Homemade Syngas Generator
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ม.ค. 2021
- In this video, I lay out the construction and function of my syngas generator. I also burn some gas!
Syngas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is a useful feed-stock in chemical manufacturing. I have considered making diesel fuel out of it, but I think that pressurized vessels are currently beyond my capability.
An interesting note is that the syngas produced here is a bio-fuel. I am simply taking water and carbon from wood and converting into gas. Even when burned, this is technically carbon-neutral because if I hadn't converted it to carbon dioxide, fungi and termites would have! (with the exception of the ignition sources.) While this is technically clean, I am fully aware that this is extremely inefficient and not practical. Just a tidbit!
Sometime soon I'll melt some table salt with the pyrolizer.
If you would like to see where I live, look up "Tranquilo Bay." It is in Panama, the country. The monkeys happened to be there when I was setting up.
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W2D1 | Summer | ถ้าไม่พร้อมลุย ได้ไปคุยกับรากมะม่วง](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XlkKtVvBxac/mqdefault.jpg)
This is really excellent. Very nice job!
Can you use the charcoal from the wood gas generator as feed for this reaction?
@@ftr98 yes
I love how you have done this for the community
I love your custom bricks! And I saw a little Gumpster support crew: “that was fantastic!” I wholeheartedly agree!! So impressive, Scoot, you’re a rockstar.
I suggest running your steam through a larger bed of coals to increase the temperature of the steam to a super critical temp to improve the thermodynamics of your reaction. the steam will actually be cooling the reaction in the current setup and by increasing your steam line length and having it run through an additional coal bed it will have a much higher temperature saturation and result in a better reaction.
If I am not mistaken you should have in theory produced around 9,41 liters of Syngas and the released energy of the combustion would be 101 kJ (assuming the formed water is gaseous)
Δm = 19.0 g - 16.7 g = 2.30 g n(C) = (2.30 g) / (12.0 g/mol) = 0.192 mol n(Syngas) = n(CO) + n(H2) = 2 n(C) = 0.384 mol molar volume at 1 atm and 25°C : 24.5 l/mol
V(Syngas) = n(Syngas) * Vm = 0.384 mol * 24.5 l/mol = 9.41 l
ΔRHm = ΔRHm(Products) - ΔRHm(Educts) = (-393.5 kJ/mol - 241.8 kJ/mol) - (-110.5 kJ/mol + 0 kJ/mol + 0 kJ/mol) = -524.8 kJ/mol
ΔH = ΔRHm * (n(Syngas) / 2) = -524.8 kJ/mol * 0.192 mol = 101 kJ
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molar_volume
de.wikibooks.org/wiki/Tabellensammlung_Chemie/_Thermodynamische_Daten
can you make a video on converting the syngas into methanol, please, it will be a great video
Believe me-I'm pondering it! That is why I thought to do this project in the first place. I'm a bit concerned about the pressures required, which are on the order of >50atm or >735 psi or 5MPa. As you can tell, I am a BIT short on equipment. For example, to compress that gas in a 1/4" (6.3mm) ID tube, it is 36 pounds (16kg*g) of force! Crazy! Then, I need catalysts, which I have never used before. Fortunately, the reaction temperature is quite low and methanol will condense at room temperature (eliminating the need for a cryo system), so that gives me some hope. I'm going to university soon, and once there I can get proper materials and hopefully make a better syngas generator and methanol reactor!
@@scottviola8021 thats awesome bro, i was also researching in this field and i have found some methods in which i dont need to have such a high pressure, but i need to test that, i am just a noob, but i am thinking about LMPEOH process for methanol production and it is the process which uses an inert mineral oil/powdered catalyst slurry as a reaction medium and heat sink. As the feed gas bubbles through the catalyst slurry forming MeOH, the mineral oil transfers the reaction heat to an internal tubular boiler where the heat is removed by generating steam. and this system doesn't require huge pressure and also there is no requirement for stoichiometric ratio of H/CO/CO2 so this makes an perfect example for methanol production but off course we need to make some updates and i am thinking about an hydrogen production from electrolysis which have the potential to increase the pressure without any major equipment but we need to make a proper equipment which supports our idea, there is no end for new ideas and imagination and it can done
Thank you very much for very interesting test and the result.
