and thanks to the rest of you too.

Now the good news, the new gasifier built according to your pioneer design, although flawed, actually ran the Toyota for 20 minutes.

I have the carbuerator still intalled on the Toyota.

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I start it on gas then shut off the fuel line. I have the filter barrel plumbed into the airhorn. The new gasifier is plumbed into the filter barrel.

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Okay, I saw through the tuyeres, that the heat in the oxidation lobes was white hot. The Toyota chugged away when it finally stopped because the radiator ran dry.

Doug, I now understand that the gasifier has got to be totally air tight. Plugging one tuyere would change the air/fuel ratio enough that the engine rpm would fluctuate. I also need to have sloped sides on the hopper feeding the throat. My gasifier is really way too big for the Toyota. No tar in the airhorn. I shut the thing down when the radiator was low, and I also wanted the filter barrel to cool off a bit as well.

My next gasifier is going to be a lot harder to make because of the sloped sides and the great difficulty in sealing every thing.

The fuel I used was Charcoal that I made with the old barrel gasifier. That thing works great for making charcoal.

Anyhow, I was pretty excited when the darn buggy ran on the producer gas. It motivates me to move forward with my research. Learning the art, so to speak.

No turbos available here. I am in a prison. We don't have grid power, a 12vdc fan isn't availble or even practical because it has to be airtight. The reason I was going hand cranked is because I want every thing as simple as possible. The goal is to be able to start the gasifier with out any external power source besides muscle.

BPJ

Tuyere With Gasifier Running Cold	Tuyere With Gasifier Running Hot