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Messages - farmerjohn

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1
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 06, 2020, 03:42:05 PM »
I'm intrigued.  Build the short block, press in bushings for the mains and cam, plug in the cam & crankshaft, and add the top parts.   And have a drain  hole in the bottom !

What do the cylinder studs bolt into ?  Is plate stiff enough to not deform with diesel  ?

It cant be no worse than the melted cast iron frying pans that the Indians are churning out!  lol

I've drilled holes into my cast iron block and its full of porosity and flaws.  Holes were patched with body filler and paint at the factory

The top plate could be thicker or doubled up and the studs would thread in..  a locking nut could be added to the bottom side for further strength

I don't see an issue

2
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 06, 2020, 03:36:02 PM »
John
There's a laser shop in Lockport I use from time to time. They are very reasonable and do good work. If you ever developed a set of drawings, I'd have them price the job. They can cut up to 1/2" steel I believe.

And a Snowman stopped by with a bit of heat to warm the winter a tad. Festive.

Thats the spirit! 

I appreciate that but I have in house equipment and staff to help out - I own part of a CNC machine shop

I most likely have enough scrap metal laying around to build a prototype

This project (if it even gets off the ground) is for fun and to expand the options available to the community

If / when it comes to drawing up a design - the plan would be to share it so anyone can do it on their own and or modify it

Thanks

John

3
Listeroid Engines / Re: Listeroid pressurized oil system / Rebuild
« on: January 06, 2020, 01:52:03 PM »
Wow, you are a very talented individual. EE, ME, machinist, mechanic and farmer?
Keep the pictures coming!
Ron.

Thanks

I have to rely on this engine to survive off grid.  It saves me more than $6000 per year just on the cost of propane to heat my house.  Not including the savings in Electric costs.

So even if I spend a few thousand on the project every few years - I am way ahead of the game

Plus its fun  :)

John

4
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 06, 2020, 01:40:29 PM »

Have you priced out the steel needed for this project, once you learn the price you'll soon wake up from this delusional dream.

Add in the cost of having those parts laser cut and machining for the cam and crankshaft bearings which incidentally have to be line bored.

If this pipe dream of yours were to bear fruit the line boring would be done after the main case was welded together and possibly heat treated to relieve stress.

The problem with Canadian winters is they're just too dam long and you got yourself a bad case of cabin fever.

Lol you gave me a good laugh about the cabin fever - perhaps you are right

I stated this thread to discuss the possibilities and to figure out the engineering - not to just stomp on the idea because its hard to do

I own all of the equipment that you mention..  I do not have to get it sent out.. all it will cost me is my spare time and materials.  Also I did not say it was going to be cheap

Help me engineer solutions to the inherent problems before claiming its a waste of time

For example - tapered roller bearings can handle slight misalignments up to 0.008" - we have full control over the design - the listeroid bearing mounts could have a little bit of play built into the mounting holes on the case to allow for field alignment

Self aligning ball bearings can be used for the camshaft:
https://www.skf.com/ca/en/products/bearings-units-housings/ball-bearings/self-aligning-ball-bearings/index.html

These engines do not need micron level tolerances..  Before rebuilding my engine that had 10,000 some odd hours on it - the camshaft bushings were all wallowed out and the cam was more or less free floating.  It thumped along just fine for many thousands of hours non-stop

I'm not saying we just throw all tolerances out the window - but there is more wiggle room here that can be engineered around

Before you bash the idea - think about solutions..  We know the holes are not going to perfectly line up - we can agree on that and that is set in stone.  So what can be done to the design to mitigate those issues in the field?

John

5
Other Fuels / Re: Pyrolysis Oil - Free fuel from wood / plastic
« on: January 05, 2020, 12:49:48 PM »

  its doable but not necessary..  the water actually aides in the combustion process

Ohhh not it doesen't and the LAST thing you want is 20-30% water in your Fuel. You don't even want 1%!

I have been running veg oil for 17 years now and unlike most I have done a LOT of hands on testing.
Water is not something you want in your fuel under any circumstances.  It will allow growths to propagate in your fuel system and it will screw your injector pump and injectors. 20-30%  water in the fuel would be a complete and utter disaster and would fk up an injector pump in no time.  I can only imagine how poorly the engine would run as well.  Barely I think would be the best description.

