Wood Gas Fuel Research Workshop

The first recorded producer was that of Bischof (1839), and 1st gas producer driven vehicle was built by J.W. Parker 1901. The early model producers were very cumbersome & heavy and even today producers are still manufactured along the same lines as the early German designs.

Wood gas, also known as holzgas, air gas or blue gas, is the product of thermal gasification of biomass or other carbon containing materials such as coal in a gasifier or wood gas generator. It is the result of a high temperature reaction (>700 °C), where carbon reacts with steam or a limited amount of air or oxygen producing carbon monoxide (CO), molecular hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (CO2). In several gasifiers the actual gasification process is preceded by pyrolysis, where the biomass or coal turns into char releasing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) rich tar and methane (CH4). Other gasifiers are fed with previously pyrolysed char. Wood gas is flammable because of the carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane content.