Waste Oil Heater Forum - Your definitive source for burning waste oil for heat.
Waste Oil Heater => Welcome Center => Topic started by: flintgreasewood on April 24, 2013, 08:50:42 pm
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Hello, everyone,
Strictly speaking I'm not in Alaska yet but will be there in two weeks and won't be returning to Colorado till early October. Along with my wife, we will be mining gold on our claims near Fairbanks. I've joined the forum since I am acquiring all the parts and devices to build a waste oil burner and will need help in getting it assembled and running properly. The reason for building it is to economically heat water to make steam which we will use to thaw permafrost gravel which contains the gold we mine. I have been using some instructions obtained from an online source and though that has been very helpful, there isn't much detail as to how all the various parts are properly assembled. I have a good bit of mechanical knowhow but stuff like PID controllers are a challenge. I'm still receiving parts in the mail, most importantly the Beckett burner itself so I'll need to wait before I start asking much advice. Something I do need to find out soon is what do I need to do to the raw waste oil we collect [there's an abundant supply of used motor, and transmission oil in Fairbanks to be had for the taking] to have it ready to enter into the burner system.
I did build a preheater using an aluminum block and then drilling an elaborate passageway throughout the block before it ends up at the nozzle. I am using a 400 watt cartridge heater which is going to have to be regulated as it gets the block way too hot. I have a PID controller that I am slowly coming to understand how to use...but still could use advice when it's time to wire it up.
I'm looking forward to reading lots of posts here to get myself up to speed on this subject.
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Flintgreasewood,
Welcome to the site.
My question is what type of heat exchanger are you going to use to turn your waste oil heat into useable steam?
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Greetings Flint!
Sounds like an interesting adventure you have going there.
Just a couple questions I have:
Are you going to use some sort of boiler to heat the water, or how do you plan on accomplishing the heating of the water?
The block you have made, is it a pressure type setup? Are you using the pump on the burner to force the oil through the block and out the pressure tip?
Yes, a PID is going to be important to keep the oil at the correct temp. Wiring it up directly could certainly heat things up too much.
If you get some parts in hand, let us know what they are and we can try to help you out.
Enjoy the forum!
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Russ,
We have "hotsy" type coils that receive the burner flame. I don't know if we will use a gravity feed of the oil from the tank into the preheat block or use a pump system. need recommendations on that one. I have compressed air feeding into the block to provide a vacuum to pull the oil in and then atomize it. More later.
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Ahh yes, I understand. You will be using a siphon system. That will give you a good burn. Typically a siphon system needs a consistent flow of oil. People will either use a constant level tank (think of it like your toilet. it keeps the oil at the same level at all times) or you can use a metering type pump. I don't have any experience with a metering pump, but Doug can maybe tell you more as that is what he uses on his system.
So you are actually looking for steam, not hot water? Hotsy type? From what I can find, they are hot water pressure washer systems? That would be an interesting project. Don't know that I have ever seen anyone use a setup like that, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
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620k btu's/hr, 4.8 GPM/288 GPH to 920k, btu's/hr, 9.5 GPM/468 GPH. I'm not sure you can get that type of heat out of a siphon system. You won't get with c/l tank you might get it with a metering pump. Ask the seller you bought the siphon block from if you can get that much heat out of there set up. That's alot of oil, even if it's free.
Here's a Hotsy manual.
http://www.hotsy.com/Upload/KCProductCatalog/70798b10-afad-4a52-897f-e661cd4bb21e_HSS.pdf
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Hey, Guys
I'm new to steam but my mining partner is an old hand at it. He's been steaming gravel for 3 decades [we're both 67].
He has used "hotsy" coils for many years and is currently using one system I built for him...simple burner burning diesel fed through a high pressure pump. It is fairly low pressure steam, about 60 lb, I believe. He doesn't seem to burn an enormous quantity of fuel. I'll be feeding steam to at least 4 "steam points"...long steel tubes [5/16 id] that are driven into the frozen gravel and allowed to do their thawing for around 10 hours. I can get more information from him as we get set up there in Alaska.