I have actively dried My WVO from the beginning. Not drying off even the dissolved water produces a noticeable drop off in performance, both in power and starting. that would be at best 1-2% Moisture content. 20-30% could have an even larger percentage fall off in performance.... and again I have reservations if an engine would run on that sort of moisture content.

Thing is though, there is no possible way one could have that much water in the fuel. There is no way it's going to stay in suspension so it would drop out to the bottom of the tank and stratify with the fuel itself.  If the pickup got a snoot full of that water sitting on the bottom......
No way the fuel is going to be 1/5th suspended water. Just not going to happen.  I don't know what the percentage could be but it's not going to be anything like that I can tell you.

As for the claim of making the engine run better, I hope you are not basing that in some  flawed ideal and parroted mantra that the water will break down into oxygen and hydrogen which will then burn and make the engine go better.
No, it won't, that is an internet Myth.

Firstly the temperatures required for that to happen would melt your Pistons in 60 Sec flat.
Secondly, the energy required to split the water into it's base components is more than the energy given off when they burn so you end up with a net result or a power loss. as You seem to be a man who does his homework, you can easily look this up.

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Even if you started with 100% dry wood - the process converts some of the wood into hydrogen and oxygen which then combine to create water vapor

Again I'm sorry but No, that cannot happen at the temperatures you could reach in the process. These gasses will stay separate and bubble out through the output.


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On my office PC - I have a huge list of scientific research papers on the subject..   I'll make a list of those on Monday and post here

With respect, if they are proper scientific papers from credibly sources that may be interesting.
If they are the typical crackpot psuedo science particularly from places like india where they seem desperate to believe in getting something for nothing and the claims are as defiant of the laws of physics as as they are of practical demonstration, please don't bother.

There is enough misinformation on the net and sorry to say but it's clearly you have fallen for some of it.  I think we all have at some time but hands on testing and real word experimentation goes a long way to clear those errors up real fast. 
I have found so much Bunkum and misinformation in the Veg fuels field it's not funny and have discovered much the same with my more recent interest in solar power generation.

Too many people out there claiming their untested opinions as facts which get parroted around till people who have also never put them to the test will argue them as indisputable fact even though they are laughable poppycock.

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Wood is far more difficult than plastic or tires, etc...  I am interested in wood because I have ample supply on my own land..  I am not dependant on some outside source

That certainly makes logical sense.
For me WVO has been my go to energy supply. I can get as much oil as I want literally and it's the easiest fuel source I know of.
It is IMHO the easiest fuel source to process.  I can process 200L in my DIY processor in easily under 30 Min nad have ready to go fuel.
Having far too much experience cutting down trees, cutting them up and splitting them for firewood for my father, I know how much work and effort goes into that.  I'll take the oil any day. If he'd let me, I'd convert his woodfire heater to oil and save myself a ton of work and  buckets full of sweat.

There is nothing like the feeling of independence and self sufficiency one gets by providing for themselves no matter how much work is involved.

Glort - I am sorry but you are wrong on many levels

While water content in fuels such a diesel or WVO can be undesirable - water mixed into other fuel sources is desirable in some cases.  There have been several credible studies that show that water changes the cetane rating of some fuels to be more desirable for compression ignition

I certainly do not believe that the water is magically changing into hydrogen..   its being blown out the exhaust as steam / water

Again - I will post the credible research that I have been studying here when I get back to the office this week

Water in wood pyrolysis oil is a common problem and not easily solved..  Fractional condensation allows you to obtain various fractions that vary in both water content and volitile compounds

The main issue is that many of those compounds are fully soluble in water..  which is both a good thing and a bad thing..  the water does not stratify out nor can you easily "dry it"

Wood bio-oil does however separate and degrade over time if you do not use a catalyst during production..  mainly from the acids, suspended solids and water..  I have made several batches with my crude reactor and left the oil to sit for several months..   You will get a much thicker darker oil that settles to the bottom that easily mixes back in when you shake it up..  but never any water stratification

I have run several liters of my crude unfiltered oil in my lister..  it generated the same load as running on WVO..  only difference is that is smells like texas BBQ!  Very smoky wood smell

You will never get 100% dry wood to begin with..  there is always going to be at least 10-15% moisture content even from properly seasoned wood..  water is going to transfer over from wood weather you like it or not..  Like I said - many of the compounds are soluble with water - they keep it in suspension

