Author Topic: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank  (Read 26025 times)

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Dolph1983

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Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« on: December 20, 2010, 11:34:59 AM »
Hi,

Please check out my basic wood burning boiler and buffer tank @

 http://www.youtube.com/user/DoLpH1983?feature=mhum#p/a/u/2/sa7sRJQJR5A


This is the first part of my test bed for a home power station project which will power and heat a 3bedroom house from biomass and rankine cycle.

Those of you who have any experience of a similar setup please tell all, for others who are interested there is more info to be found on my YouTube channel just visit it via the link above.
 
Merry Christmas.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2010, 12:30:41 PM by Dolph1983 »
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harley1782000

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2010, 01:20:39 PM »
Do you have any safe valves going in??  What happens when your not using the water?  Is the stove going to be shut down till you need hot water?  Nice job on it.  I like it but I like safety valves and worse case problems figured out before it could explode on ya or something.

Jim

Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2010, 02:08:08 PM »
Hi Jim,

It does not need a safety valve at the moment because it is open vented just for simplicity and low cost but i would definately be running a couple of blow off valves on my final system which will be sealed circuit, expansion vessel, 5 bar blow off and 95 degree celsius temp safety valve.

The stove will be only be fired when hot water is required and it will be loaded with a set amount of wood, just enough to give the correct temp in the buffer. A small central heating circuit could be run from the buffer tank if the stove was to be fired constantly this would allow it to dump heat.

Thanks,

stu
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ghurd

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2010, 02:24:31 PM »
"final system", make the heating coil easy to change.
It will not last as long as you may expect.
G-
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2010, 02:33:36 PM »
"final system", make the heating coil easy to change.
It will not last as long as you may expect.
G-

Yeah, i thought it may be a good idea to have it easily serviceable. The coil is only held in with 2 metal clips which are easily removed. The rest of the plumbing connects to the boiler with compression joints so these can be removed easy aswell. How long do you reckon the coil will last? it is just standard 10mm microbore.

Thanks,

Stu
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ghurd

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2010, 03:44:27 PM »
I have no idea...

This one in the stove is only used during the home heating season.

The "overview" pics are used in the off-heating season (like in the summer), but that one is all heavy iron.

The pics titled "in the stove" (#3, 4, 5) is heavy wall CU.  I think its 1" CU.
The stove is coal fired.
The heating coil lasts 2 N.E. Ohio heating seasons.

http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww20/ghurd1/Pumpless%20Water%20Heater/

G-
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2010, 02:17:44 PM »
I have no idea...

This one in the stove is only used during the home heating season.

The "overview" pics are used in the off-heating season (like in the summer), but that one is all heavy iron.

The pics titled "in the stove" (#3, 4, 5) is heavy wall CU.  I think its 1" CU.
The stove is coal fired.
The heating coil lasts 2 N.E. Ohio heating seasons.

http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww20/ghurd1/Pumpless%20Water%20Heater/

G-


Looks good pal,

here is my boiler setup with expansion tank. Its is coming along well now.

Have decided to put more turns in the coil at some point there are only 5 at the moment so i will prob put in 15 or 20.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DoLpH1983?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/ihhdwtyjFqY

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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2011, 07:35:22 PM »
The home power station (HPS) project is coming along slowly but surely

Here is the latest update:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DoLpH1983?feature=mhum#p/u/3/8Yh7bh0yAz4

I have almost completed the primary side of the system now but due to lack of funds it is taking a bit longer than hoped. anyway i'll get there in the end. I will hopefully have another update coming soon which will show the primary side fired up and running.

For those who don't understand what i'm trying to do here is a quick explanation.  My HPS is a co-generation system which will use wood fuel to heat a working fluid which will then be used to raise pressure in a turbine. the end result being, Central Heating, Hot water, Refrigeration and Elecricity.

Thanks for your interst folks.

Peace. :)
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2011, 06:25:50 PM »
Here's a sketch of what the Home Power station could look like.

This is an early design variation.

 :)
2539-0
« Last Edit: March 22, 2011, 07:31:33 PM by kurt »
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2011, 03:32:57 PM »
Hi folks,

I have now completed my boiler and buffer tank.  It can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DoLpH1983?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/bVakwmaU9Xw

I'd be interested to know what people think about it, so please leave your comments.

Peace,

Dolph :)
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machinemaker

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2011, 04:40:59 PM »
We are buying a place in a couple of weeks that has a traditional wood fired boiler and heats the house via a heat exchanger in the forced air duct work and heats the domestic hot water. I am not sure how I feel about the current set up and have heard less than great remarks for this style of boiler, (outside free standing), they seem to be inefficient and you have to have a smokey fire going even in the summer for hot water. I have some work experience on large industrial boilers and I have the fabrication equipment to build something new. One of my thoughts is that if I add some storage to the system rather than just the capacity of the boiler this would help. Secondly; I also want to plumb in some hot water solar panels to assist in the summer when the house heating load is not there. next; would be to add some finned baseboard heaters when we are remodeling the house interior or possibly in floor radiant. I am also toying with the idea of replacing the existing boiler with a design based on rocket stove type combustion that heats a 3 pass fire tube boiler. I think that this would help increase the efficiency by having one very hot fire every day or two rather than having a slow burning fire all the time. One other thought is designing the combustion chamber to burn chipped wood. There is a waste stream of chipped branches form tree trimming that could be a good fuel source. I will be interested in what you guys do with your systems.
kent

Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2011, 05:08:51 PM »
We are buying a place in a couple of weeks that has a traditional wood fired boiler and heats the house via a heat exchanger in the forced air duct work and heats the domestic hot water. I am not sure how I feel about the current set up and have heard less than great remarks for this style of boiler, (outside free standing), they seem to be inefficient and you have to have a smokey fire going even in the summer for hot water. I have some work experience on large industrial boilers and I have the fabrication equipment to build something new.

