|
|
Posted by Sherman in Idaho [24.32.202.166] on Wednesday, January 02, 2013 at 14:42:19 :
In Reply to: Re: Casing gas, wood gas, marijuana....Alternative energy posted by mannyc [68.165.89.2] on Wednesday, January 02, 2013 at 14:17:32 :
Are you familiar with the military multifuel? It's a very good diesel engine that will run on any combustible liquid, no computer or electronics involved.
Once you're talking about a hybrid diesel/electric/battery system in a truck, why not go to an external combustion (steam) engine? That solves most of the problems with carburetion, tar, and ash. From what I've read, the flash boilers in the Stanley Steamers were remarkably powerful for their size. When I used to live in Everett there was a guy who built a small triple-expansion marine steam engine totally from scratch and put it in a beautiful little wooden boat he'd also built. Just as he finished it, he died, and never did get to put it in the water. I saw it when his friends were about to take it out and launch it, but never did see it run. Boat and engine were both fine pieces of craftsmanship.
Batteries would also help with another problem of wood-powered vehicles; the gas generator wants to produce gas at a fairly steady speed, but the driver needs highly variable amounts of power for the truck. Of course steam could be accumulated in a fire-tube boiler to eliminate the need for batteries, but the rule of thumb is there's a stick of dynamite in every gallon of water at boiler pressure, which is part of why the Stanley Steamers used flash boilers.
In practical terms, the simple old gas producer with some sort of crude tar and ash filter is probably the most practical even if it's not very powerful or efficient, because it's lighter and simpler than anything else. A truck is not very practical if all it can haul is its own powerplant.
Follow Ups: