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Steam Generator Makes Electricity With Wood
A FARM SHOW reader called the other day to tell us about a small ad he saw in the back of a magazine about "converting wood into electricity". He said the ad was placed by an inventor with a steam-powered generator and that it might make a good story for us.
We looked into it and discovered an amazing inventor
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Steam Generator Makes Electricity With Wood ENERGY Wood Burners (65) 29-6-3
A FARM SHOW reader called the other day to tell us about a small ad he saw in the back of a magazine about "converting wood into electricity". He said the ad was placed by an inventor with a steam-powered generator and that it might make a good story for us.
We looked into it and discovered an amazing inventor named Wes Gordon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has built a steam-powered generator that runs on anything that burns. "It can act as a standby generator or be used to charge a battery bank, run welders, submersible pumps, or other shop equipment," says Gordon, owner of SteamGen, which is selling a 10 kw machine.
Even though the current model is relatively small û and pretty pricey at $25,000 û the concept of generating electricity from burning wood, bales and other crop residue is what gets people excited.
Gordon's system consists of a Semple compound steam engine, a Windpower pto-powered generator, a Beckmann Boatshop 150 psi boiler, and an engine-driven PumpTec high-pressure pump. Everything mounts on a single axle trailer. Gordon can add on-site plumbing at a cost of $50/hr. or it can be completed by the owner.
Waste steam at 212? can be piped to a steam radiator or heat exchanger connected to a hot water or forced air heating system. If not using the steam engine to produce electricity, hot water from the boiler can also be used to provide heat.
A downside of this simple wood-fired boiler is the constant attention it requires feeding the fire and operating the boiler controls. Gordon notes that adding automatic controls to a steam generator can triple the price. However, the savings in fuel û for people who have low-cost wood or other combustible material - will pay for a SteamGen unit in five years, he says.
"SteamGen generators require 100 percent supervision, but operating a boiler is not rocket science," says Gordon. "Your teenage son can operate the boiler while you operate the shop equipment on the power it provides."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wes Gordon, SteamGen, 9010 E. 28th St., Tulsa, Okla. 74129 (ph 918 520-7711; steamgen@juno.com; www.geocities.com/steamgen).
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