Introduction:
Most of you will agree that with enormous growth in the automobile industry, the price for oil and petrol has increased to an extensive rate. There is a price hike in oil as with each passing day, it is falling short. With the introductions of eco friendly substitutes most of you might have heard about the alternative fuel source. Since our mother earth is covered with green plants and trees, it supports us to convert sunlight into fuel and biomass products. Since hydrogen gas cannot be utilized for practical energy, wood gas is introduced which has high concentration of hydrogen and offers a great burning. Hydrogen gas is made from wood and coal and also can be taken as an alternative name for âproducerâs gasâ.
Hydrogen gas is generally considered as good for fuels since it burns very fast and also it is not a friendly gas as it is very hard to shift and store. So when making wood gas, half of the fuel contains practical fuel value and the rest from biomass and wood. Wood Gas is usually made from wood, power, synthesis of fuel and ammonia, biomass and heat waste. The gasification of wood gas happens when, air and fuel combined together they meet, flaming pyrolsis which in return produces charcoal and gas. This is again consumed to produce more gas. The gas is usually sucked out along with charcoal ash particles.
Trends
1. Austria produces gas from wood
With the immense growth in science and technology, another introduction in Austria has enabled a new possibility of using gas produced from wood. This wood gas can be used extensively for home heaters and also gas powered cars. Technology has proved that plants and larger trees can be utilized to produced renewable energy and for this solar and wind energy is not required to a maximum level. This facility is introduced in Guessing, located in the southeaster part of Austria. This town is famous for its self-reliant energy source. Millions of plants can produce more than 100 cubic meter of bio-gas which can provide gas to the home heaters to heat almost 150 homes in winter season.
2. 35MW wood powered gas and electric plant
One of the best places for wood gas is Tallahassee, Florida. This place generates a large scale of biogas as the weather supports it to convert biomass to electric power in an oxygen free ambiance. There are certain factors that go in favour of Florida in generating wood gas. Tree limbs, demolition debris, mercury and acid rain support the coal filths to up the Everglades. Again periodical hurricane provides a huge supply of stem, root and tree limb. Based on climatic factors, Biomass gas and electric company provides 35 megawatt of electricity which almost meets the 8 percent of electricity demand. This advance pyrolysis gasification supports almost 95 percent of lower emissions energy than the fossil fuel technology.
3. Rais Gabo wood-burning stove
Most of you have already enjoyed the old fashioned country kitchen look of your home fireplace. In recent years in the market you will get introduced to Rais, the latest generation wood burning stove. This product offers you a doubled chambered wood burning compartment that works with adjustable air controller. It ensures a clean and clear wood burning with an efficiency level of 71-74 percent when compared with the regular fire place. It is a computer designed system handles the correct combination of smoke gases and air. This specially designed wood burning stove eliminates excess pollution and to ensure a clean burning process. Apart from wood version you can also avail gas version of burning stove in the market.
4. Volvo 240 converted to run on wood-gas
With the introduction of fossil fuels, wood gas might have taken a second place in the bio energy source, but it still holds an important position in the alternative fuel source. Volvo 240 wood gas powered car be the main example for any such assumption. To make Volvo 240 run on wood-gas was not a very easy job, and it has taken 1000 hours man hour and also almost a year to introduce the system that uses wood gas to provide power to the engine. The entire process involved cleaning of cyclone bin, dumping of charcoal dust into the compost, sixty pounds of wood that is filled in the fuel bin, sparking up the gasifiers with the help of diesel glow plug and flaring of any of the carbon monoxide and hydrogen surplus. The estimated cost to this entire process is almost fifteen to twenty thousand Euros.
The benefits
In this generation very few people are using wood gas as most of you are very much aware of the benefits of using this fuel. When you burn oil products you are not only polluting the air but also the soil and the water supply. Wood gas is a great way to cut down the pollution that we are producing everyday. The burning of wood is a natural act and the best part is nature can handle any of the pollution created by such burning. The pollution that is produced due to any wood burnâs, settles down and becomes food for growing fibre. Apart from this are lots of benefits that wood gas offers. Due to efficient combustion it produces less carbon dioxide and as a result it reduces 90% of the possible air pollution. Supports better health conditions for women and children and also saves 60% of the woods. Wood gas is safe to use and also wood gas stove comes in a very portable design which consumes a very little space. Cutâs down 50% of the cooking time and, the ash that is left after this process is utilized as natural fertilizer for the plants. With the price hike in fuel and global warm consciousness has enabled people to renew the interest of decade old technology is into limelight now. The wood gas cars may not be that elegant but it offers an eco friendly alternative to the high price petrol!
Low cost fuel
The decade old method actually gets you the maximum heat and complete burning of the wood. Primitive wood cooking supports lots of unwanted diseases and also deforestation. With the introduction of wood gas, people are more benefited as it supports a very clean burning. Wood gas when compared with three stone fire process, turned out to be beneficial as, it is 10 times efficient then the previous one. It produces no smoke and also the little ash that is produced is utilized as natural fertilizers. Wood gas reduces deforestation and also supports cleaning the air pollution.
The lowdown
Before buying wood gas stove, you should about the cons of this product! The entire process may be little messy as you might experience saw dust, brick and dust everywhere as you might be carrying the woods here and there. The best solution is to keep broom and dust pan handy and also keep the woods in a particular box. Apart from that it may consume some time from your busy schedule. Since you are going to keep the fire burning on, you will have to face little bit of extra work that, you are not consuming while turning on a knob on the thermostat.
a. Large size generator and slow to start
Wood gas generators do have some disadvantages. It is very big in size and very slow to get started with. Some designs have a batch burn operation which is also considered as one of the other disadvantages. The efficiency of the energy density of the wood gas can be increased by using charcoal apart from wood. It can be fatal when wood gas stove is not designed and used properly as wood gas contains a very huge amount of deadly carbon monoxide gas. Though the modern wood gas generators are specifically designed and also it is getting introduced in the market after solving the earlier drawbacks.
The Impact
Wood gasifier is considered as one of the primary alternative substitute for bio-degradable fuel. With the increasing price of the fuel and electricity, wood gas is captivating the attraction of heating home, public buildings, schools and business. Many of the North East councils have started installing biomass broilers to heat public buildings and schoolâs in order to have a cut in their fuel cost.
