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.