I encourage you to try it for yourself..  you saw my crude setup..  its as basic as it gets..  Make some - test it - run it in your roid

The studies that I read and base my information from are credible studies that have actually built something and seen a result..  no theory..  I combine that with my real world experiments

For a long time I had a very reliable source of WVO - and I loved it..  You are right its a near perfect fuel! but for where I live - those sources that were giving me thousands of liters per year are slowly drying up

I have approx 2 -3 years worth of clean/dry processed oil left and then its gone..  For me - wood is the answer.  For others its crazy
If I had a super reliable source of waste plastic - I would not even be talking to you about wood..  Plastic is 100x easier to process and the zeolite catalyst is cheap and abundant..  For wood you need more exotic things like zeolites coated in ultra fine layers of noble metals or fumed silica mixed with titanium or aluminum oxide..  it gets far more complex

For plastic you can buy zeolite rocks from the garden center at your local walmart and pass the gas though a bed of it and come out the other end with near diesel fuel with zero water.. 

For me processing the wood into chips is a walk in the park..  I have tractors and machinery that allows me to sit on my ass while I feed a whole tree into the chipper..  the output blows into a trailer

Look up how wood pulp is made from hybrid poplars..  they have special attachments for tractors that basically mow down the 4 year old saplings to the stump and spit wood chips out the back end..  those trees then re-grow to the same size or greater in 4 years..  they keep doing that for 25 years or so. 

You either upgrade the oil or you modify the engine to handle the acidic acid..  upgrading the oil sounds more challenging and fun to me

Make some oil - have some fun with it

John

6
^^^^ That sounds like a Highly variable setup. A lot would depend for a start on the air cleaner you were running and the restriction it posed on the engine. The volume of water admitted would also vary greatly as the level of the bucket dropped.

Nice and simple if it works for you but I would suggest the results could be highly variable from one setup to the next.

these engines do not really give a shit :)

From start to finish the bucket is at most 12 inches or so in height..   

Fill the bucket - hang it from the ceiling roughly at the same height as the intake and shove the hose into the intake..    let nature take its course as you walk away

Just do not hang the bucket too high..  it will syphon in on its own and stop then engine and fill the cylinder with water (found that out the hard way)

The venturi effect of the intake sucks in just the right amount on each stoke..  it does not need to be perfectly metered..  it just needs to be done on a regular basis

It all evens out over time :)

Keep it simple

John


7
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 05, 2020, 11:52:08 AM »

The thicker the steel the more it twists and bends when welded. There is no possible way to keep it from moving round. You could set it all in a jig and unless it's consistantly welded, minute you pull it out it's going to change shape and alignment.

 The way most people weld, including myself, is not for precision work. Also you would be wanting people to weld long runs and have no pinholes which would cause oil leaks.

Likewise the tolerances may not have to be that great from a mechanical POV but welding a Crankcase that didn't piss oil everywhere when it was done I don't think is a job that could be trusted to Joe public. If they aren't happy with the thing leaking oil, where are you going to stand on warranty? You would either have to wear the costs of sending them another one for the same thing to likley happen and/or you would soon get a reputation your engine cases were shit and you'd not be selling any.

While I understand where you are coming from with shipping and flat packing, I would suggest the only way to get any quality control would be to weld them before being milled so any movement could be corrected and everything was straight and aligned.

There would be a lot you could do with the idea though, taller blocks for more flywheel clearance, greater sump capacity provision for fittings for external oil pumps and filters, 1/2 speed power take offs from the crank etc

Glort,

If you weld the outside corners first while they are being held in place by pins or bolts - the plates will have a tendency to expand open..  you can use this to your advantage when welding..  if you tack each side and weld each corner in rotation a few inches at a time - the metal will have nowhere to go and will be in constant consistent stress all around..  no warping..  especially with the box joints, bolts, etc

I really do not care about quality control (aside from providing a top notch kit) or competence of the end user..  As far as I am concerned its buyer beware..  follow these simple steps and you will have a short block..  screw up and you wont

Paint the inside with a couple coats of glytol and those shitty welds will stop leaking at the pinholes.. 

What I am getting at here is something that is cheap and relatively easy for the DIY'er to assemble - no complications..  keep it simple just like the Indian dudes who make these

If you screw up - I will gladly sell you replacement parts..  If the parts I ship you are crap - I replace them..  simple as that

Again - these engines can be WAY out of whack and still run fine..  follow the steps with the well machined and easy to assemble kit and you will have something far better than the sand incrusted shit shows that India ships out..  even with crappy welds..

