Missouri Wood Gasifier

From the article: The design and construction of this sawmill wood gasifier was made possible by a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Division of Energy to the Reorganized School District #1 of Moniteau County (California, MO).

The Department of Natural Resources - Energy Division issued this grant because of the energy, the money and the jobs that can be utilized by the future uses of wood gasification.

According to figures from page 34 of a 1978 publication by the Missouri Department of Conservation, Forestry Section, entitled Wood Residues in Missouri; there are 847.22 million (mm) pounds of unused equivalent oven dry pounds of sawdust and shavings produced annually in Missouri. This converts to 1,236,286 barrels of No. 2 fuel oil or about 1% of Missouri's average annual oil and gasoline consumption. This also converts to $37,088,580 at $30 per barrel.

Over 90% of the money that Missourians spend on oil permanently leaves the state. For each $30,000 of energy dollars exported we lose one job to an oil producing state or country. This is 1,236 jobs lost because we are not utilizing these two waste products. This is a serious drain on Missouri's economy.

The technician that constructed the gen gas unit had worked with a number of smaller size units since 1974. After a great deal of research and experimentation, two successful small units were finally operational . The knowledge and experience gained from these small units was the basis for a larger unit now successfully operating at a local sawmill. A system design patent has been initiated for this unit.

The actual documented expense for the materials and parts on this gengas unit is approximately $1,900 not including labor and administrative cost. Some additional parts on hand were not included in the cost. It is estimated these additional parts and supplies would add approximately $300 to the cost for a total of $2,200 for materials. Labor hours include 72 hours to convert and adapt the engine to gengas. Construction of the gasifier, coolers, filters, and dryer took 116.5 hours, travel to locate materials required 41.5 hours. The total hours came to 230 hours.

Many recycled items were used in this gasifier. We have not tried to figure a cost based on new materials." These vary widely from place to place because of availability and the ingenuity of the people involved. Depending on materials on hand, your cost may be more or less for the same size unit.