What exactly is wood gasification you ask?

At Harvest, we employ a technology known as wood gasification to convert wood waste to renewable syngas. It’s a method of extracting clean energy from wood-based materials that produces electricity, heat and substitute natural gas.

Wood gasification is considered clean, efficient and economically viable. It leaves a small footprint and provides 20 times the heat transfer of traditional gasification systems, while offering greater fuel flexibility.

In an article by Troy Edwards titled The Wonders of Wood Gasification, the writer explained the process in the following steps:

1. Primarily, the wood is warmed through a gasification booth so that the wood chemistry will disintegrate into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The procedure makes use of extensive heat and limited amount of air is introduced into the compartment to produce charcoal that then transforms into gas.

2. The formed gas now moves into another booth or the combustion chamber to be fused with air and burn at high temperature, and produces large amount of preferred heat.

3. Then, the remaining gases are then channeled out through a heat changer to remove the heat and keep the effectiveness high.

4. The remaining gases leave a smoke pile.

We crafted this diagram to do the same:

This clean, renewable method of combustion also reduces the amount of waste headed to area landfills, according to Edwards. And it does so without negatively contributing to air or land pollution.

Are you familiar with the process of wood gasification? Tell us about your experience.

This post is brought to you by Harvest Power. Follow us on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.

Wood Gasification…Electricity, Heat…CAR FUEL?

This awesome Volvo has been adapted by a fellow named Dutch John.  Believe it or not, but if one were to load up that silver apparatus on the back with burning wood chips, this car could run for 60 miles off the fumes.  That’s about the range for an electric car that you’d buy off a lot nowadays.

Wood gasification sounds like a fancy technique, but this process has been used to create fuel since before WWII–people get creative during dire energy shortages.  The chips in the tank are burned up to about 2500 degrees Fahrenheit…so we don’t recommend you install it beneath the seat.

Of course, this isn’t a green replacement for oil–cutting down trees for wood chips to power the billions of motorists around the planet doesn’t make a lot of sense.  But it’s a great real world example of how wood gasification works. One drawback of anaerobic digestion is that wood-based solids don’t go through the same biological reactions to bacteria as do, say, banana peels.  So wood gasification is an alternative method for us to ensure that  wood-based solids don’t end up cluttering our landfills.

If you’re really curious, check out this video on You Tube from the National Geographic show “Planet Mechanics.”  The intro discusses how to make a wood gas generator that could…theoretically…power your car.  We’re not suggesting you try this at home.

Planet Mechanics–Forget Horsepower, We’re Talking Tree Power

Harvest Power employs evolutionary gasification technology to convert wood waste and other feedstocks into renewable syngas ideal for producing electricity, heat, and substitute natural gas.  Find out more about why it’s an economically viable, affordable, and reasonable option here.