My bad....

Who would have thought, water doesn't like to burn very well.  I believe the majority of my foundry issues over the last several weeks can be attributed to water in the fuel, mainly, the kerosene.  I have to admit, I am slightly embarrassed. 

It ran last night for an hour without issue on pure (clean, new, water free) kerosene.  With the blower, it only needed about 10psi of supply air down from the 20-30psi on previous burn attempts.  From the time I lit to the time I poured, it was just over an hour.

I am somewhat concerned as to how hot the furnace runs though.  I do not think that the fire brick lining will hold up very well as the pilth blocks are already starting to deteriorate.  A second furnace design might be necessary...

I still want to burn waste oil, and the success last night gives me some motivation to go ahead and build a system to pre-heat the oil to an acceptable temperature in order to be carried to the nozzle.  I also need to refine the burner setup to something a bit less crude.  All in time.

Sorry, no pictures today...

Extra Clearance...

Didn't have much time to myself this weekend but I did manage to modify an oil pan for a '65 baracuda gasser.

Great success....

Based on my previous post, I was wrong.  What seemed to be happening with the burner was that it simply was not getting enough oxygen to burn completely.  The nozzle that I am using is designed to convert a standard fuel oil furnace to a waste oil furnace.  Because the waste oil has a higher viscosity than that of fuel oil (off road diesel), the nozzle relies on compressed air, about 5-10psi, to siphon the oil to the tip.  In my initial design, I was relying on the compressed air to add enough oxygen to facilitate a complete burn.  I simply added a blower to supply additional oxygen.

I still had some small issues as I believe the blower doesn't move enough air.  I had to run the nozzle at 20psi.  Anything higher, it would start to blow itself out. 

I am also embarrassed with the crudeness of this setup.  Remember, it's a prototype...so give me a break.  I've begun working on a much more permanent burner.

It's running on a mixture of 25% waste motor oil and 75% kerosene.  I was concerned that the oil would flow sufficiently and I would be fitting that in conjunction with the previous burner issues.  My plan is to eventually run on 100% used motor oil.  Still, it will probably require to be started on kerosene or another easier lighting fuel.

From the time I started the furnace until I poured the half full crucible, it was 1 hour.



It's got potential....

Had some more time to mess with the oil burner over the weekend.  Results were mixed to say the least.  I started it on kerosene and then switched over to oil.  The air pressure was set around 20psi.

 

Initially, everything went as planned.  The burner lit and ran remarkably well.  About 10 minutes into it, I kept having oil supply issues.  The flame would go out and then relight repeatedly.  I would disconnect the oil supply and there would be no noticeable vacuum on the oil port of the nozzle.  I would then disconnect the air supply and reconnect it.  After that everything work like it was suppose to and I could relight the burner.  It would stay running for sometime and then do it all over again.  Frustrating...

I think that there might be two issues at hand.  First, the oil might have some dirt or paticals that could be clogging the nozzle.  I did not filter it before I started.  Secondly, the oil might have too high of a viscosity to run reliably.  I might have to devise a way to pre-heat before the nozzle.

What did you do over the weekend?

I went to an auction.  This guy had more model A and T parts than one person could imagine.  What a fantastic collection.  Here the link to the ad....

Kiko Auction

Nice Hat....

This pic was taken at a recent NHRA race in Reading.  Thanks for the support...

Nice dance moves too...

English wheelin'

I forget where I found this picture, somewhere on the interwebs....



Now we are cooking with oil....

Here's the first test of the waste oil burner for the foundry...

It proved to be a bit difficult to light on pure waste oil.  I mixed in a little diesel fuel and it definitely helped.  The bush was a little easier to light however....