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1

Home Made / Re: Start of ultra high efficiency gasifier boiler build

« on: September 05, 2013, 08:54:10 AM »

 

Glad to hear of the new little one.  I was wondering if you fell off the planet or something.  I too have back burnered my build until recently.  Seems the details of life have a way of messing up the most well layed plans.   

2

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: December 10, 2012, 05:19:59 AM »

Holy bunch of doors Batman!  Can you give me a run down of what each one opens into?  Is this the front or back of the burner?  Seems like it feeds lots of air into the primary and just a touch to the secondary.  Or is this not a true gasser, maybe feeding a little bit of air under the grates and then a bunch over the fire to help burn clean. 

3

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: December 07, 2012, 04:49:08 AM »

Thank you a bunch for the information.  Id love to see more pics of how the real machines are built.  I was planning on putting the outlet nozzle on the door end of the firebox.  My thought was if we are truley burning the wood gas any pyrolizing the wood them placement should not matter much.  With the outlet on the door end it makes the secondary a one way street.  I guess we will see how it works next year.  If its a bust then I can bust out the floor and move it.  Thanks again and Id love to see more photos.

4

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: December 06, 2012, 06:00:06 AM »

Layed in a few of the 3rd pass flues.  Seem I will end up with about 6" of water over them in the end.  My angle ate up about 3" of what I had planned.  Anybody think that will be an issue?  The top pass is the coolest of the bunch.  Also after some input I think I need to rethink my nozzle dimensions a bit.  Seems I am thinking way to big.  Same with the area of the flues.  Never thought about condensing the moisture out in the gas path but after thinking about it I would think that could be an issue if you pull to much heat out.  I may need to plug a few flues if it becomes an issue. 

5

Home Made / Re: New build not burning right

« on: December 04, 2012, 06:17:19 AM »

A little more information would help.  You say it only burns in the back.  Does that mean it leaves unburnd wood in the fire box?  Or are you saying you see flame come from one area?  Any pics of said firebox?  Whats the shape?  Can you plug the holes in the area it burns to see if the fire moves?

6

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: December 03, 2012, 06:02:25 AM »

Slope is about 1.5" in 40".  The 6" tube is only there for support and fit, not part of the install.  I could ahve gotten more done but we had to press one more round of apple this year.  Found an orchard that was full of appples.  That in itself is VERY rare this year in MI.  Even better was they were all given to us.  Pressed 110 gallons on this old gal.  Rebuilt it from a rusty pile of part this past summer.  Ill try and get moving on this thing, just paid the gas man to fill the propane tank.  Thats another $1000 Ill never see again.

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Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: December 03, 2012, 05:54:47 AM »

I was crawling around the inside of the fire box.  Not allot of fun in there.  Welded the inside of all the seams.  Started the layout of the 12 2" tubes headed to the front of the furnace.  This is the 2nd of 3 passes I had planned.  Ill post pics of the circle cutter I made to attach to my torch.  Was planning on using the plasma till I found my circle cutter for that would not go small enough.  I have the passes going slightly up hill.  Dont know if it helps or hurts but thats they way it is now.  First pass tubes are welded out and waiting for me tonight to finish the bypass so I can start getting that transition box done.  Still haven’t figured on how I want to get air into the firebox.  I thinking high entry with the charge pipe running down steeply to the fan plenem box.  Figured the heated air all the nasty stuff wouldn’t want to travel down the pipe to form the build-up?   

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8

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: December 03, 2012, 05:33:14 AM »

Finally back to work on the burner.  First shot is of the back end, first pass.  The flues are 2.5" and there are 10 of them 33" long.  They run up to a shared chamber with the bypass and the intake of the 2nd pass.  This transition area is tapered to give more room for the door on the lower chamber.  All the flue locations are marked from printouts I made from my drawings.  That way they are all in the same location on every sheet.  Laying out with a square is OK but its easy to get out of dimension pretty easy.  Its even easier when its cold and your digits dont work as well as you would like.  With the prints its easy. 

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9

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: November 28, 2012, 06:37:54 AM »

Just a picture of the plan I drew up adn am working off of.  Keep in mind I am no engineer, but the drawing helps you to see how things really fit.  A pen line on a bar napkin might look great but those lines have a tendancy to "self scale", they always fit just right.  Sadly in real life the steel doesnt move as easy as the pen. 

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10

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: November 27, 2012, 05:28:11 AM »

Anybody make a door gasket with hitemp RTV?  I was thinking of using a tube of RTV in the door channel and put a release agent on the opening rim.  Set the door on and let it cure.  That would make a perfect seal if it worked.  I was planning to use some Teflon gasket material we use at the mill but then thought of the RTV.

11

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: November 27, 2012, 04:58:38 AM »

Ok not much in the way of photos but here are a few to keep you all tied over for a bit.  Lot of time getting it all planned, cut, and fit so the actual time under the hood has been a bit lacking.  First pic is the backside of the tank welds, I was getting them burned in nice.  2nd is of the outer tank finished, 3rd is the door opening in the firebox end as its being fit.  More to follow.......

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12

Home Made / Re: My build thread.

« on: November 26, 2012, 09:33:59 AM »

OK been welding my tail off.  Fire box is just needing a pass on the inside of the ends, Ill post pics soon as I take them.  I ned a bit of help on the nozzle going into the secondary.  Round, square, how big is too big?  I was thinking 2X6 as a starter? The other thought was a set of  truncated cones about 1.5".   The actaul bottom of the primary is planned to be cast refractory as I have pallets of the stuff.  It will be backed with steel but it will allow me to play with the nozzle a bit if needed.  I if its to big or small I can recast that part and try again. 

Leak checked the water tank and found 2 pinholes.  Leaked a drop every 5-6 second.  8 seams are good only 4 more on the tank.  Thinking on how to pressurize the whole furnace and leak check with soap before its installed in the tank.

13

Home Made / My build thread.

« on: November 18, 2012, 06:40:09 PM »

Modeled a bit after the commercial units I see, a dash of some home builds on this site and then a touch of stuff I am dreaming up as I go after I started my build.  Hope to be on-line next year this time.  This is what I built up tonight.  I have the outer tank welded out with the exception of one side.  It is 5x6x3  1/8".  The fire box is salvaged 1/4" 48" deep 30" wide, seconday is 12x12". 

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Portage & Main / Re: Creosote Buildup in the tubes of a 250?

« on: November 14, 2012, 03:12:30 PM »

I do not own a unit yet (building one) but I would assume that all the constitutes of the build-up should have burned in the secondary combustion section of the boiler?  Any chance there is an air leak letting in air for smolder type of fire? 

15

Home Made / Re: gasr' build questions.

« on: November 14, 2012, 01:18:06 PM »

Don’t know how my (eight) turned into a dude with shades but oh well.  The Hx path is made from 2" Id sch 10 pipe not formed.  I had thought the calcs would be that easy but I do not think they are.  We are taking the wood as a solid fuel and turning it into a gaseous fuel.  I was hoping for a constant to use such as X#'s of wood = X# or CFM of exhaust by product.  I am a powerhouse maintenance supervisor so I am fairly comfortable with building the unit. There is a big reason our ID fans are MUCH larger than the FD.   I am no engineer; I want to make this unit the best I can so I am asking the questions that come to mind.  Wish I had all the answers but I am far from educated in fluid/thermal dynamics.