I wonder what goes on between “the gas is produced down here” and “it ends up in this tank up here.” It has to be pressurized, to be used, so presumably the whole thing is so well sealed that the production of gas itself provides the pressure; so what’s the tank for? Presumably it doesn’t store more than the max 3 hours worth of gas for one stove element, either. That seems pretty limiting. Not really enough for more than rudimentary cooking at best. As for heating one’s house - I suppose if you lived somewhere warm where you didn’t need the heat on for more than an hour or two in the morning, it would work. Seems like something that works better at scale, though.
The “rolling coal” systems don’t seem to be connected to the exhaust - they’re actually separate systems that can be turned on and off (and burn who-knows-what to produce the smoke), presumably to get around those laws.
I’ve seen a number of videos of trucks “rolling coal” where they turn on the system to blind the drivers of fuel efficient vehicles or cyclists. Because the idea of people not wasting resources fills them with rage. Yeah, these people shouldn’t be allowed to own vehicles.
I don´t think is cool to store animal waste or garbage at home in urban areas. But in remote areas of Brazil, poor farmers are using stuff like this in order to cook their meals:
Anywhere that you can keep compost would be fine. This thing would work just as well on lawn clippings as vegetable scraps. In answer to someone previously the gas chamber above the digester seems to be retained by (looks like rubber or at least adjustable) straps. This provides some pressure. Another option would be to pipe your gas into something like tractor inner tubes. These could be inflated and then with w eight placed on them, provide higher pressure and one or more of these could be a “battery” as it were, storing accumulated gas.
I think the Homebiogas system is terrific and at $590 affordable, but of course it is a new take on an old idea. I just thought I would revisit some of the Asian systems - but instead I found this and it looks sweet and not above most people technical abilities:
That sounds good to me. Even if it doesn’t produce a lot of gas per day that is supposedly why the Chinese invented the wok and stir frying, because it can cook enough food for a meal quickly, without requiring very much fuel.
Also, I was really hoping to see @papasan mention that he was producing home biogas right now. I know I am.
I thought I’d read something about add-on devices but also on video I’ve seen of the devices in action - they were blasting black smoke (out of a smoke stack in the bed, just behind the cab) at the touch of a switch, and while idling for example, rather than being connected to when the vehicle might be producing the most exhaust. But I’m guessing those switches were actually dumping the extra fuel into the engine, and the exhaust was re-routed through the stacks.
It’s pretty fucking evil.
Transport police in my city once pulled over a truck with heavy black smoke coming out of its engine compartment. The smoke was caused by an oily rag which had been left on the engine. It didn’t take much to make a lot of smoke. And it turned out to be a truck which had been stolen a few days earlier. If the thieves had been more careful with their mechanical work, they wouldn’t have attracted any attention.
Makes me want to roll RPG-7. These guys’ priority is basically "how can I maximise the opportunity for intimidating and inconveniencing other road users, whilst being a passive-aggressive little bitch? It’s the cracker-est thing ever.
Exactly right. You’d be limited to external combustion. A traditional steam boiler motor would use up all the gas just getting the water hot and a stirling is terribly inefficient.
