The NSR Gas Station is a six inch Victoria gasifier with the necessary cooling, cleaning, and carburetion hardware to run whatever small engine you may want to attach.
I have tried an 8hp chipper, a 7hp(196cc) 4kW generator, and a 13hp(389cc) 6kW generator and all worked very well. Below is a video of my original prototype.
I am continuing to explore the range of engines that the Gas Station will power. An 18.5hp lawn tractor is coming next.
To give you an example of how cleanly the system runs, here is the inside of the filter housing after four hours of the machine being run improperly spewing charcoal that did not have the volatiles completely off gassed:
(Click to enlarge)
You may want to click on the image to expand it so you can see inside. The filter liner has obviously been exposed to sooty water but there is no tar to be seen.
Performance Data:
First the usual disclaimer: Your performance WILL vary due to fuel size, moisture content, heat exchanger cleanliness, hard wood vs. soft wood, wood species, pull rate, and atmospheric moisture content.
One of the first questions people ask is, “How long will it run on a load of fuel?” The answer is “It depends on how hard you run it.” To give you an example, a 13hp, 389cc, 6kW generator running at 3600 rpm with no load consumed 6 cubic inches of hardwood pellets per minute(or .1 l/min). On a weight basis the fuel consumption was:
Fuel Consumption = (.1l/min)*(648g/l) = 64.8g/min = 8.9 lbs/hr
That means the machine will run roughly 90 minutes between refills with the standard hopper. A standard 40lb bag of pellets will last 4.6hrs.
A load of 250W did not make any measurable difference in fuel consumption.
The Gas Station is available for $2250 plus shipping. The cart is not included.
The Gas Station Lite
For some users who may want to get into a Gas Station for minimal cost or may only want to run a 4kW generator I am working on a “Gas Station Lite”. This is the same machine as the regular Gas Station minus the primary cooler.
The Gas Station Light is available for $1700 plus shipping. The cart is not included.
Northern Self Reliance 
Do you think this product might be adequate for experimentation with different biomasses and for teaching?
Good Afternoon Jaime,
This would be an excellent teaching tool. It is cost effective but will still run any common 5kW generator so you can get real world data. It is also very easy to instrument because of the single wall design. I initially built the first Victoria as just an experimenting rig but that was over twelve units ago. She somehow became popular along the way. The Gas Station is also easy to clean and you can turn combustion air preheat on and off in operation.
If you run a fuel that has a high ash content and things go badly you can just unbolt one eight bolt flange, clean out the hearth, and be back in operation. I think she would be a great choice for you. Let me know if I can provide any other information.
Have you tried the 18HP engine?
I have a 8K generac that I would love to power with wood.
I am also in Maine and am very interested.
Not yet. I am just running out the door to the Dover Maker’s Fair and then I have two units to ship. Then life will get back to normal ???????
I can’t imagine it won’t work. The 13hp at no load didn’t seem to be testing the system at all.
I live in Northern Alberta, Canada. We have very cold long winters. Will this perform in these conditions? Down to -40F/C? I want to fuel a 7.5kw gen.
Hi Sherry….That is too darn cold! A couple thoughts:
1.) With any wood gas system a 7.5kW generator will only give you about 4kW of output. It’s a chemistry thing.
2.) It doesn’t get that cold where I am so I have never tested it to know for sure.
3.) I would be worried about condensate freezing and plugging the pipes even with the cooling fans turned off. One of my customers saw ice in his cyclone last winter at something much warmer like -10F
4.) I am not sure how you will light it. I don’t think a propane torch will work in that cold because the liquid propane won’t boil.
5.) This does not have the automixer option yet so it will not run unattended on chips. The mixture will vary rich/lean with the fuel dropping in the hopper.
That said, size wise it will handle it.
Stepehn
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Don’t understand the technicals but are interested in your system. Does it come with a fool proof set of instructions?
Hi Cody, The directions could really use improving even with all the YouTube videos. Unfortunately, I have taken a job teaching at a university because there was no steady income from wood gas. I am not taking orders because I have so little time. Hopefully I will be able to outsource production and get back to shipping hardware next summer when the students are gone.
Stephen