Stove pellets in a wood gas generator?

[ornerynorsk]

Anyone on the forum with a working wood gas generator/IC engine combination that has tried pellets in comparison to chunk wood? I'm curious to know if you saw favorable results in output, burn time, ash content, etc.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I spent two winters feeding a pellet stove, FWIW.

The pellet feeder for that unit would occasionally just stop feeding pellets, for no discernible reason. Okay, sometimes it ran out of pellets, my bad, but sometimes it just stopped, and would restart if the hopper was stirred and/or a start cycle forced.
There was some dusting of the pellets, but I couldn't associate that with any misbehavior.
The volume of produced ash and clinkers was just astonishingly low.

The fuel was all hardwood pellets from a company in Galax, VA.
They were delivered to the driveway in PA on a pallet in 40lb. plastic bags, with several layers of shrinkwrap over the stacked pallet, which I think held a ton.

The distribution system is well developed, right up to the driveway. The pallet comes on a specialized trailer with rear-facing forks, hydraulically lowered. Delivery of a full pallet takes well under a minute.
After that, local distribution is up to the customer, and is considerably less automated.








Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[ornerynorsk]

Thanks for that Mike, I have heard similar, that some particular brands of hopper/feeder systems are tempermental. I think for a wood gas generator on a vehicular application, the resultant natural vibration from the motion of the vehicle and the road surface would greatly aid pellet feeding.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[cranky108]

The one I had never had a problem with not feeding, although it would slow down at times. I had a problem with the induced draft fan would cut out, and the burning would stop, which usually coinsided with an increase in pellet feed, which quickly filled the burn chamber pot. My solution was to add a length of dryer pipe, and a fan to push air in case the other fan quit.

I went through several tons a Winter, and because I ran it non-stop, it was difficult to remove the ash and clean the window.

I only remember once or twice having a problem with stuck pellets above the metering feed.