Lets be honest here..  nobody will ever make any money selling these kits..  but if I build one..  I'm more than happy to share the cad designs and more than happy to run off as many duplicates as people demand for my time and materials

John


8
Other Fuels / Re: Pyrolysis Oil - Free fuel from wood / plastic
« on: January 05, 2020, 11:34:55 AM »
Hey guys,

Thought I would share my quick experiment with Pyrolysis Oil
https://photos.app.goo.gl/D2TRXR9GM3PEmr83A

I have done a bit of cracking so please take the following comments as a helpful heads up. I have not done wood, I did Veg and engine oil but I believe much of it is the same in practice. I have done charcoal in a semi sealed vessel though.


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There is no need to use pellets - I just happened to have some and it was convenient.  Wood chips would be fine

If you can heat the vessel the wood is in evenly ( or not so evenly)  You could use chunks as well. Smaller Pieces would give more surface area and may make the process quicker but you can easily cook 4"  branches and splits and more as well.  Just mmight take a bit longer but not necessarily more fuel/ Input.

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When running full scale it would first start off with electric resistance coils to get things started..  then switch to the gas produced by the process (It becomes self sufficient)

That gas/smoke is uncondensed Fuel. by burning that you are reducing the amount of final product you get. You are also investing electrical energy which I assume you are paying for one way or the other when you could just use the free wood supply you have.
While I understand your test setup was just that, it was also highly inefficient. That smoke is raw product. I have seen other vids on YT with crude and ineffective condensers with smoke billowing out and a few drips of liquid and I just cringe. I would suggest 95% of what is coming out the cook vessel is condensible fuel and letting it blow away as smoke or feeding it back into the fire is like having a hole in your fuel tank and dropping fuel along the road as you go. 

One would be far wiser to just fuel the reaction with other raw material ( I used crappy oil and dropped out solids in my playing around)  in your case wood and keep the energy invested in the precess to making product and maximising the output from each batch.
On that, If you were to use something as I did, a stainless steel Keg with a welded on piece of pipe and screw on end cap, I think that would be much easier and more effective than a screw auger arrangement.  To me that invites the presence of oxygen which will give you ash not product. The other major problem I see with the screw feed method is you will have a continual output of water vapor that will condense back into your  fuel output.  It may settle out as a layer but I'd suggest far better to drive off all the vapor first and have the rest of your output completely dry.
 If you got a litre of output from that little test devise, you are going to get a very worthwhile amount out of something the size of a keg.
If you upsized to something the size of a 200L drum, maybe an old water heater or Gas tank....  One batch  may be enough to keep you going some time.

I would also suggest using a decent size output line on your cook vessel so there is no chance of blockage or pressure build-up in the cooking vessel. You will also need to get it hot enough to completely phase change all the tars etc to ash to ensure the process is complete and the vessel is clean. 

You don't need a super powerful condenser but something is good. An oil vehicle oil cooler brazed with hard copper line with a fan blowing through it is a great approach.  I found that putting the end of the output tube in the collection vessel and bubbling it up through the distillate does a great job of getting the most yield and very little product is lost through smoke. For the first run you can just put a bit of diesel in the output container so the end of the output tube is submerged.  I let the initial steam go and then when I was getting smoke I started collecting the output.

I think your output going by the colour and my own mucking around is also very raw and as said, would not be good for the engine. It looks like it may have also gelled when it cooled down. This is what mine did the first time which indicated to me I hadn't actually Cracked the oil.
What I did was make a super heater and ran the output through that before  it went to the condenser.  The technical sounding super heater was nothing more than running the output line back under the boiler in my case, down through the fire which made the line run red hot and then back out to the condensor and collection vessel. This properly cracks the output by separating it into fractional  components.
You can then take them off separately to different fractions like petrol or diesel like our  absent resident Genius ED does here ( Look up his posts on this) or just recombine it all together.  Mine came out just like a Diesel petrol mix in that you could put it in a saucer and it would light like petrol but wouldn't burn all together unless you heated it up like diesel.

