Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

A special section just for steam engines and boilers, as without these you may as well fit a sail.
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dampfspieler
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by dampfspieler » Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:57 am

Hi,

yesterday i have tested the burner to find out the right hight of the fuel tank above the burner - best result where given at 80 cm.

The video you can find here - https://youtu.be/n6Rwhb-rlSs

Best Dietrich
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by PeteThePen1 » Wed May 30, 2018 11:25 am

I am very impressed by the (apparent) simplicity of the burner. Thinking in the context of my boat, where 80cm above the burner would be above the level of the coaming, would a low level pressurised tank work? Alternatively, I suppose one could add a tiny tank (say 500ml) on the back of the boiler and top it up with a small hand pump now and again. Thoughts anybody?

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Pete
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by fredrosse » Wed May 30, 2018 3:15 pm

Either plan could work, $20USD for a battery operated fuel pump, 2 Gallons per minute to transfer fuel to the high mounted tank.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item. ... gKFqfD_BwE

A small pressure tank will do nicely, air over the oil. The pressure requirements here are very small, less than 1 PSIG (0.07 Barg).

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools ... gLmj_D_BwE

$20USD for a battery operated fuel pump, 2 Gallons per minute to transfer fuel into the pressure tank. A 5 gallon steel tank, rated for 100PSIG (7 Barg) is about $40USD.

The air tank, filled to about 80% capacity gives plenty of oil before refilling needed. A small bicycle pump to charge the tank to 1 PSIG would easily allow continuous running for the entire tank contents.
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fredrosse
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by fredrosse » Wed May 30, 2018 3:17 pm

What is the thermal rating of this burner? Kilowatts thermal output, or Diesel Oil max flow, kG per hour, etc?
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dampfspieler
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by dampfspieler » Wed May 30, 2018 7:39 pm

Hi Fred,

the max. output at full throttle is 30.000 kcal (34,8 kWh).

Best Dietrich
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by Lionel Connell » Thu May 31, 2018 12:45 am

Hi Dietrich,

My burner arrived here safely thank you, I have not had a chance to play with it yet, I have been too busy making sawdust.

Lionel
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by dampfspieler » Thu May 31, 2018 3:20 am

Hi Lionel,
... I have not had a chance to play with it yet, ...
you're excused - the work (keel) looks great ;) ;) .

If there is a bit time i will test a "bit pressurized" fuel tank for my burner so i can reduce its hight above the burner.

Best Dietrich
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by PeteThePen1 » Thu May 31, 2018 10:41 am

Hi Dietrich

Given the excellent information in photos and drawings that you have shared with us, I suspect that you must be the sort of person who also likes to collect data. Suffering that tendency myself, I would be interested to hear of any measurements you have collected of fuel usage. That would help working out how much fuel one might need for a day's steaming. We just had something similar for a medium sized coal boiler (If you follow the Smuggler Story thread) so lets make the case for oil.

Regards

Pete
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by Lopez Mike » Thu May 31, 2018 1:03 pm

I have a question.

The stated output of the burner is 34.8 kWh. My engine is rated (perhaps optimistically) at 3.5 kWh. That sounds like I would need an efficiency of 10% to get full output from my power plant. This seems high. Not that that I have a clue as to my true numbers but figures nearer to 3% are suggested for a VFT boiler and a single cylinder engine of 75mm bore by 100mm stroke.

I fire with wood now so coming up with hard numbers would be an exercise in guessing.
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Re: Multi Fuel Burner MB 10/18

Post by DetroiTug » Thu May 31, 2018 1:51 pm

I've worked with Kerosene burners quite a bit. Something is not quite right with this burner. It appears to be atomizing fuel, which is small droplets, which don't burn well as shown in the video, yellow sooty flame. The S-shaped plate below the flame is probably intended as a flat plate vaporizer (gets hot and turns the droplets to gaseous for complete combustion), but it's not vaporizing anything, only collecting soot. I think that possibly this burner is upside down in these tests or it is designed to be used vertically not horizontally. Burning as it is would cover the interior of the boiler with a thick layer of soot/carbon in a very short time. Soot is a very good insulator, even a light (1/16" to 1/8") coating on the heating surfaces of our cars degrades performance significantly. One inch of carbon has an R-factor rating equal to about three feet of standard insulating materials. Kerosene should burn blue for complete combustion and the maximum amount of BTU/gallon. In our cars yellow flame is bad, but that is generally the result of inadequate primary air or low fuel pressure not drawing the required amount of air in the mixing tube, but we are using a liquid vaporizer over the fire "pre-mix vaporization", this type of burner is considered "post-mix vaporization" type. It doesn't appear to be doing that.

It will behave differently in a combustion chamber where the plate can reach the required temperature mostly isolated from the outside air.

-Ron
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