waste vegy boiler pan build and fired

[pepa]

i cut out boiler burner pan, added a stack and lit her up, still have to weld leggs on pan. this is the first of a series of pictures that i will post as the project progresses. i am still needing a lot of guidence so keep the comments coming. the first firing was for about three hours and after the oil was turned off the burner continued for over an hour as it consumed the oil in the pan. total untreated vegy oil used was just over i measured cup for the four hour burn, i put one gal. of oil in the tank and measured what was left when the burn was over. the burner was cut from the end of a scrap air compressor tank with regular 8" stove pipe for the stack. the fire was hot enough to turn my welding clamp red hot at the edge of the stack. note how clean the snoke is coming out the stack, thanks, pepa.

[pepa]

the flame

[Chagrin]

You should strive to eliminate all of the smoke and get the cleanest burn possible. Not only will the generated soot be problematic but it's also "lost fuel".

I would recommend creating an enclosure for the fire with firebrick or similar homemade refractory to get that fire burning as hot as you can. Something close in shape and construction to the homemade foundry designs you find on the internet would be the ideal. The metal pan you have now is just losing too much heat to the outside environment to get the fire up to the temperature you want.

Something like this:

For the basic principle of what I'm getting at take a look at the design of Tarm furances:

http://www.woodboilers.com/wood-gasification.asp

The flow of air in the combustion chamber is counter-intuitive, but it's a much better design.

[thefinis]

How much of the water have you removed from the wvo? If there is much water left it will produce a steam smoke mix as the h20 condenses around the soot particles. The water in it reduces the temp and the efficiency but if you are trying for ease of operation you may have to put up with some smoke/steam.

It is looking good especially considering cooler weather is starting.

Finis

[pepa]

thanks fenis, the oil has not been changed except that i built a 55gal. seperater tank to let the oil impurities settle (its in the lower ninies down here) as much as possible before use. usually 24 hrs. of undisterbed settle time will seperate most of the residue and i can drain the settled fats from the bottom of the drum by a seperate valve placed at the very bottem of the tank. the oil drips about fifty inches before it enters the burning pool of oil in the boiler pan, i think that most water will be vaperized almost instantly as the lower part of the stack is white hot after the oil has been lit for a short time. the burn was completely unregulated except for the amount of fuel going into the burner but the finished heater will have a damper in the stack and a flue with fan to control draft and the fire will be in a inclosed envirement. i observed the burn very close and did not see any signs of bubbling or spitting as the oil made contact with the burning pool of oil. having legs on the pan will raise it for less heat lost(it was setting on concrete for this experiment) that was done to check for the amount of fuel that it will burn per hr. under the open, unregulated conditions that were present during the burn, this should be my highest fuel use for this unit, its going to put out some very high BTU's with a small rate of fuel use. thanks pepa.

[ghurd]

Not much to go on I know... but have you considered a gas water heater as a building block?

Semi-common around here for off grid people to convert them to burn kerosene.

Looks like there is not a lot to it, but I really don't know.

G-

[whatsnext]

Pepa, You might try finding a kerosene burner assembly like I've used instead of your drip design which I've never really liked. Your picture shows a lot of smoke and if your flame is really that yellow it is burning pretty cold. WVO has about 120,000btu/gal so you can figure your burner size by your available fuel and needs. I hear all the time about how much water WVO has in it but the stuff I get has none. As soon as it cools enough to drain out of the fryer it's put into a tank and capped. Where would the water come from as WVO is not very hydroscopic? If you are getting WVO that's stored in an open container that's stored outdoors find another supplier.

John.......

