Wood-Fueled Truck Sparks Interest At Small Farms Conference
Nov 20th, 09
Wayne Keith regularly clocks up to 80 miles an hour on his wood-fueled Dodge Dakota and hauls 40-foot gooseneck trailer loads of hay with his wood-powered Ford F250 on his farm in Alabama. Keith showed off one of his trucks at the KSU farm on Thursday.
Wayne Keith leaned over and said, "What's the fastest you've ever been on wood?"
For most people, the answer would be 0 miles an hour unless they were rolling down the river on a log. But Keith regularly clocks up to 80 miles an hour on his wood-fueled Dodge Dakota and hauls 40-foot gooseneck trailer loads of hay with his wood-powered Ford F250 on his 140-acre Springville, Ala., farm.
Keith was one of several presenters Nov. 19 at the Kentucky State University Land Grant Program's Small, Limited Resource, Minority Farmers Conference at the KSU Research and Demonstration Farm. One of the focuses of this year's conference was alternative energy, and as a former part-time farmer and full-time energy innovator, Keith was a prime presenter for the 160 farmers who traveled to Frankfort from across the Commonwealth.
The retired law enforcement officer turned full-time farmer and inventor showed off his creation, which gets 5,000 to 7,000 miles per cord of wood. Keith uses it as his everyday vehicle and said he drives more than anyone else who is documented to operate a wood-fueled vehicle. In one trip, he drove more than 7,000 miles on wood alone.
It all began in the 1970s when there was an oil embargo. Keith was using a wood heater and noticed that the heaters were inefficient, because much of the fuel was escaping. So he began to study how to make his heaters more efficient so that he could contain the majority of his wood fuel.
Then, the embargo was lifted and he forgot about his project for 25 years. About six years ago, as gasoline prices crept higher, Keith renewed his interest in wood fuel. He began exploring ways to power his cars so that he did not have to pay $1.50 a gallon. About five years ago, after much trial and error, he perfected his first of six models.
"And I have been enjoying every minute of it," Keith said. "You can't imagine the feeling of freedom of not relying on gasoline."
The project was of particular interest to Dr. Michael Bomford, principal investigator for organic and sustainable production systems, who is working with Dr. John Wilhoit, a biosystems and agriculture engineering professor at the University of Kentucky, on a grant proposal that would allow them to modify two tractors to run on wood fuel.
Like Keith, they would use farm waste to fuel the farm machinery. Keith chops up waste wood with a saw mill on his farm and then feeds it into his tanks. Small, dry pieces are ideal for fuel. He also can scavenge for wood if he is not near home. That way, the technology is even more environmentally friendly, he said.
"I have never cut a tree to heat my home, and I have never cut a tree to run this truck," Keith said.
He also can use hurricane debris, which has nails in it and was deemed unusable by the government, as motor fuel. The nails almost completely melt away.
Bomford initially saw Keith's presentation at a conference in West Virginia, which gave him the idea for the grant. He then partnered with Wilhoit, who has the engineering expertise. Both were at the KSU Research Farm learning more about Keith's truck and peppering him with questions.
While Bomford and Wilhoit, if they get the grant, could choose to operate their tractors a few different ways - combustion, running like an electric car, using cellulosic ethanol or creating sin-fuel like Keith - they are following Keith's lead because it gets twice as many miles and is more efficient.
To operate his truck, Keith first lights a fire in the first tank using newspapers. Then, he adds the wood. He said he can basically burn anything except metal glass and rocks, but he prefers wood because it gets the best mileage.
The wood tank heats to about 3,000 degrees. That water vapor and carbon dioxide goes through a pipe where it mixes with incoming air in a second tank. From there, the process goes down pipes along the side of the bed of the truck and underneath to where the water is condensed and trapped. Then it is sent to the filtration tank, which is full of hay.
The water is cleansed and sent to the modified motor.
"So far I have not found anything that completely removes all of the soot, but I think a little soot is OK," Keith said.
He changes the loose hay about every three to four months and keeps a steady level of ash in the initial tank. Beyond that, he gauges the level of all of the tanks with dials that he can see in his rearview mirror. He knows the readings well enough to know when he is almost out of fuel and when he needs to tend to his tanks.
"Any vehicle alongside us doesn't even know we are any different," Keith said. "Most of the people around home don't realize I am doing this. They just think I am hauling extra weight."
The first time he starts his engine for the day, when the engine is cold, he usually starts it with gas and then quickly switches over to wood fuel using a lever beneath his steering wheel. He could wait much longer to let the vehicle run completely on wood, but it takes less than an ounce of gasoline to jumpstart the motor.
As a result, he only keeps his truck stocked with about five gallons of gasoline and said he rarely has to refuel. In 2008, he participated in a green vehicle competition, Escape from Berkley, where vehicles running on alternative fuel made a cross country trip. During that race, he only was allowed to have one gallon of gas in his car and he ran only on wood fuel. But he said it is easier to start with gas and switch over since it only takes about 15 to 30 seconds to heat the engine.
"As a law enforcement officer, I used to work with hostage negotiation," Keith said. "One of the first rules was not to put yourself in a situation where you could be taken as a hostage. I think about it that way. I am no longer a hostage to fossil fuels."