Hey Glort,
Ditto, ditto and ditto, to you too Gman!
I run the WI pretty much all the time - unless I am playing around with the "what if's" - Which is quite often for me....Lol... I cant resist sticking my fingers into whirly-twirly things...LOLOLOL...
With the cogen setup, using a "constant" orifice for the WI, as it is now set up, it is quite difficult to get it to the "really nice" level of flow.... Because I dont have 100% stable loading, engine temps change, WI has to follow suit... I have set it up to a fairly good average, it is about optimum for 2.5kw electrical output as it now stands, but I am looking for a KISS way of regulating it (A carb wont work, airflow is constant) ... All I can think of is an electrical type gubbins, solenoid controlled via load, regulating a small needle valve... Way to complex to set up and put together... (Yep, I can design and build it, even make it 8051 controlled, but that all falls outside of the KISS box!)
Regarding smoking: I can push a maximum of around 4.8Kw as it now stands - But at 4.8 we are definitely getting into the black smoke area - The power output has dropped from its original, as new condition, but it is now in spec for the max I wanted. Originally I was looking at 4-5Kw max as designed and found it could do over 6 with good rings/cyl/etc... The auto switchover trips across at around 20A/230V, TM1 can drive this, but this is at or around max... What I have found, is that WI certainly does little at low power output and works better as the power demand increases. I havent had any oil emulsification in the sump as yet, surprisingly! But here's where the snowball gathers some weight.... As soon as there is any fouling of rings/injector/whatever, the power output capability drops, TM1 starts smoking, soot and carbon start building up quickly, the rack opens more, the snowball gathers momentum - Because the target load of 20A/230V isnt met for the switchover.... At this point, I notice the lights are dimming and go and shove a good boost of water down the snout.... The snowball resets to the top of the hill, waiting for the next nudge...
I am almost at the end of this load of gunk, only about another 10L or so left to burn off... I think I will do a few days or so on dino and see how it compares...
Keep it spinning!!
Regds
Ed
Edit:
PS - The reason why I am not getting sump oil emulsification is probably because of the "different" dipper and oil pickup I have installed - The dipper only touches to about 5mm of weir depth. All water collected in the crankcase, along with 30 or 40W non additive oil, drops into the lower sump and does not accumulate to the level of the pump pickup, which in my case has been lifted by about 15mm to allow for this... I actually forgot about mentioning it earlier among the mods I have done...
PPS - RUG - I am, on the next batch of sump gunk oil I use, going to thin with 5-10% RUG as opposed to 20% Dino - What I have noticed, is that when TM1 starts to foul up, the "diesel knock" all but disappears. When there is a "normal" amount of knock, things run fine and well. This indicates to me that the injector/precomp is fouling to a degree that the burn rate is retarding.... By addition of the RUG, with a more vivescent flame front, the fouling rate might decrease quite a bit - Bear in mind this is WMO - The rug will be added for burn rate modification and not viscosity reasons. Probably, as it now stands, with lower chamber temps et al due to the slower burning WMO, the carbon is fairly soft and sooty, hence the ease it is flushed away by a good snout watering... The higher temps etc associated with RUG blending might cause the carbon to deposit at a higher temp/pressure, proving more difficult to remove.... Who knows? .... Lets suck it and see!!!
PPPS - Diesel Knock - Just put the last 10L Sump Gunk into TM1 and started him up for a long cogen run - Estimated to be around 10-12hrs for today - What I have noticed, in comparison to last night's shutdown, the diesel knock is somewhat louder - Air temp is around the same, plus or minus 5 degrees different, only thing that is different is the temp of the unit itself - The last 10L of fuel has gone in to top off the day tank, it hasn't in any way reached or made it through the fuel filter yet... Comments anybody? Cold fuel, cold engine, better ignition? ... This kinda screws up theories big time! (Also, Ali piston, CI sleeve... Clearance is most when cold....?)
PPPPS - Breather Vapor and Sound - Just popped out to check out TM1 during his run - He has been running solid since around midday, now around 4pm - I saw the cc breather was giving off a bit of vapor, so I videoed a quick before and after a water dose. The water dose consisted of choking off the air intake a bit and allowing TM1 to inhale a bit of aqua - I sustained this for about 5 secs. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to see any vapour because of the bright light, but you will notice a distinct difference in sound from the CC breather between the 2 videos. The first video has a "hollow" resonance to it and the second is way less - even though with the second video, the camera is directly in the path and facing the vent "snorkel" ... Check it out here:
http://www.warriorpaintball.co.za/private/TM1 CC Breather Sound Before and After 5sec Water Dose 20160222 Glort, I would love to hear your comments on this!