I need to know about filtering the waste oil. Do I need to heat the supply tank? Will a high pressure washer pump work in a syphon system...I have one if I need it. thanks again
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Hey, Guys
I'm new to steam but my mining partner is an old hand at it. He's been steaming gravel for 3 decades [we're both 67].
He has used "hotsy" coils for many years and is currently using one system I built for him...simple burner burning diesel fed through a high pressure pump. It is fairly low pressure steam, about 60 lb, I believe. He doesn't seem to burn an enormous quantity of fuel. I'll be feeding steam to at least 4 "steam points"...long steel tubes [5/16 id] that are driven into the frozen gravel and allowed to do their thawing for around 10 hours. I can get more information from him as we get set up there in Alaska.
I need to know about filtering the waste oil. Do I need to heat the supply tank? Will a high pressure washer pump work in a syphon system...I have one if I need it. thanks again
I'd filter the oil to 50 microns or less. Warm oil does strart and burn better. Heating your supply tank would depend on air temp. What are you planning on doing with the pressure washer pump?
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Do we all get a share in the gold you find?
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Do we all get a share in the gold you find?
Hehe... now the answer to this will determine if we give you straight answers or not. ;)
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Ok, filter to 50 microns...what is the best way to do that? I don't know if the pressure washer pump will handle 50 micron oil. What other type of pump can be used?
I've often stated that whomever helps me get to the gold will be rewarded...if I can remember them all. We'll see. :)
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Watch this vid he explains his set up very well. He talks about his c/l tank, holding tank and transfer pump. I believe he uses a carbonator pump as a transfer pump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7WdiGAuX9s
Have you given any thought about different types of waste oil burners like the Turk, Babington, Rocket or forced air.
Would a burner like this one with your Hotsy coils setting on top of the burn pot work? These are very simple and looks like you could get alot of heat from them.
http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?topic=130639.0
When it comes to rewards don't forget Russ this is his forum.
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Doug,
I have no idea what different "burns" are. You can see I'm a total novice. Thanks for linking that furnace video. It gave some good food for thought. I didn't follow what that other guy was doing with the old wood stove and the big blower. It looks so foreign to what I will probably set up.
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You mentioned a beckett burner earlier and said you have a siphon heater block, so I am guessing you will be using this to heat your hotsy coils, is that correct?
I think Doug was thinking that a siphon system may not provide enough BTU's for your need. Were you suggesting he use a different type of burner to get the necessary BTU's for his project Doug?
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Sorry that word should have been "burners".
This one is a drip style burner with forced air, using a blower.
http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?topic=130639.0
Here are some youtube videos that show how hot they burn.
http://wasteoilheaterforum.com/index.php?topic=279.0
This guy built one in a day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb9-pZ891mY
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I'm a fan of the siphon type waste oil burner. It works great in your basement, garage, work area and in an outdoor shed.I just don't know how well it will work on location in Alaska in gold country. There are alot of things that could go wrong with it and a first time builder. The drip system with a blower is a very simple set up. An over head holding tank, copper tubing and a needle valve to control the volume of oil to the burn pot. Some 2" black pipe to supply the air from the blower to the fire. A light dimmer switch to control the speed of the blower. The burn pot could be a cast iron dutch oven. If you needed more heat increase the oil flow and speed up the blower.
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Admittedly, the siphon system I'm putting together seems a bit daunting and complex. I may have to switch horses in mid stream if I can't get the thing to work. Wish I had found this forum sooner. I probably have $250 invested in parts so far and I'm not quite done. I'll definitely look seriously at the drip system as an alternate.
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Please tell us more about your " instructions obtained from an online source ".
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Not sure why I picked this one but it seemed good at the time. There could have been a bit more detail.
I'm still trying to determine how to process the waste oil [step by step, parts, devices, filters, etc] before final use. http://www.ehow.com/how_4776601_build-waste-oil-burner.html