It did come out very clear ( although somewhat black/ brown) and a thin liquid.  I believe just taking it off the initial cook leaves a lot of impurities which are burned off or changed in the superheating process. Whatever takes place, I can tell you the output is vastly cleaner, less viscous and much improved. With wood I would suggest it would either burn off or refine the tars.

DO NOT SoLder anything with the output, Braze it or use screw/ flare fittings only.  Solder won't last 2 Minutes once you get the thing up to proper temp.

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The process generates roughly 1/3 condensible gas, 1/3 un-condensible gases (mainly carbon monoxide, hydrogen, CO2) and 1/3 biochar (Carbon black)

I don't believe that is accurate.  I would suggest the great majority of the gasses are all condesable as  fuel. You just have to actually condense them properly by cooling them sufficiently. Any smoke to me after the initial moisture being driven off IS recoverable fuel. Having the output come out as in your test is very wasteful and any escaping vapor is lost product. Co2, Hydrogen etc are all invisible gasses so you may see them bubbling through the distilled output but if you are seeing smoke, that's lost yield. I found the bubbling method to be VERY effective even with minimal output cooling.  Be careful of any connections you make though with the output tube. what  running through it is effectively live steam and that cam reach VERY high temperatures far beyond the materials phase change temp.

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You basically heat up any carbon based material in the absence of oxygen and the heat will break up the carbon bonds into more volatile compounds

And when you re condense the output, you can get a clean, liquid fuel that is more volatile than what you started out with.  In my observations, the hotter you can get at least the vapours from what you are cooking, the better. Running mine through a length of pipe ( about 30CM was enough) of glowing red hot gave Vastly superior results than just catching the vapours that basicly boiled off.
Being your raw material is wood, I don't know if you would get any ash in the output so putting it through a good filter initially and seeing if you catch anything I would suggest would be worth while.

Catching the lighter fractions also make the fuel easier to light off and a great blending agent. You can mix the more flammable output with your WVO or WMO to make it go further and be much more diesel like. Also cuts down on the time and effort you have to put into your cooks with the Wood or what ever.  Plastic I think would work well but could be a problem processing the raw material into small enough pieces to get into the reactor.  A large wood chipper would be a great tool for this although it would have to be big to deal with the large and different shapes of the plastic you'd likely encounter.
The other thing that makes a good raw material if you have the ability to process it or a large enough cook chamber is old Tyres. They are cooked in a lot of countries to recover the diesel type oil they get, the steel and the carbon black which is a profitable commodity in itself.
I think wood is a material that would give pretty low returns by volume but if it is what you have... OTOH if you could get a supply of engine or pretty much any other oil, you'[d get a lot more fuel for a lot less effort.

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I'm building a ground source heat pump from scratch right now so wont be working on the pyrolysis till that is done

Is the heat pump for cooling I take it?


Glort,

I love the input - I appreciate it

I have to show you the research..  I will do so on Monday - I have a bunch of papers bookmarked on my office PC

First of all - my crude experiment was just that - very crude!!  my cooling water heated up before everything finished and the smoke you saw was not condensing..  that being said..  when processing wood and depending on the feedstock and catalyst - approx 1/3 of the output will be un-condensible gasses..  mainly carbon monoxide, hydrogen and C02..  its the nature of the beast..  depending on the catalyst used - this will be less or much more.  they are invisible..  again my hacked together crude demo was not fully condensing all of the condensible gasses..  hence the smoke

The good thing is that aside from the C02 - those gasses are all flammable and will self sustain the process..  the initial heating process with electricity takes less than an hour - then so long as you keep feeding the system with wood - it will keep going on its own.  I obtain that electricity from either solar or my listeroid (which could be running on this bio-oil)

Retention time is a key factor..  Ideally you want to material to phase change as fast as possible..  more advanced reactors use fluidized beds or ablative rollers that both change the wood to gas in a matter of seconds..  The auger style that I am building is much easier / cheaper to construct but has a retention time of minutes vs seconds..

