Wood Gas (See Thru Wood Gas Generator)

In this episode I build a See Through Wood Gas Generator to show everybody visually what the main components of a house fire are, and what the actual fuel is the wood produces when heated.
most people think that when wood burns it's the wood itself that burns but in reality it the gas that wood produces "wood gas" mixed with oxygen and an ignition source that causes the chain reaction known more commonly as burning.

Thanks to Chris King, a friend of mine, a Chicago Firefighter, Top Fuel Funny Car Driver for helping me out with this episode and giving me the idea for this episode, he was really surprised when he showed up and I had all of this setup and ready to go.

Check out the previous episodes in the series playlist as well as the links below.

Previous episodes:

Directed By: Matt Mikka

[Leonardokite]

Now build a monster one in the bed of an old pickup and then run the truck with the wood gas. That "wood" be something!!!!

[MrMarkRoads]

Correction, there is fuel left in the beaker. It's charcoal and it needs 02 to burn. You distilled all the gasses out of the wood. Good fuel left. The off gasses were always below their flash point until you lit them. You made charcoal. Charcoal production is done through a method called . Pyrolysis is defined as the irreversible chemical change brought about by heating the biomass in the absence of oxygen.

[ProjectFarm]

Matt, Amazing job with the see through wood gas generator!!! Thanks for all the time, effort, and expense you put into this one. Always a thumbs up from me and looking forward to the next video!

[KennethNicholson]

Brilliant. It explains how flash overs happen too. Great experiment.

[gusbailey]

Volatiles. You cracked off the volatiles. The charcoal (and the tar for that matter) are still viable fuels.

[scootergrant]

What's great is that you can use some of the bi-products. The tar is a little more tricky as it is in the water, but you can use the gasified wood as it is effectively charcoal and then, of course, use it as the fuel for your next wood gas production.

[TimeSurfer]

There were a couple points where you made the comment about "All the fuel has been burnt off, " and I was just giggling. This is an excellent small scale demonstration of how Charcoal is made!
And the Tar you got from the Aluminum Foil Lid? Is a substance called "Creosote." Used as a preservative on Railroad Ties and Power Poles, among other places. Wonderfully full of some Lovely Carcinogens. Which is one of many reasons it sucks to be a Firefighter.
Thank you for your service.

[fromjesse]

Very nice demonstration!
A couple tips: Actually, as the overheated beaker was cooling after the fire was out was still a face safety risk because the glass could still explode due to shrinking and tension set up.
Also, I think the reason the cooled wood gas didn't sustain flame is because it was moving a lot faster coming out of the smaller nozzle. If it was coming out a larger hole it probably would have sustained. Both carbon monoxide and hydrogen are highly ignitable even at room temperature and far below.

But a lovely demonstration none the less!

[CODMarioWarfare]

"I guess you can call this my filter... it's kinda like a distiller"

Trying real hard not to call that a bong

[TheComander]

Thank you!! Now i finally understand how wood burns! Why did my cemistry teacher in school not teach me this?? Awesome keep it up!

[rojax_the_great]

Didn't know this was how wood burned. Looking forward to this series!

[AC-pmsn]

I wish this guy taught every class I took in school lol. I'd get straight As.

[ThinkCleverAndSmart]

Now this really warped my perception! I had no idea about wood gas. Never heard about the thing. This is actually really important to know if you are in such a situation that a fire just started and it's burning up to the ceiling. Why they doesn't teach this in class is a mystery to me. Thanks for making this! Love your work!

[helmysetiabudi]

Really really really insane. I've been doing my barchelor degree research about this for 2 years and you just give me clean look for what happening when wood is burning. Gigantic thank's and appreciate for you man. Now i can bust my lectures opinion about how wood burned.

[sadabetas]

The issue of ignition is most likely definitely not a temperature problem. Water helps because the wood gas is highly soluable in water and when it come out is taken out of its lower flammability limit in terms of fuel composition.

[dustinwest]

I work at a coal gasification power plant, we do exactly the same thing you're doing here. It's cool to watch it in see through tubes!

[TheMechanicalKoopa]

this should be a great teaching tool to explain how all of this stuff works for those looking to get into that profession. helps to make better sense of how things work with fire

[danielfox]

There is still plenty of fuel left afterwards. Biochar burns pretty much like charcoal.
Also great for your garden.

[BaldurKhr]

Your video is so interesting because it's not only pointing out the pyrolysis effect, but it's also showing that a gas has to reach to it's IGNITION temperature in order to catch fire. THANKS A LOT ! 5:34

[Freizeitflugsphaere]

How could I miss that one...
While other content of good youtuber like Colin, Hacksmith etc are getting worse and worse your is improving like hell. Love your videos they are really entertaining and educational.