[pepa]

i have three places that put the oil back in the container for me and when they call for pickup (we haven't established a regular pickup time yet) it is wainting in the load ares. i have been looking ror a gas water heater wirhout luck so i made this burner pan from a web site description that seemed to work well as a inside living area heater so i tried it. the burner was working under the most hostile conditions that it could ever be under, setting on cold concrete with no damper for draft control and wind gust of 5 to 15mph taking heat as fast as the burner could make. in the answer to another statement above i tryed to explane why i thank it should work hotter and cleaner but if i can find a better system i will use it. posting here will always bring the best methods of doing a job and from the replys i have been getting i should wind up with a very good multiple function unit. i will check your files and google but if i don't find the info on your burner i would like to see it and find where you got the burner, thanks for the info. pepa

[pepa]

thanks ghurd, thats is what i wanted to use but have mot been able to locate one yet. i was planing to use both the burner and the tank as the main power supply, and heat exchanger, if i could convert the burner to vegy oil. pepa.

[ghurd]

I think the kero units use a drip burner like yours!

Even have a thermostat!

I could get a photo of some of the guts if you like. Might be an idea in there somewhere.

G-

[pepa]

please, pepa

[whatsnext]

Pepa, The kero unit I'm using is out of a KeroSun brand heater and uses an adjustable wick. The problem, I think, with drip systems is that they are too hard to regulate.

John.......

[pepa]

thanks john, this unit will run 24/7 except for maintance and the more heat, the better to produce the different products that it will be making. each of the functions will have several factors regulating their output and isolation from the boiler unit. after the rate of burn is established, no other control will be needed. i want this unit to be as close to self substaining as i can it make for ease of operation, with sensors, relay activated valves and safety valves in place along with a large fuel tank, it should run with little help from me. i can design (with your help) and build the machanical end of this system but will be completely lost when it comes to the main control panel and the sub panels that it will take to keep it safe and the unit running smoothly. my hope is that when i get to the different stages of operation the good people here will continue to guide me through it. IF IT WORKS AS PLANNED the unit could be the basic power sourse of any off grid living simply by using or replacing the boiler as the power sourse. i have no thoughts of going off grid and have solar and wind production, but thought this unit would help others that are thanking of doing so. i'm having fun pepa.

[Titantornado]

Boy Pepa, I like what I'm seeing so far.  For the very crude testing arrangement you got set up there so far, the results look very promising.  A cup in four hours is impressive.  Efficiency wouldn't be my prime concern as long as the fuel is free.

I'm not so sure about "wicking" vegie oil.  I've tried it in an oil lamp, and it failed to work.  I was using a cotton wick, and it seemed the oil would burn off faster than the wick could draw it up, so perhaps something a little looser like a woven fiberglass wick might work.  I believe kero heaters are also cotton wicks.  The main reason for my test was to attempt a conversion of a propane fridge to wvo.  If someone has successfully wicked wvo, I'd like to hear about their experience.

I will be closely following your findings in high anticipation.  

[pepa]

thanks Ron for your comment, this is something new to me so i try to follow what other people have found that works. i found an article on mother earth that someone had pointed me to and followed it as close as i could, in the design of the burner pan. his pan was machined out of a block fo aluminun and had a funnel shaped burner to cut down on residue buildup. the rounded end of an old air tank gave me a close copy, only larger. i have been hunting a large gas fired hwh without luck and started looking for something else that would work. the drip system he used was the same as the old army field kitchen heaters except they used gas. after the four hour burn was over and the pan cooled down, there was no residue left in the pan except a couple of little bumps that were probably the ash from the piece of paper that i used to start the fire. i still need the large tank for a heat exchange boiler, will keep posting as i go. pepa

[getterdone]

hows your bio comming? contact me  j.ossowski@yahoo.com

[ghurd]

Have not been there yet, but did you see this?...

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/9/11/21021/2799

G-

[pepa]

thanks Ghurd. i have a roll of 3/4 amd a roll of 3/8 soft copper. i will try that with the center filter. thanks again for the good ideas. pepa

[pepa]

email sent, pepa.

[ghurd]

Hi Pepa,

Got some photos of a kero water heater, if you'd still like to see them.

Not great, didn't get the open burner, but can next time.

Decent photos of 2 'controls'.  Oil stove parts?

What should I do with the digital photos? Email, post here, elsewhere?

G-

[ghurd]

I put them here...

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/9/17/223128/058