Hi Kevin, no need for a flow meter. The engine simply sucks the gas in and on the RTR machines we offer there is an air fuel mixer. This mixes in the air with the fuel , this is manually adjusted and something you will learn by doing. Its not dificult to do at all.
However on our more advanced automated machines those machines could do this electronically. This system uses an O2 sensor system that feeds data to our controller. Our controller takes this information and compensated air fuel ratio based on rich or lean readings from the sensor. Charcoal is much more stable than raw woodgas systems so we do not offer it currently on these simpler low cost machines. I do plan to bring back the automation systems, however that will come at an expense. The automation systems I build are well beyond just controlling air fuel mixture. This automation fully controls and runs ever aspect of the machine. This incudes lighting and flaring the machine, cranking over the engine with air fuel premixing. With this system you are not actually running the machine. You are basically telling my controls what you want it to do by pressing modes on a touch screen interface. The controls then carry out the task.
Thank you Matt for such a fast and thorough response. I'm guessing that some of the automation you mention also will able to report exactly the chemical composition of the gas?
Hey Matt, just FYI, today I contacted the guy at RKI Instruments - they have a handheld muti-gas monitor. It can be configured to read all of the primary gasses in syngas - H2, CO, CO2 and CH4, and N2 would comprise the balance of whatever is leftover. They quoted $2445 for the GX 6000, here is the link https://www.rkiinstruments.com/product/gx-6000-gas-monitor/
Maybe a small truck. The Utility is good for around 500 cc. So for a 5 liter engine running at @1800 rpm you would need 10 of them. I am planning the M-1 Alpha though. This will be the largest of the M-Series. It will be built on the Utility platform. However the internal filter will be eliminated. This will allow for a larger jet and deep penetration internally into the machine. That unit could potentially be good for 1500 cc. So two of them teamed in a truck may be possible. We may then create a special filter system to team them and it will also provide the start up blower. This is what I have in mind for the Alpha.
Ha! no, that would require special equipment to analyze the gas. For the M Series I am considering a dumbed down version of our automation. It will have capability to monitor reactor temperature and take O2 sensor readings. The O2 sensor will tell us what we need to know for proper air fuel mixture and there will be our electronic valve that will control the air input metering. If temps become too hot or cold the controls can intervene and shut down by simply closing off the air feed. If the water tank runs out of water or if the machine runs out of fuel is what would change internal temps. All M series are pre set up for this now so even machines offered today can be adapted to this automation later if and when we come out with that system.
These machine are charcoal, so tar is not a concern like it is with raw fuel gasification. This is why I will no longer offer raw fuel gasification systems to the consumer. Charcoal is very stable, once you get your engine running and once the gasifier is warmed you should not need to make any adjustments. It will run stable until it runs out of fuel.
The VersiFire will eventually get our advanced controls. That system will work from a cell phone app and it will run fully autonomously. It will know if it has fuel to run and it will monitor your off grid battery bank. When it sees your batteries need a charge cycle it will light itself and engine start on its own. When batteries are topped off and your float charge mode is met it will shut down on its own. We do plan to run Solid Oxide Fuel Cells in the future. This will boost our efficiency by 300% and will run in near silence.
OK final question - I bought Ben Peterson's book and I've been watching all of the videos by the gasifier-truck-guy in Kentucky. Would I be able to use one (or two) of the RTR models to replace gas fuel on a truck.
Hi Kevin, no need for a flow meter. The engine simply sucks the gas in and on the RTR machines we offer there is an air fuel mixer. This mixes in the air with the fuel , this is manually adjusted and something you will learn by doing. Its not dificult to do at all.
However on our more advanced automated machines those machines could do this electronically. This system uses an O2 sensor system that feeds data to our controller. Our controller takes this information and compensated air fuel ratio based on rich or lean readings from the sensor. Charcoal is much more stable than raw woodgas systems so we do not offer it currently on these simpler low cost machines. I do plan to bring back the automation systems, however that will come at an expense. The automation systems I build are well beyond just controlling air fuel mixture. This automation fully controls and runs ever aspect of the machine. This incudes lighting and flaring the machine, cranking over the engine with air fuel premixing. With this system you are not actually running the machine. You are basically telling my controls what you want it to do by pressing modes on a touch screen interface. The controls then carry out the task.
Hey Matt, just FYI, today I contacted the guy at RKI Instruments - they have a handheld muti-gas monitor. It can be configured to read all of the primary gasses in syngas - H2, CO, CO2 and CH4, and N2 would comprise the balance of whatever is leftover. They quoted $2445 for the GX 6000, here is the link https://www.rkiinstruments.com/product/gx-6000-gas-monitor/
Maybe a small truck. The Utility is good for around 500 cc. So for a 5 liter engine running at @1800 rpm you would need 10 of them. I am planning the M-1 Alpha though. This will be the largest of the M-Series. It will be built on the Utility platform. However the internal filter will be eliminated. This will allow for a larger jet and deep penetration internally into the machine. That unit could potentially be good for 1500 cc. So two of them teamed in a truck may be possible. We may then create a special filter system to team them and it will also provide the start up blower. This is what I have in mind for the Alpha.
Ha! no, that would require special equipment to analyze the gas. For the M Series I am considering a dumbed down version of our automation. It will have capability to monitor reactor temperature and take O2 sensor readings. The O2 sensor will tell us what we need to know for proper air fuel mixture and there will be our electronic valve that will control the air input metering. If temps become too hot or cold the controls can intervene and shut down by simply closing off the air feed. If the water tank runs out of water or if the machine runs out of fuel is what would change internal temps. All M series are pre set up for this now so even machines offered today can be adapted to this automation later if and when we come out with that system.
These machine are charcoal, so tar is not a concern like it is with raw fuel gasification. This is why I will no longer offer raw fuel gasification systems to the consumer. Charcoal is very stable, once you get your engine running and once the gasifier is warmed you should not need to make any adjustments. It will run stable until it runs out of fuel.
The VersiFire will eventually get our advanced controls. That system will work from a cell phone app and it will run fully autonomously. It will know if it has fuel to run and it will monitor your off grid battery bank. When it sees your batteries need a charge cycle it will light itself and engine start on its own. When batteries are topped off and your float charge mode is met it will shut down on its own. We do plan to run Solid Oxide Fuel Cells in the future. This will boost our efficiency by 300% and will run in near silence.