Home made log burner

[TripleSix]

You'll have to convert them in your spare time and eBay them

What is this "spare time" you speak of!?

 

[chickens and wheat]

Could you make a chain case feeding oil to a gravity pipe down the fire base? this should give more constant feed of oil and mix up the viscosity of the oil too. a steady run of drips from a chain should keep the fire burning bright

 

[Stock]

Could you make a chain case feeding oil to a gravity pipe down the fire base? this should give more constant feed of oil and mix up the viscosity of the oil too. a steady run of drips from a chain should keep the fire burning bright

Yes you could but \i try and apply the KISS principle to these projects.
Keep
It
Simple
S*****
What you propose is feasible but expensive, bulky and requires an electric motor to run it. Now I like the way your thinking. So keep the ideas coming, as I am still waiting for the bit to arrive.

 

[chickens and wheat]

more expensive yes but if it gives a steady flow of oil job done.

 

[Stock]

more expensive yes but if it gives a steady flow of oil job done.

Now I might be wrong but I think I have come up with a solution that I happy with, so bear with me until I get my bits and run some tests.

 

[TripleSix]

I've seen it done with a little tank right next to the burner so it gets warmed, then a regulator valve.
little tank is fed from a bigger tank.
Keeps it consistent.

 

[mo!]

Thermocouple linked to a motorised valve?

Oh yeah, KISS!!!

 

[Stock]

I've seen it done with a little tank right next to the burner so it gets warmed, then a regulator valve.
little tank is fed from a bigger tank.
Keeps it consistent.

Still doesn't eliminate the temperature / viscosity issue........

Motorised valve interesting..............

 

[marcusthehat]

I thought the IP to meter the fuel was a runner, an old in line MB one.
Anyway the secret to Heath Robinson Engineering is to make it LOOK complicated, but work simple.

 

[TripleSix]

Still doesn't eliminate the temperature / viscosity issue........

Motorised valve interesting..............

It does because the little tank (1 litre or less) stays at a fairly consistent temp.

 

[marcusthehat]

but that only works with oil of a constant viscosity, which used oil wont be,
though I suppose one could keep a bulk tank to homogenise the various batches

 

[Stock]

So good folks a bit of an up date, the main bit I was waiting for arrived yesterday. I took delivery of a 12v gear oil pump not a cheap nasty thing but a reasonably robust yoke.

Now the advertiser said it would do 14 l / min which I thought was over kill but it was the smallest gear pump I could find, comes with 13mm hose fittings but for my purpose I reduced them to 10 mm plastic and commenced trials this morning.
We (Son & I) filled a graduated plastic container (Paint supplier ones) with clean oil hooked up a battery and ran it for a few trial times recording the volume pumped. So for 2 seconds we got 40ml, but at 5 sec it was 100ml etc etc.
After lunch we set up the heater out in the yard and junior went to clean out the combustion can with an old dyson but alas it lay down. We also increased the holes in the 60 mm box iron to 6mm.

I suppose I should say that I am still awaiting some bits to arrive and what we did today was a trial only.
We strained a drum of oil and set it up with the pump and a feed into the stove.

We put 450 ml of diesel in to the combustion chamber and lit it with a firelighter then after 5 min put in another 500ml of oil. After 5min we then ran the pump for 2 seconds putting in about 50ml by our reckoning, and again after 5 min we gave it another shot for 2 sec.After 15 min we felt that a longer period of pumping may be required so we upped it to 5 sec every 5 min, this we estimated would be about 1.2 l/hr. We also tracked the temperature of the combustion chamber which varied between 250 deg and 363 degrees.
The unit sat around 270-300mark mainly.

We ran the unit for a hour and a half and 16 min after the last oil charge the flame extinguished.
We also increased the pump run time to 7 sec and then to 10 sec which we felt was the most suitable, this gave a very constant temperature with a deviation of less than 20 deg.

I'm waiting on a programmable 12v timing circuit and power supply to run the pump.
More will follow...................

 

[marcusthehat]

Why not force the oil through an orifice or jet, to restrict the flow to what you need, and let the pump run constant, if needs be blow off surplus fuel through a PRV.
Or link the pump switch to a temp probe, well 2 actually, one to switch it on, another to switch it off.
Then the viscosity is not(such) an issue.
cheers
mth

 

[Stock]

Why not force the oil through an orifice or jet, to restrict the flow to what you need, and let the pump run constant, if needs be blow off surplus fuel through a PRV.
Or link the pump switch to a temp probe, well 2 actually, one to switch it on, another to switch it off.
Then the viscosity is not(such) an issue.
cheers

As used engine oil is considered a waste product and most places mix gear oil, ATF, etc. When people drain oil it usually gets contaminated with water, dirt, with little care given to the oil only to make sure it doesn't spill.
To atomize this oil one would need to clean it, de-water it and preheat it.
The way I'm going all I will need to do is let the oil stand to allow the water to settle and any suspended water won't be an issue.
Another issue with the atomizing of the oil is the pressure required which would require a hydraulic pump............

