Wood chips may be able to power to your vehicle.
Engineers at the University of San Diego's Jacob School of Engineering are researching biofuels created from plant or "cellulosic" waste that would otherwise be sent to landfills. Wood would be gasified thermochemically. Then, a reactor would take this "producer gas" and change it into syngas, by mixing it with carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Gasification technology was developed in the late 1800s and is currently used worldwide. In the hunt for "green" fuel, technologies such as gasification with wood can help reduce our dependence on gasoline.
Instructions
1. Add wood chips to your gasifier, which is a closed system. This means it does not release greenhouse gases into the air, making is cleaner and better for the environment.
2. Increase the temperature up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit. As the compounds heat up, the particles in the feedstock, wood in this case, breakdown. This process is called pyrolysis. A charcoal-like substance, or char, is formed while volatile chemicals such as tar and hydrogen are released.
3. Combine the char created in step one with pure oxygen inside the reactor. As oxidation occurs, the volatile chemicals create an exothermic, or heat producing, reaction. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are formed.
4. Produce syngas, which is mostly made up of hydrogen and carbon monoxide with small quantities of methane and carbon dioxide, with the steam from the heated reaction. This endothermic reduction consumes the heat and creates the gaseous syngas. Syngas can drive turbines to make electricity and be used as diesel for vehicles.
Tags: carbon monoxide, volatile chemicals