This is really impressive, I love the creativity
Nice!
I have been relying on woodgas powered generators for the past few years, and with good results.
Your system looks mighty fine, and it may be more energetic than woodgas, as Nitrogen is excluded from the outgoing gas stream.
I really must try this.
Keep up the good work :) .
Ahhh there you are! I thought you may have left a comment or three here.
@@flash001USA
Howdee Flash,
Yup, I tend to hang around these kinds of videos, like a mouse hangs around a computer ;) .
Gotta collect all those watts, before they can get away.
I think you can use the "waste" charcoal from the wood gas generation as feed for this reaction. That way you (theoretically) convert the whole wood input into gas.
@@ftr98
Yup, that will work nicely.
I made a charcoal gasifier that runs on the waste from my wood gasifier, and it works like a charm :) .
How can it be stored? Can it be compressed and stored?
Maybe try running the steam down thru a vertical reaction column so gravity can assist with packing efficiency as the charcoal is consumed
Yes! I will have to do that!
Great results! I wonder if the charcoal would have behaved differently if it was crushed up a bit more?
This is such a cool video to demonstrate sun gas. Cleared my concept. Thanks bro😊
With a wood gas generator to make the charcoal (NHIL did that experiment as well), you could additionally capture another feast of combustibles. Good video. Well done!
Does the wood-gas generator stop making gas at some point well before the combustibles (now charcoal) are consumed? I always got the impression that the charcoal line moved with the gas production, leaving almost nothing left behind. If I were to make one and run it until the flame went out, would I have loads of charcoal left? I've gotta tell ya, I have picked every piece of my charcoal from our pizza oven with tongs, and I would love a more industrial alternative :)
@@scottviola8021 the answer to your question is yes . only at plasma levels of heat doe the oxygen barn of & gas will not Bern with out oxygen Much like lightening in a storm produces sufficient hear to tern 2part'sof hydrogen in to water = H2/0 stem past threw a retort of charcoal will produce sufficient heat to predust hydrogen & carbon if it is separate in side say a 1/2" copper or steel pipe the oxygen will barn (OFF) but will remain carbon free . in fact the freely balloonists acquired there hydrogen in the same way. barning charcoal in a 4" pipe bread in a charcoal pit of fier as it gat red hot the steam throw the pipe burning of the oxygen to fill the balloon. it a fainting subject & how i predust power of grid for year's in a wood benign stove & later in a rocket stove .
would be very interested to see the second planned reactor. maybe with a large final goal of synfuel
Yes! I was thinking the same thing, watching this. This setup could probably be "condensed" to an even more compact size. Finding a manageable way to make methanol and then an MTG process is the challenge, I suppose...
this channel gonna blow up im calling it now
Not at this rate XD. Going to do more projects this summer, however.
Seems like Scott got it right. Oh well, what can you do?
Scott this was rad. Nice family. How you end up in Panama
If a flame were to burn the balloon, while pinched,..would you get the "Zeppelin" effect ? Going up in flames !!
Awesome!
awesome vid.
This is pretty cool!
I'm glad you liked it!
Very good,
You could divert a portion of your gas back to heat your charcoal and water after the system gets going, and save yourself the wood and charcoal
this is sick man
Thanks!
Nice video. Hope to see more from you in the future.
I got a couple of suggestions for you.
Your reactor is working, just not as well as you think. The first baloon fills up quickly, because the first gas to be released from the coal is probably the same gas you noticed heating the reactor. Probably woodgas from the coal.
As you noted your coal reactor-packing is not great. Maybe grind up the coal a bit more, to smaller chunks or outright powderize it and then pack the reactor more tightly. This will also help conduct the heat better to the coals, because the reaction is strongly endothermic it sucks up alot of heat.
