Vegetable Oil SVO WVO waste cooking oil as biofuel

[mike_belben]

i recently tried to duplicate your ramp setup by memory from reading about it last year, in my cheapo tractor supply tiny woodstove (who's airflow dynamics must certainly differ from your stove.)

biggest mistake that i made was cutting the hole in the bowl too low, so that fuel can pour out the front in the event the burn rate slows down or excess fuel is supplied. rather than trashing that bowl, i tipped it backward to compensate, making a fuel puddle toward the rear of the bowl, under the ramp. driprate ranges 1drop per second up to a steady stream, and i have liquid running down the ramp toward the front holes. so i cut slits in the ramp (like waterbars on a ski slope) to form a sort of louvered section, and bent those louvers downward to ensure that oil fell into the middle of the bowl to reduce the tendency for spills out the front. this is how i accidentally discovered something of apparent benefit.







the soot patterns on the ramp or trough as i think of it, having sides.. show absolutely zero buildup on the louvers, and a reduction in carbon deposits along the side walls near the slots. i would assume this indicates a near perfect air/fuel ratio, or that those louvers are running too hot for soot to accumulate? the rest of the ramp has a heavy layer of soft flakey soot. could this be from the inability of fuel to find adequate air?

i am using a pair of DC computer fans wired to a $5 harbor freight AC to DC float charger, to force air under the door of the stove. this nearly doubles the output of the flame. i tried a blow drier but its too much air, and my stove billows smoke at the seams. in spite of the fans, i cant seem to get the thermometer on the smokestack to pass about 280*F. i typically run my stove hot, in the 400-600 range, on a mix of very dry seasoned pine and hardwoods. the veggie im experimenting with is settled and liquid down to 40*F, but has too much water to make drying economical until i get my wood fired dryer going.

some pics

[BrentM]

That looks like a good flame. The one picture looks like you captured a drop of oil falling. Are the fans a little close to the fire? Are they holding up?
_________________
Need San Jose biofuel heating expert

[mike_belben]

i went through a few setups last year. used a pair of computer fans in a shroud that pushed air under the door. the turbulence made for a real pretty flame but low stack temps. i didnt know at the time that too much combustion air really cools your stack and reduces draft, it just wouldnt heat the house, 200F stack is pointless in winter. 300F stack will only heat the basement, takes 400-600* stack for the heat to get upstairs.

the fans are fine, but they werent subject to as much heat as the photo would make you think.

my most tuneable drip setup was this one, breadpan and piece of tin. no fans.




the sheet serves as an adjustable preheat. adjusting it one way or another increases or reduces the time the oil takes to get to the holes in the middle.



here you can see water boiling out of the oil puddle.


when that setup burned out i tried a 2 tier bowl but the large surface area is an issue. has two settings.. slowly dying or burning your house down. i can easily get the whole smokepipe lava orange.

[John Galt]

Why go to so much trouble fiddling with something that will likely burn down the building it's in, and void your insurance in the process?

Mix the UVO with sawdust, pack it in 'cardboard' milk cartons, burn them with a wood fire in a heavy steel airtight woodstove with combustion air control and a firebrick lined firebox.

Simple, easy, cost effective, and most importantly SAFE.

[mike_belben]

because i spent all my time chasing down dust and cartons to dispose of my several hundred gallons of junk grease.