Waste motor oil burner started

[ecogeorge]

Based on the dwindling supply of wood (well not out but consumption high during last month) and the availability of waste motor oil and used vacuum pump oil free of charge a decision has been made to try and build a used oil burner.
Spurred on by Ivans' success with his Rayburn I would like to incorporate a burner into a woodburning stove.
Basic trials have commenced today using a small 240v centrifugal fan (11w) - prehaps not big enough! and a simple drip feed via a syringe into the air supply.

[ecogeorge]

Thanks  billi, I struggle  linking to Flickre- Martin had to help me last time. Photo should show now.
Plans tomorrow include removing small section of restricted pipe after oil injection and admiting oil vertically  through a hole (to be drilled) in the blanking plug. All of course breakdowns permitting -on call tomorrow.
rgds George.

[Ivan]

Is this the revised 'mother earth' oil burner? Is the principle that air is injected into the pot from above together with the fuel?

Check out youtube for a few variants of oil-into-woodstove designs. Some use car brake drums as the cast iron burner pot, which seems quite a good idea.

[tz0c0s]

Unless your valve stem oil seals are gone, is it not illegal to burn WMO ?

I trust you will be using your new found source of WVO in future 

Andy

[camillitech]

I'm following with interest George as I've never thrown a drop of waste oil away inn 21 years, it's about time I Started burning it 

Cheers, Paul

[ecogeorge]

Is this the revised 'mother earth' oil burner? Is the principle that air is injected into the pot from above together with the fuel?

Yes , sort of !! based on Bruce Woodfords work----
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me8.html

I did look at Moya034,s  backyard casting page - here ......
http://home.comcast.net/~moya034/burner/

as well as Lionells Brute-------
http://backyardmetalcasting.com/oilburners09.html

Today I have removed the short section of restrictive pipe and am now injecting the oil from the top above the combustion chamber. I have extended the oil feed tube down to the btm of the air tube. Using an isolation valve to adjust the oil feed results in better control and better  and cleaner heat output as below.Even Scoobie the dog appreciates it.


The secret to a hot burn is good vapourisation of the oil - waste motor oil (WMO) seems the hardest to vapourise and the slowest to run through the valve -I guess it's all about viscosity. Used cooking oil and used vacuum pump oil flows faster and burns more easily.
However when conditions are right it is a clean hot burn, as can be seen here..


I shall now purchase a dosing pump as used by Ivan for a metered supply of oil and deal with the air leaking up past the oil feed pipe.
Anyone got a used woodburner with back boiler kicking around?

[Alan]

Hello George

Is your main heating system oil. ?

If so just tip waste engine oil into the tank. A few gallons in the main tank
will not affect the viscosity. Been tipping various fluids in the tanks here for thirty years.
It will need the odd. 

If not try the local tip / scrap yard for an old pressure jet
oil burner / boiler. This will increase combustion efficiency from 50%
with drip feed to 85% or there abouts.

You may need a pre heater to lower the viscosity. Store oil in normal tank.
Start boiler on normal oil. Use some stainless steel pipe in the flue to make
an open vented heater for pre warming the oil just before the burner.
Don’t allow the flue temp to drop below 116 Deg C when the system is hot.
( Acid rain )

Normal disclaimer. Various dodgy stuff in old engine oil.
Heavy metals / Vanadium plus other various nasties.

Regards

Alan

[billi]

George  will watch  your progress as well  

I have  a few hundred litres of lard   and just drilled and fitted a 4 mm (?) copper pipe  into my fire chamber

the copper pipe than connected to a steel pot  next to the stove  this copper pipe is the flue line and the heatexchanger to make the lard liquid , but  in the stove the pipe   clogs up  after a while  that the oil cannot flow /drop into the wood fire , so i think i have to spray the oil in under pressure  and with a nozzle

So thinking of a pressure cooker   and connect a force of air to it

and do what Ivan did (   Ivan that  was my plan a year ago as well )



 to  connect a    to built up pressure in the pot  to spray the oil

will see if it works  , perhaps not  , like half of my projects  

Anyhow did not want to disturb here

Billi

[Ivan]

I couldn't get it to stop clogging by dripping oil in from the top. It was either dripped from too high (= splashing half-burnt oil out of the burner and causing the drip tube to clog up after about 25hours) or too low (causing the drip tube to clog after 10hours). Now I inject from the side, immediately above the lower air-holes. My reasoning is that this is an oxygen rich environment, and therefore less likely to soot up. I've run for about 40hours since I did this, and haven't had any problems. Incidentally, the outlet is cut at a 45degree angle and angled downwards. I don't know if this helps, but it seemed like a good idea at the time (I figured a 45degree angle is harder to clog than a straight cut pipe).

[ecogeorge]

Hello George

Is your main heating system oil. ?
N0 , heat with wood burner using WR09 as backup / auto when cold.

If so just tip waste engine oil into the tank. A few gallons in the main tank
will not affect the viscosity. Been tipping various fluids in the tanks here for thirty years.
It will need the odd. 