Hi Kent, Glad you posted

What you probably should look at is a wood chip or pellet based boiler system if you have'nt already.  I have fitted quite a few now and they seem to be pretty good. You'll find a video of a 300Kw system i fitted on my youtube channel if you have a dig through my uploads but i've done much smaller ones too (15kw).

Wood Boilers are notoriously inefficient if you don't use an accumulator/Buffer Tank to store the hot water as i'm sure you're aware. If you did add a larger accumulator to your system you could then fire the boiler overnight and draw on the stored water throughout the next day.

My Home Power station system i am currently building is just a prototype for a larger model.It will store a large volume of heated water in the buffer once it is completed.
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machinemaker

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2011, 05:49:39 PM »
One of the things I want to work with is to get as complete secondary combustion as possible. I have a background in working with refractory from a foundry furnace and heat treat furnace building. I think that working with hot combustion temps, good heat exchangers and storeage is the way I will try. Our new home has a large wood lot on it, but I see piles of chipped wood  that isn't getting used well. I like putting under utilized waste streams to use in a positive way. With the chipped wood I see, it could be composted for soil building. I am also a big believer in composting for soil building and want to build a hammer mill style shredder down the line someday too. I am also wondering if the system should be either at atmospheric pressure or low pressure. I can see some benefit to a low pressure system, but lean toward a 0 pressure system for safety concerns. What are you doing to de-oxygenate the water in your system or is that a concern?
kent

Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2011, 06:20:02 PM »
Cracking post kent,

I'm very jealous of you're new house and wood lot.  Here's an idea for you, use the woodchip to build a composting water pre heater. I've seen them raising 65 degree flow temp and lasting 6-12 months. I intend to add one to my system along with a solar pre heater.

If an open vented system is built correctly you will not have a problem with air getting sucked in, its all about placing the pump in the correct location. My current system does not seem to suck air in even with the pump so close to the vent. If it did turn out it was sucking in i would put an auto air vent and a 3 bar blow off valve on the economiser instead of the open vent and/or run the secondary economiser vent back to the buffer first. I would still keep the main vent on the F&E tank open of course.

 the pump (set to the correct speed) will hopefully find it easier to suck the water through the pipework (path of least resistance) instead of sucking air down the vent.

In defence of modern low pressure systems, i see no need for concern regarding their safety.

 ;)

edit, research wood gasification to get good combustion
« Last Edit: April 13, 2011, 06:31:28 PM by Dolph1983 »
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #14 on: April 27, 2011, 10:58:17 AM »
The BioGen website is now up and running for anyone who wants to buy the manual and become a member.

www.biogen.webs.com
 
 :)
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #15 on: July 30, 2011, 12:43:03 PM »
Hello Folks

Here is the latest BioGen home power station update video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvg-RBuHmB8

Enjoy :)
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12AX7

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #16 on: July 30, 2011, 11:04:22 PM »
Your video is an add to buy a membership?

Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #17 on: July 31, 2011, 05:46:43 AM »
Your video is an add to buy a membership?

My video is an update detailing what i have built so far. I will continue to give away my research at no cost to the watcher but i will include an option for willing persons to donate to the project by becoming members. Membership will have its benefits as i would like to reward anyone kind enough to support my project.

Thanks.
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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #18 on: September 24, 2011, 10:20:31 AM »
At last some good news to report  ;D

I've nailed it, had the BioGen running for just under an hour this afternoon. It was nothing spectacular but i did get it running at about 250-300rpm (estimated).  So i now have a functioning Organic Rankine Cycle system.

Boiler: 2.2KW Kettle
Boiler Flow Temp: 65 Degrees C
Boiler Return Temp: 52 Degrees C
Vapouriser Temp: 55 Degrees C
Turbine Inlet Temp: 55 Degrees C
Turbine Exhaust 40 Degrees C
Condenser In : 40 Degrees C
Condenser out: 20 Degrees C
Cooling Water temp: Mains ambient (10-15 Degrees)
Cooling water flow rate: 4-5 LPM estimated

Vapouriser Pressure: 6 Bar
Turbine Inlet Pressure: 6 Bar
Turbine Exhaust Pressure: Not known yet
Condenser Pressure 5.5 Bar

After running the system for about an hour i am certain that the condenser is inadequate.  So i think i will buy a 50 plate new. I managed to get the system balanced so that it could maintain a 0.5 Bar pressure differential across the turbine, which was enough to get it spinning round but without any significant torque.  However, this was achieved with a cooling flow rate of 4-5 litres per minute through the condenser.  If i can achieve a better flow rate (20LPM) i expect to see the turbine pressure differential increase to about 2 Bar and at that stage i hope to see some workable torque.

I have a load of video footage which i will sort through and possibly post on my youtube channel over the next couple of days.

Thanks,

Dolph
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Dolph1983

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Dolph1983

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Re: Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #20 on: January 02, 2012, 04:08:55 PM »
The new unit starts to take shape




Contained within this old washing machine housing will be a complete Organic Rankine Cycle engine which will convert waste heat into electricity

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Dolph1983

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Basic wood boiler and buffer tank
« Reply #21 on: February 12, 2012, 10:18:56 PM »
here is a link to my latest project update:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DoLpH1983?feature=mhum

enjoy
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