anyone tried producing electricity from an outdoor wood furnace?

[lavanwam]

I have a large outdoor wood furnace I use to heat me house, Just wondering if there was a place to buy a closed system turbine generator I could buy to produce my power needs.

I produce a large amount of 180 degree F water that I thought could run a turbine/generator if it had a closed system and used another liquid that boiled at l50 or so.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

[dnix71]

There was someone who made a three stage stirling engine to power a house, but it's tough because there isn't much useful energy in water between 180 F and 80 F.

If you don't have a phase change the machine has to be fairly large to extract much energy and convert it to electricity.

[lavanwam]

Thanks for the response.

I was figuring that the temp difference for me in the winter would avg 20 F to the 180 F
In the summer would be 55 F to 180 F
Size is not the important to me, it is finding something that will help with the electric demand.

Mike

[dnix71]

https://matteranenergy.us/video2.html   These people have developed a low temperature modified Rankine cycle that works in your range of temperatures.

It sounds like an ammonia refrigerator used to make electricity. They use mild heat to boil a refrigerant inside a closed system, with one-way check valves that use batch mode processing to eliminate the need for a mechanical pump on the condensor side.

[Kwazai]

just use the draft from the intake to the firebox to spin a small automotive type fan based genny...
Mike

[WindriderNM]

Thermocouples may work. I remember something from the past about whether boys in the ocean being powered by some type of radioactive material decaying producing heat than using thermocouples to produce electricity. As I recall the reactor thermocouple assembly was about the size of a 55 gallon drum. I don't know how much power you can get out of thermocouples but it may be worth looking into.

[M.Blind]

really nice thought . . . !!!
how much temperature would be perfect
the temp lavanwam  is asking i think is enough to produce electricity for his single machine .

[Kwazai]

this may sound stupid, but how much of the electricity your using is to move the heat/cool around in the first place?
Most of what I know about the alternative enrgy stuff (for lack of a better word) is that at the point you're doing more than just moving heat or cool around it really takes a hit in converting to electricity.
Lights?, washing machines?  vis a vis airconditioning/ furnace?
It migt pay to take a look at it- maybe a stirling fan or pump?

just a thought.
Mike

[willib]

steam

[GoVertical]

Maybe a down draft gasifier running a small gas engine turning a PMA.