Patent ID: 7226566

Claim:
An apparatus to produce fuel gas from biomass, comprising: a single reaction chamber comprising a charcoal production bed, wherein said charcoal production bed comprises three vertically identifiable layers including an uppermost layer of raw, unprocessed biomass; an intermediate layer of biomass that has been reduced to char and fuel gas by pyrolysis; and a lowermost layer of biomass that has been further reduced to charcoal; a delivery means for supplying the raw, unprocessed biomass to the uppermost layer in the reaction chamber, said delivery means being connected to a source of raw unprocessed biomass; a charcoal removal system for removing charcoal from the lowermost layer in the reaction chamber, wherein said charcoal removal system comprises a mechanical conveyance means, an independent motor and a temperature activated control means; an outlet means for removing fuel gas from the intermediate layer in the reaction chamber, said outlet means being located on the reaction chamber adjacent to the intermediate layer of the charcoal production bed; a filter connected to said outlet means for producing a filtered fuel gas; a heat exchanger connected to said filter for cooling said filtered fuel gas, said heat exchanger comprising a tank containing a coolant fluid selected from the group consisting of water, a mixture of water and any antifreeze, and a mixture of water and alcohol, said heat exchanger further comprising a cooled fuel gas exhaust; a demister comprising a tank having a demister input connected to the cooled fuel gas exhaust, a demister output for discharging demisted fuel gas and a condensate drain, said demister input comprising at least one tube; a fuel conditioner connected to the demister output, said fuel conditioner comprising a tank containing a fuel fluid, a bubble forming element near the bottom of said tank for supplying demisted fuel gas to the fuel fluid and a discharge pipe for discharging conditioned fuel gas; storage means connected to the fuel conditioner discharge pipe for collecting the conditioned fuel gas; and pump means for generating a pressure differential within the apparatus, such that air is drawn vertically downward from the top of the reaction chamber, through the charcoal production bed, into the outlet means, through the filter, through the heat exchanger, through the demister, through the fuel conditioner and into the storage means.