Also heating the steam to 900°C takes alot of the energy. More coal will also provide more thermal mass and contact area for that.
The mesh is good, if you grind the coals more you maybe want to use some sort of quartz wool or other heat resistant fiber material to keep the coal in place.
If you are now rightfully worried about your tightly packed reactor possibly blowing up, you should add a pressure relief valve.
You should probably add a pressure relief valve to your water boiler regardless of my other suggestions, steam explosions are no joke.
Thanks! I should figure out a way to do this stuff... I just haven’t because 1) I spent practically no money on this, and 2) it is hard to physically put It together
👍👍👍
good concept young man...ace lil video
THAT WAS AWESOME!
activated carbon is an interesting byproduct
How does the steam react with the coal if the "reactor" is a closed pipe? Where does the steam come in contact with the coal?
coals outside the pipe are there for external heating, there is also some coal in the pipe which he weighed.
Could we use propane gas instead of coal? What kind of modification we need to make it work? 🤔
No clue. Propane gas is already a higher-order molecule and might as well be used as-is for fuel or further synthesis.
wow amazing.
Have someone mention already, however I'm sure you figure out it already, the gas burning above coals are mostly CO. Btw, cool video. Thanks :)
Can it be produce by electrolysis to use in bike as fuel?
H2 gas can be produced by electrolysis, but I am unsure if CO can be. I suppose that this could could be used for a bike, though! NightHawkInLight tried something similar with a tiny wood-gas generator
Are you certain that the water reservour was still full of water? Maybe the watervapor died down, causing a reduced yield.
Also, im pretty sure that the flames, that you suspected might be woodgas coming from the coals, is just fine dusty coal particles flung up by the air suply and quickly burning of, causing the flames.
I know that the water never ran out because it was surprisingly full after cooling off. The problem was probably the charcoals. That's a neat idea for the flame-any idea on how to verify it? Maybe inserting a piece of metal or a cup to collect it before it burns?
@@scottviola8021 Im Not Sure how you could scientifically back my clame but one Thing that points towards my assumption is, that if the air running through the coal is cut of, the flames disapper, suggesting that the air current defently plays some role in the Formation of the flames. Normaly coal doesnt produce any flames because it has no volatile compounds left. Coal making is literally just that. Heat up some wood, to strip it of all compounds that can vaporize, leaving only carbon behind. Consequently the source of the Flame has to have a different origin than the composition of the coal
👍🏻
yes i did this using a rocket stove . i also used the precibal whit the water the steam in my gasifier smock it worked well & burnt of the damp in the smock the pip at the bottom heated the turned to steam into hydrogen as it burnt of the oxygen in the damp smock smock past trough the charcoal. it brans of the oxygen . The same affect is achieved if a 1/2" pipe is inserted in the larger pipe & field with charcoal, & The same results is achieved if an 1/2" pipe siting in the charcoal the heat product burns of oxygen as it passes down the 1/2 "pipe the burnt of Oxygen as it passes throw the pipe producing hydrogen gas out the pipe. exact it is in reeves of the result that tacks place's when you Bern hydrogen & oxygen to cut steel. so The two methods work well but i have to say the benefits when past trough the charcoal it as hydro carbons CO" that barn well in an engine for generating power. les fiddly in half as much time
in closing the siystom is best used. By the ues of an aculeate a cylinder set inside with a flange 10 " from the bottom set inside a larger tank with a flange to stop it rising above a set distance . the Wight of the top tank adds presser as it rise with in the first tank & as it sits in the water the gas within. as it own spark arrester. with a suitable flashback arrester on the generator a smaller bubbler to pass to the final stage of combustion within the generator. if a presser gag is applied to the accumulator the presser with in will load so you to estimate the run time of the system & regulate flow + it will added you to Estimate the number of burns to achieve a desired presser & run time. for charging battery banks .
