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Date:         Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:15:27 -0500
Reply-To:     mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Is Wood/Gas Possible for For Vanagons
Comments: To: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed; delsp=no

On the other hand, one can produce a kind of gasoline by destructive distillation of biomass, initiating with very high temps, in a backyard contraption. The stuff does work. I'll do some googling around and probably find info online. David Mc

On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 5:48 PM, David Beierl wrote:

> At 11:23 AM 1/20/2010, John Rodgers wrote: >> adaptable to my van. Then I stumbled across this. Pretty interesting >> stuff. > > Of course it's possible. But I promise you wouldn't like it. With > the existing engine I sincerely doubt that a Vanagon could get up to > the minimum speed (45 mph) to run on highways, although if you filled > the entire interior with wood pellets and a stoking mechanism you > could probably get decent range. > > Producer gas is 20-30% carbon monoxide which is ninety-five times > more attractive to hemoglobin than oxygen is; small concentrations > will sneak up and kill you because the oxygen can't compete, and high > concentrations IIRC cause abrupt and total respiratory failure. Your > relatives will have the consolation that your corpse will be a nice > healthy pink, since carboxyhemoglobin is a much brighter red than > oxyhemoglobin -- that's one of the diagnostic signs, in > fact. Producer gas (made from coal, normally) used to be used as > city gas, which is why suicide by oven was in favor at the time -- > quick, quiet, reliable, not too painful. It's rumored that in some > Eastern European countries under Communism, the police would turn off > the gas to an entire street before they made their raid, so you can > imagine how fast the stuff must have acted. > > Until our cities are bombed out and/or some other terrific disaster > strikes and we have to suddenly convert an existing fleet of > IC-engine vehicles to direct-biomass fuel without replacing the > engines, I officially suggest that using producer gas for vehicles is > a Friday subject. > > The Stanley Steamer OTOH had a very nice flash boiler and I believe > it could get up steam in about a minute from a standing start (using > liquid fuel presumably). Twenty-five years ago or so Saab was > thinking about a steam-powered vehicle and I believe they followed at > least somewhat along the lines of the Stanley. I suggest not > considering steam turbines -- they are extremely successful in large > ships, but had an utterly disastrous history in railroads because of > vibration and shock. > > Yours, > David > [/hat]


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