 

[Dman2]

you can atomise using compressed air
did some trials a few years back where I had a source of compressed air blowing down a pipe which had a venturi feed from a waste oil tank.
It was like a flamethrower.
Think I have a pic somewhere will try and find it.
Went no further with it as now have a blow heater linked to biomass

 

[marcusthehat]

I did not intend to imply atomisation,("blow off" was merely my way of saying to allow excess pressure/flow back to the resovoir)
I was simply pondering how to either;
(i) regulate the flow of fuel, to modulate the heat output.
or
(ii) regulate the heat/temp produced regardless of the actual flow, by switching the pump off, when peak/max temp was reached, and back on again when the temp drops a pre-set amount, say 50 deg C.
good luck
marcusthe(mad)hatt(er)

Dman2
Yes that also works, certainly impressive, though how controllable it is, I dont know.

 

[Stock]

All got questions Lads and keep them coming, Dman 2 what you refer to is a Babbington type or spray gun set up, works but is very difficult to regulate the heat output. With my system using a positive displacement pump I will be able to regulate the heat output by the amount of fuel I allow in to the stove, running the pump for a set time delivers a set amount of fuel.
The other reason for the pump is that I can store the oil outside the shed and pump it in using a copper pipe. The way I have constructed the stove the lower half is sealed with no where for the oil to escape. Most of what on you tube has the oil dripping, spraying in to a pipe or flowing from a plastic container. Once I further develop this unit I hope to be able to incorporate a temperature operated cut off valve to prevent any uncontrolled oil spillages around the floor that may catch fire.

"regulate the heat/temp produced regardless of the actual flow, by switching the pump off, when peak/max temp was reached, and back on again when the temp drops a pre-set amount, say 50 deg C."

To have this system in operation one would need something like a modified house burner, preheated cleaned oil etc. If one has too much heat it possible to get rid of it by opening a door or such.
What you say is possible but it's not a road I want to travel, what we set out to do was build a heater unit to burn waste oil, Veg oil or wood pellets that would heat the workshop for us at little or no cost and have a little fun along the way.
Another reason was to allow Stock Junior practice his welding and work out some of the issues we encountered as well as showing him how to collect data, record it and display it in a manner that others can understand it.
As I don't have a self igniting unit and oil is not easily fired due to it flash point and viscosity

 

[marcusthehat]

Ah! but Sur, hi Sur, ah was way aheid o ye!

re the ignition bit, figgering if the burner chamber is kept hot (& I refer to early oil engines using hot bulb ignition systems)
the oil will automatically reignite once in contact with the still hot/red hot metal.
No other ignition source being necessary surely (though I am aware of the added heat from the compression stroke in hot bulb engines)

Actually exactly the same mechanism as the old "hit and miss" governor, as prob as used on a hot bulb ignition engine.

regards again
mth

 

[Stock]

Ah! but Sur, hi Sur, ah was way aheid o ye!

re the ignition bit, figgering if the burner chamber is kept hot (& I refer to early oil engines using hot bulb ignition systems)
the oil will automatically reignite once in contact with the still hot/red hot metal.
No other ignition source being necessary surely (though I am aware of the added heat from the compression stroke in hot bulb engines)

Actually exactly the same mechanism as the old "hit and miss" governor, as prob as used on a hot bulb ignition engine.

regards again
mth

The hot bulb theory I feel won't work with what I have built. As the oil flows directly to the bottom of the combustion chamber there is very little latent heat sufficient to reignite cold oil entering the chamber. In the old hit and miss engine the air was compressed which caused it to heat sufficiently and coupled with a magneto or buzz coil ignited the fuel air mix.
Where this was not used a hot bulb was used which needed to he heated with a blow lamp or wick and here again the vaporized fuel air mix ignited when it reached the hot surfaces of the bulb.
In an engine one does require a violent explosion to force the piston down, however this type of burning may not be the best in a heater in a workshop............................

 

[Stock]

Timer circuit arrived and under going desktop trials.....................

And no this is only temporary wiring to allow us to program the unit and generally satisfy our selves that it is suitable for the project