The Wood Powered Vehicles of the WehrmachtDuring World War II one factor that greatly hindered Germa

The Wood Powered Vehicles of the WehrmachtDuring World War II one factor that greatly hindered Germany’s war effort was it’s chronic shortages of fuel, a problem which only grew worse as the fortunes of war turned against Germany. As a result Germany was forced to look into other fuel sources such as synthetic petroleum distilled from coal, and one of the more unusual fuels; wood gas.  When wood is burned at a certain temperature under a certain pressure, it releases a combustible hydrocarbon gas which after being filtered of impurities such as tar and particulates can be used to power a diesel engine. The use of wood gas is nothing new, being a fuel source for street lamps going back to the early 19th century before natural gas, and later electricity became common. In the early 20th century wood gas systems were eventually developed for vehicles, which would be used heavily by Germany during World War II.The typical wood gas system consisted of at least two tanks. The first was a furnace which burned the wood, either whole logs, scrap wood, or wood chips depending on the size of the furnace. From there the gas passed through a filtration system into tanks which stored the gas. Finally a fuel system pumped the wood gas from the storage tanks into the diesel engine, which powered the vehicle. Most military wood gas systems were installed on trucks and cars, typically not the types of vehicles which saw front-line combat but still vital for logistic. This was because the wood gas system was vulnerable to enemy fire, took around 30 minutes to power up, and another 30 minutes to turn off. Some tanks were converted to wood gas by tank driving schools and used exclusively for training new tank crews. In addition training tanks were also converted to use coal gas, which was produced using the same concepts, however the gas was produced separately and stored in special tanks mounted on the vehicle. During World War II the German Army utilized around 200,000 vehicles which used wood gas systems. Another 500,000 civilian vehicles were also converted. Germany was not exclusive in using wood gas vehicles, as civilians in German occupied countries converted their vehicles, again due to fuel shortages.Today wood gassification kits for both automotive and home heating uses can be easily purchased from the internet. They are popular among survivalists, alternative fuel enthusiasts, and people who like to chop wood. -- source link

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