Higher quality oils are produced with lower retention times..  so the size of the feedstock is important..   Yes - you can put logs into a sealed chamber and heat them up and condense the gas - this will work but the output will be much lower quantity and lesser overall quality

The auger method with small woodchips is the best compromise for the DIY person with a reasonable budget

Think of a tube inside of a larger tube..  the outside tube is full of flames heating the inside tube..  the inside tube has an auger that moves the feedstock along at the correct speed so that all of the gasses escape and whats left is charcoal which drops into a bin..  (the whole thing is sealed from the atmosphere).  The input would be a continuous hopper of woodchips that get batch loaded every 30-60 seconds or so..  this leads to several conical condensers  at varying temperatures which both drop out the solids (ash) and condense the various compounds into a liquid..  which can later be blended or further upgraded

If you want to go real nuts - you can flow the remaining vapours into a cold trap which will condense even more..  but its kinda fruitless at that point

Efficiency does not really matter so much with a feed stock that is abundant and free of cost..  so long as I can make enough during the summer months to hold me over for winter


My heat pump project is for both heating and cooling..  I bought an overstocked ground source heat pump unit for cheap and replaced the single phase compressor with a 3 phase that now runs on a VFD..  I also replaced the TXV valves with a bi-flow EEV valve (electronic expansion vavle)..  I have an open loop well source that empties into a nearby creek..  the pump is also driven by a VFD..  I have a superheat controller that maintains the superheat at the minimum possible value without sending liquid back to the compressor..   the whole thing is driven by a PLC with lots of sensors, etc..   I plan to store the heat from the listeroid in several 1000L insulated tanks and then draw on that low grade heat with the heat pump until its exhausted..  then switch to the well..  I run the listeroid for a solid 24-30 hours every 3-4 days..  I plan to store the heat in the tanks and draw from them as I need until they are depleted..  When the generator is running and the heat pump is running at the same time - the heat pump will lower the water temp going back into the exhaust heat exhanger making for a greater delta and higher thermal efficiency..  when running off the well - I get a heating COP of approx 6-7 when everything is modulating perfectly..  the heat pump (like everything else) runs off my batteries which are charged by the lister

Anyways - the heat pump is a whole other topic!  :)

Wood as a feedstock really sucks and is difficult to produce good quality oil compared to other feedstock such as plastic or tyres..    But I do not have a mound of plastic or tyres on my property..  I have a shit ton of trees and bush that will forever grow back

The good thing is the listeroid does not really care..  it will run on nearly anything and be just fine with a few timing tweaks, etc




9
Other Fuels / Re: Pyrolysis Oil - Free fuel from wood / plastic
« on: January 05, 2020, 10:47:29 AM »

Aside from the acidic properties - which can be solved with the proper catalyst - there are zero coking issues.   

I don't know why you would have a problem with acidity. Acid can only exist in water and if the fuel is properly cooked and captured, all moisture should have already been driven off before the actual phase change reaction happens.
At very least, running the output through the super heater should allow the output to be light enough for the moisture to stratify in the output collection vessel and be avoided.

Glort - you are correct..  without a catalyst the bio-oil produced from wood contains near 20-30% water which cannot be easily driven off..  mainly because of the other volatile compounds that you would lose in distillation, etc..   its doable but not necessary..  the water actually aides in the combustion process

Even if you started with 100% dry wood - the process converts some of the wood into hydrogen and oxygen which then combine to create water vapor

The setup that I am considering will use fractional condensation of the gases in 3 -4 steps..  each providing a different quality of oil and water content

On my office PC - I have a huge list of scientific research papers on the subject..   I'll make a list of those on Monday and post here

Wood is far more difficult than plastic or tires, etc...  I am interested in wood because I have ample supply on my own land..  I am not dependant on some outside source

10
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 05, 2020, 10:34:46 AM »
FYI,
I think you can buy a block from Gary "dieselgman" on this forum. Send him a PM if you are interested.
He has engines and broken down components.
You may be able to buy the block and make everything else yourself.
(If that's a road you wish to take)

cheers,
veggie

veggie - thanks for the input..  I am sure he can supply a block here or there but my point is - the blocks are in short supply and those that are available are relatively expensive..  especially once you factor in freight costs

I want to create something that is easily accessible to the average Joe - allowing them to get into the hobby with minimal cost.

The 6/1 is a marvellous machine that can give you freedom and independence from the state..   more people should have one in their shed... the damn EPA / government makes that a hard option..

