The Syngas Generator: When Gasoline Is No Longer Available

Whether caused by nuclear war, the dollar collapsing or a meteorite hitting the planet, gasoline will not always be as readily available as it is today. Luckily, alternative processes like gasification may be able to produce the fuel we need to keep moving. Through gasification, organic substances like fruit-pits, coal, wood, or even cow manure can be converted into syngas, according to AllEnergies.net. Syngas, an abbreviation for synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

Once syngas has been filtered and cooled, it can be used to power an internal combustion engine or gas turbine. It can also be used simply to fuel an open flame for cooking and heating. Syngas can be used as an intermediary to produce everything from synthetic petroleum to lubricant, according to BioFuel.org.uk. Syngas is already used for that function in industrial settings.

The draw of the syngas engine is, in large part, due to its efficiency which ranges from 40 to 80 percent. This range is similar to the range offered by the original diesel engine, which ran at a theoretical efficiency of 75 percent when it was first developed by Rudolf Diesel, according to a MIT. Thanks to its high degree of efficiency, the diesel engine was smaller and lighter than other engines in the latter 19th century. It was used to run automobiles as well as power pipelines, electrical plants, factories, and more within a year of its introduction.

The diesel engine was so efficient and successful that the disappearance of its inventor with the same name in 1913 created a conspiracy among those in the industry. Some people suspected suicide, but many others assumed that he had been killed by coal companies and others with a vested interest in energy.

Even without the training or expertise of a man like Diesel, people who want to build their own syngas engines can do so. You can easily build a syngas generator capable of producing up to 2000 watts of energy with just a few re-purposed components:

• A well tank
• A four inch pipe
• A stove door or other entrance to the well tank for maintenance
• Stainless steel bowl converted to a grate
• Copper pipe
• Rubber thermal breaks
• Starting fan
• Filter buckets
• Coarse filter made from hay or a similar material
• Fine filter made of polyester or a similar material
• Basic valve
• Deep-cycle battery
• Automatically governed generator

By adding a replaceable fire tube to your design, you can easily convert your syngas generator to work with different types of fuel and different types of engines. For instance, you could technically use your syngas engine to power a vehicle. Toyota 4runner reviews describe this vehicle as an excellent bug-out truck; one that a syngas generator could potentially power when gasoline is no longer available. The addition of a trailer makes the entire engine portable despite the fact that it can weigh upwards of 700 pounds.

At the moment, gasoline is still readily available at the pumps, but long gone are the days of being able to fill up a small tank for ten dollars. Eventually the luxury of gasoline itself may no longer be present. With the right research and a bit of creative effort, you can create a system that will allow you to produce your own energy using discarded waste.