Commercial gasifiers mix a small amount of oxygen with the steam to sustain the reaction (so that external heating isn't required). Could possibly also avoid the external heating for the steam generator with some careful placement of a coil delivering the water.
I read that too! However, I designed the reactor to avoid any contaminant gases running through it. Since I don't have oxygen at my disposal/a way to feed it in, I'd need to use atmospheric air, which lets in tons of nitrogen. Nitrogen and CO2 dilute the flammable products. With regards to creating the steam: that would probably work; a good use for all the waste heat being blown away.
@@scottviola8021 Hi. Please tell me whether the gas stored inside the balloon which you burnt is coal gas or wood gas? And if it is coal, then can I use charcoals instead of mineral coals?
@@shafayetsayed138 I would say that it is coal gas. You definitely could use charcoal--this is what I did here! No mineral coal was used in the making of this video :)
@@scottviola8021 Thank you.
And if you make carefully granulated charcoal, you will have activated carbon after a while. This is what Cody's Lab did
Your pipe isn't galvanized is it?
It is. It got moderately yellow.
genious
Imagine being able to capture this gas, and then compress it into a holding container, like a welding gas tank, and then running this and some oxygen through a torch and using it to braze or possibly even cut and weld with. :-)
That would be neat. I haven't pursued compression too much due to the danger of accidentally mixing in oxygen from the air and creating a pipe bomb. Plus, I don't want to be the one to figure out that it explodes under high pressure like acetylene! It would be very fun to use it for such things though!
@@scottviola8021 Perhaps dissolving it in a liquid then... if it is soluble in some liquid or another, like Acetylene in Acetone. :-)
Nope. Never put hydrogen into a steel tank. It will eat through it and explode.
Doesnt the steam put oyt the fire. I dont understand it.
Once water has evaporated, the vapor is just like any other gas. It will not undergo another phase change (which is what makes up a lot of liquid water's cooling power). When it enters the reaction chamber, it simply gets heated by the pipe and charcoals from about 100C to several hundred C.
So does the steam actually spray the hot coals, or does it go through the coals inside a pipe.
@@troybranson1856 The water is vaporized in the little can over the fire. That gas is pushed through the little copper pipe into the coals. It is no longer liquid when it gets in there!
interaction
?
@@scottviola8021 oh i had nothing to say but wanted to support channel algorithm with interaction
Why did you stop??
Is there any powder coating you could add to the inside of the Ballon that would BIND with the CO ?? And thus render it easily disposedof, rather than be a toxic gas which people could possibly breath...?
Seems like a simple thing...🤔 but who knows 🤷♂️ maybe you could be the guy who invents it...?
The CO is there to be burned! It is only toxic if you breathe it, and the tiny quantities I am producing are only mildly harmful to the atmosphere. CO problems tend to arise in places with much, much more pollution.
There is a reaction, called the water-gas shift reaction, that can consume CO and H2O to produce CO2 and H2, but I have not worked towards doing that at this point
🤩🤩🤩🤩 Cool n Hot bro 🤜🤜
Like No 100 comes from Germany 😀👍
steamforming, pyrolysis-carbonization nitpicking
water bubbler should make more hydrogen from the co
you could make a first condensation filter before the bubbler, with a flash-back valve, to make gasoline from c + h2o, try metal + co2 + h2o, kinda steam-forming too
multiple passes of the steam
electric insulated precise resistance heating, using solar and wind (read nuclear) energy
you forgot the water-shift reaction, to pass the class
Pretty damned amazing
My result: 9.2 liters
To be completely honest, I am too lazy to do my own chemistry problems :D I have no idea what the answer is... I should probably do that for my own integrity
Syngas contains carbon monoxide, so glasses and glowes are not enough here. One larger breathe of carbon monoxide can make you faint.
Hey man Keep up the Hobby chem. awesome video.
this is MobileForce#2172 from the Chem server ;)
Super.
This is pretty cool!
I'm glad you liked it more than once xD