Wood fuelled gas turbine?
 

Spotted whilst browsing the net, so how do you go about running a turbine engine on wood then?

A little digging tells me that what they do involves gassification of woodchip/sawdust, and the resultant gas is used to drive the turbine engine. But the engineering challenges must be quite fascinating.

I also find my mildly jetlagged mind exploring all sorts of surreal possibilities with regard to shutting up the greenies about our industry's use of fossil fuels. :} I'm certain it's not the intention behind that research programme, but could you run an aeroplane on wood? If so, would you regret it?

G

Well, you are the engineer - go ahead and try :)

I have heard that back in the old days the made a whole engine out of wood. Wooden compressor, wooden turbine eaven a wooden F.C.U. the only problem was...............
IT WOODEN GO!!!!!! :D :D


I'm so sorry, so very very sorry

Rgds Dr.I.

Apparently our accountants believe we can run engines on thin air alone.
Seriously though, I have heard of turbine engines in power station applications running on coal dust.

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During WW2 the Germans designed a jet engine that ran on coal dust IIRC.

Well for what it's worth.... Wood burning fuel may mean "Methanol" or Methyl Alcohol which is made from wood and other chemicals.?:E

Highly toxic and carcinogenic has an invisible flame and they used it mixed with water to increase combustion on F27's I believe.

yeah,

But the meth was to stop the water freezing not as a combustion aid (though it MAY have helped a little) The water was a coolant helping the thermal efficiency of the engine.

Thread creap over.

'Spose it would make for a interesting fuel uplift figures

2T Oak
2T Pine
1T Redwood

:ouch: :ouch:

Sorry.

On my travels I was told that there's a coal burning gas turbine at either Leicester or Leeds Univ can't remember which.
You can run a turbine on any thing that will burn, the main problem with coal dust is that the ash erodes the blades down stream of the combustion chamber.
If memory serves most gas turbine research in the thirties was based on trying to get modified steam turbines to burn coal, which is why Sir Frank Whittle was dismissed out of hand by the then experts when he suggested their use as aircraft power plants.
The other problem with powdered coal is if it gets damp you end up with the worlds largest brickette. ;)

I suppose the first aircraft to use one would be a BEECHcraft.

In your face Dr I.:ok:

Didn't Air France try this at Mulhouse a few years back, including in-flight refuelling? Not a great success iirc...

n5296s

Is the refrigeration process part of this wood burning turbine? Sorry, PAC's fasinate me for some reason. See, now you could get a wood burning stove that can cool your cabin too! Provided the preparation of the fuel isn't so difficult....

A log powered gas-turbine is a relatively simple endeavour. Yes logs, not sawdust or wood gas. A gentleman constructed an automotive turbocharger based turbine engine. In place of the conventional short combustion chamber between the compressor and turbine sections he routed the compressed air quite a distance to to the bottom end of a 55 gallon drum. This was filled with a matrix of logs, and exhausted through a similarly lengthy pipe that routed the gases past the turbine. Once ignited it was self sustaining, and generated as many revs as it's propane powered equivalent.

Cardinal, yes, but who would stoke the combustion chambers with fresh wood during the flight? The beancounters would never go for another crewman. ;)

I seem to recall the 'almighty Airbus' trying this out on a demo flight a few years back....only trouble was, they forgot to cut the trees first!
It just 'pined away'......what an expensive way to cut toothpicks.

wood it run?
 

He just never figured out where to hook up the thrust lever, though.
:{