If not try the local tip / scrap yard for an old pressure jet
oil burner / boiler. This will increase combustion efficiency from 50%
with drip feed to 85% or there abouts.
I have a small oil central heating boiler bought cheap to play with. All modifications on the internet use preheaters , easy to find on ebay- 12v car versions are small see -  http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Straight-Used-Waste-Vegetable-Veg-Oil-Diesel-Heater-/250716791454?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a5fe2a29e#ht_19999wt_780
They also use a siphon nozzle. I have an air compressor but cannot locate a supplier of siphon nozzles and mounting adaptors

You may need a pre heater to lower the viscosity. Store oil in normal tank.
Start boiler on normal oil. Use some stainless steel pipe in the flue to make
an open vented heater for pre warming the oil just before the burner.
Don’t allow the flue temp to drop below 116 Deg C when the system is hot.
( Acid rain )
Do you think I could retain the standard nozzle ? and just pre heat the fuel ?

Normal disclaimer. Various dodgy stuff in old engine oil.
Heavy metals / Vanadium plus other various nasties.

Regards

Alan

Can anyone recommend supplier of siphon nozzles in the UK?

[Philip R]

Alan,

Where did you get the bit about vanadium in lube oil??

You find it in residual oil from the refinery, that is why it cannot be used in power station furnaces fitted with austenitic boiler steels, because the vanadium compromises the boiler tubes creep properties. Vanadium bearing oils are ased in boilers with ferritic boiler steels, used with cooler steam  temperatures.

As for lube oils, unless your marine diesel is running on residual oil, then vanadium is not an issue.

The other metallic compounds, normally Zinc/phosphorous based compounds, are used for their anti wear properties.

Burning PTFE compounds (slick 50 )  will result in some nasty flourocarbons/ hydroflouric acid based fumes being liberated. Not good in any concentration.

[Alan]

Quote “ Where did you get the bit about vanadium in lube oil?? “

With forged crankshafts, vanadium microalloyed steels are mostly used as these steels can be air cooled after reaching high strengths without additional heat treatment, with exception to the surface hardening of the bearing surfaces. The low alloy content also makes the material cheaper than high alloy steels.

Iron crankshafts are today mostly found in cheaper production engines (such as those found in the Ford Focus diesel engines)

Regards

Alan

[Ivan]

Don't forget you'll have the wear products of white metal bearings in the oil too (white metal contains antimony as well as other metals. Antimony is similar to arsenic in terms of toxicity)

[Philip R]

Alan, Ivan.

Thanks for enlightening me on vanadium in crankshaft steel forgings and reminding me of the bearing metal antimony.

The vanadium in oil derived from crankshaft wear would be in very low concentration in any given sumpful of old engine oil. As would the big end / main bearing white/ Babbitt metal components of antimony copper, lead and tin, if still used in automotive applications.

If you are burning sump oil, most of the nasties that could effect you would collect in the chimney/ exhaust. On cleaning/ sweeping, the residue would be loaded with particulates of the aforementioned metal compounds. The rest that blows away just mixes with the other muck from other combustion processes.

When I mentioned vanadium in fuel oil. The combustion process concentrated the residues in the furnace and boiler. Precautions are taken to ensure the vanadium residues are not breathed in or absorbed into the skin, due to its effects on the body. see link http://www.inchem.org/documents/hsg/hsg/hsg042.htm.

Regards Philip R

[guydewdney]

From that report....

 2.5  Effects on Human Beings

    Vanadium compounds have been used therapeutically in human beings for
    the treatment of various diseases.  Vanadium has been given orally in
    doses of 21-30 mg vanadium/day, as diammonium oxytartarovanadate, for
    6 weeks, in a study on its cholesterol-reducing effects. Vanadium
    compounds have been applied to the teeth to study their effectiveness
    in preventing dental caries.

    Inhalation exposure of human volunteers to vanadium pentoxide dust
    revealed that the principal symptom was cough, which began after 5 h
    exposure to 1 mg/m3 and after 20 h exposure to 0.2 mg/m3. Coughing
    persisted for about 1 week.  After exposure to a level of 0.1 mg/m3
    for 8 h, cough developed after 24 h, progressed for 24 h, and then
    subsided, 72 h after exposure. In another study, 11/11 subjects
    reported irritation on inhalation exposure to vanadium pentoxide fumes
    at 0.4 mg/m3, 5/11 reported mild signs of irritation on exposure to
    0.16 mg/m3, but a level of 0.08 mg/m3 was not noticed by any of
    the 11 subjects.

    Acute inhalation over-exposure in mild cases causes sensory
    irritation, variable fever, conjunctivitis, and increased intestinal
    motility.  In moderate cases, there may be bronchospasm, cough, and
    vomiting and/or diarrhoea.  An eczematous rash is sometimes present.
    In severe cases, there is bronchitis or bronchopneumonia and signs of
    systemic toxicity, including tremor and irreversible renal tubular
    damage.

    Long-term over-exposure to vanadium pentoxide causes wheezing, but
    without evidence of chronic bronchitis or emphysema; lung function and
    pulmonary radiography are usually normal.  Changes in the heart
    rhythm, right axis deviation, and P-wave changes in the
    electrocardiogram have been reported.



so nothing really - a bit of coughing - and if you breath it in high doses (unlikely, given the quantity in wmo...) you might get breathing problems... Hmm - I think theres more nasties in wmo than vanadium!