[Bioconversion] Re: opinions needed for sustainable-fueled motorcyle adventure trip

[AJH]

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 19:15:58 +0200, Richard Stanley wrote:

>Dear Sam, Andrew, Laren, John, Tom and anybody else with a good idea
>
>This is an intersting coincidence. (And one must jump on 'em when one can)
>
>You Sam and Andrew have both talked about an alternate oil fueled 
>engine  that was intended for motorcycles. Laren's Woodgas site shows a 
>trail bike set up with a gassifier. And and My biologist teacher 
>motorcyclist son is keen on developing an alternate fueled motorcycle 
>for long distance travel.
>
>What can we all agree upon to be the optimum for say a 250 -500 cc road 
>bike set up for long trips where the fuel would have to be regerated on 
>at rest points along the trip.

Right you lot, any chance we could take this discussion to
bioconversion? It could do with some activity and this is a pertinent
subject as long as we can keep politics  and taxation out of it.
>
>Thus far, I understand, perhaps wrongly, that;
>. CO2 scrubbing is necessary for economical compression of biogas and 
>even AD's starch sugar biogas tech is not compact enough for a motorcycle

I'm not so sure, the trouble I see is that gases need to be compressed
to 200bar, quite doable and I carry compressed oxygen to work with me
(in a van). The cylinders are heavy which would affect stability and
you need the equivalent of about 4 scuba divers bottles to carry the
equivalent of 10 litres of gasoline. 

>. Biodiesel is great but you have to have the apparatus and the caustic 
>and methanol  to make it up, onsite .

Yes, plant oils are like three chains attached at one point, the
mixture of methanol and hydroxide splits these into single chains and
joins a methyl group on the split end, leaving glycerine behind. This
has the disadvantage of requiring kit, a source of moisture free
alcohol and the hydroxide. It is a good fuel though which any diesel
can run on (though it tends to be a bit impure when homemade which can
have issues with the injection system.

OTOH many diesels will run on straight veggie oil if it is preheated
to make it flow better, this can be heating from the coolant or by a
few wraps of copper fuel pipe around the exhaust. There can be an
issue in that the system needs to be flushed at beginning and end as
the oil can gum up parts if used before it is hot, so fossil diesel is
used at start and end. A way around this is to just add white spirit (
a light fossil oil) to the system at start up and shut down.

One possible advantage of the engine I described is that as there are
no high pressure injection components it could start and run on
straight vegetable oil.


> Hydrogen fuel cells are 
>wonderfully clean but its dangerous and is as yet seems relatively 
>expensive to extract,

Even with the fuel cell you'd need an electric drive, not something
you could cobble up from old motorcycle parts. The levels of purity
required for membrane technology is beyond d-i-y. There are other fuel
cell technologies and a combined cycle solid oxide fuel cell could run
on a biomass derived syngas, some way off yet I think, but conversion
efficiencies could exceed 60% thermal to motive power.


>. Could run with a gassifier bolted on the back deck, as the woodgas 
>website shows but it is not clean, design wise. Could the fuel tank 
>become the firebox (would you straddle a woodstove on a two wheeled 
>vehicle at 50 mph ? Other configurations ?

I'd pass on this other than to say unless someone comes up with a
foolproof wood gasifier I would still go back to charcoal
gasification, just make sure the char making were better done. I also
believe that gasification might be well suited to dual fueling. As
driving has a requirement for low average loads and high peak demand I
see no reason why a low cv fuel, like CO could not be supported by a
higher one, say ethanol, at peak demand.

>. Solar PV/battery power is quiet but far too capital expensive and 
>would require several sq mtrs of panelling to sustain say 50 mph

I guess we need to decide what we want to sustain at how to get it, I
think a motorcycle would only need 5 or 6 kW to run at 50mph (I still
use imperial for speed but we should decide on SI units).

>. And according to friend & fello gassifier, John Davies, gassification 
>and compact boiler design for vastly improved steam locomotive 
>performance was just making headway but it all came too late in history 
>to take hold: any application of this to a motorcycle, John?

I cannot see a problem with this if we have a monotube flash boiler
and a condenser, conversion efficiency would be challenged.
>
>What  amongst the substantial collective knowledge base of you all,  is 
>the best way to go for 2 wheeled or small 4 wheeled motive power for 
>long trips and onsite fuel supply generation? 

I'd like to try a Kalle style gasifier (on a trailer) supplemented
with alcohol fuel.

Grass track racers in my youth ran on a methanol:castor oil mix in two
strokes (two strokes have a total loss lubrication system so there is
an issue if you cut the fuel off as the engine seizes). OK it needs
70% more volume of fuel carried but in other respects it's close to
current engines. Two strokes are effectively prevented from road use
in the western world because of their poorer fuel consumption and
pollution but there are two stroke outboard engines that are,
allegedly, acceptable in this respect.

AJH