Here in Canada for example they just implemented carbon taxes..  I used to heat my house with propane..  it would cost me nearly 6K per winter season to heat my house..  now with the carbon taxes - it adds nearly $600 more per year and each year the tax is phased in to increase till 2030..  I really feel for my kids..  you need heat to survive..  the state wants you to be fully dependant on them..  I prefer the other way round




11
I have found that if you place a bucket of water just below the level of the intake and run a hose from the bottom of the bucket and into the intake - the suction power of the intake will suck in just enough water on each intake stroke to provide sufficient cleaning.  Prime the hose with gravity suction first and then shove it into the intake..  I use 1/8" plastic tubing

A 20 L bucket will last for a few hours..  I do this approx once a week.. 

Its simple and allows you to walk away without worry..

The key is to have a steady / somewhat heavy load on the engine during the water injection..  I keep a constant 3kw load on mine - it works a treat..  make sure its warmed up first


John


12
Listeroid Engines / Re: Listeroid pressurized oil system / Rebuild
« on: January 05, 2020, 09:58:43 AM »

I am a fan of both gadgets, and systems, so you work is very interesting to me. Looks like you generator is 3 phase?
Do post more about your project.

It is single phase but fed into a power factor correction boost converter which gives me near unity power factor with very minimal harmonics

Its an interleaved boost converter which acts to cancel out the harmonics using a pwm signal at 200Khz 180 degrees out of phase of each other - near matches the incoming sine wave perfectly

In my pictures I was using 4 PFC modules..  they were giving me issues because they were actually over exciting the exciter coil in my ST head which caused a huge voltage spike and killed 2 out of 4 of my units that are pictured in the link..  That was an expensive mistake..  each one cost me approx $300 USD

I have since switched to using a single modified PC power supply..  a corsair HX1200..  the primary side is over built and can supply over 4KW of PFC power at a regulated 390V DC

All I had to do was to replace the inrush current limiter thermistors to accommodate the larger loads..  this particular power supply is over built on the primary side compared to its rated output - which is only limited by the secondary side

I got inspiration from this posting on toms hardware guide:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-hx1200-psu,5102-3.html

I was going to re-wire my generator to a six phase with dual 3 phase bridge rectifiers providing 12 pulses before I found the power supply..  It gets rid of all the harmful harmonics with ease..

I glued a thermistor to the primary heatsink with thermal epoxy and connected that to my generator controller..  if the diodes or rectifiers get too hot - it will shut down the engine

The boost convertor feeds into a MPPT solar charge controller which charges my batteries and supports any loads in my house while running

I am connected to the grid but I am fully off grid between solar and my listeroid..  I treat the grid as my backup






13
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 05, 2020, 09:35:02 AM »
I'm very curious what you've been powering with your engine, that you've accumulated the thousands of hours on it necessitating
'a few' rebuilds?  Please use at least 5/16" or better yet, 3/8" plate steel, and let me know when the kits are available, and I will place an order. I have the welding equipment and Horizontal Boring Mill required to complete the work.

I am powering an AC/DC power factor correction power supply that takes my single phase 240 V and converts it to 390V dc at near unity power factor and minimal harmonics

That then feeds into a solar MPPT charge controller that charges my 80Kwh lithium ion battery pack..  the generator is about 350' away from the charge controller..  between the boost converter and the charge controller I am near 92% efficiency..  the PFC power supply makes a huge difference on my fuel usage (approx 15 %)..  before that I was running a simple bridge rectifier with capacitor bank..  but only getting a power factor of about .78..   Now my cheap Chinese generator controller reports a power factor of 1.0 .  I have a constant load of 3KW going into the batteries..  before the PFC correction I had to generate approx 3.9 KVAr..  now for the same 3 kw of load its near unity and I burn less fuel for the same output

I am using an interleaved boost converter operating at 200 KHZ which follows the incoming sine wave near perfectly..  far less stress on my cheap Chinese ST head

you are correct - I will need to use thicker steel..  I was thinking off the top of my head :)


14
Listeroid Engines / Re: DIY Short block
« on: January 05, 2020, 09:21:48 AM »
Why not cast your own engine block.

DMD Australia - Austin Healey 3000 Aluminium Engine Block
https://healeyfactory.com.au/services/dmd-australia/dmd-aliminium-engine-block-pattern-making/

https://youtu.be/-AbFqU9JKUI

Because its a pain in the ass and costs plenty more to ship compared to flat packed steel plates

I'm trying to do something that anyone with a cheap welder and basic tools can accomplish on their own at minimal cost

Start thinking rural India...  they make do with far less than us and manage to get by - so can we

15
Other Fuels / Re: Pyrolysis Oil - Free fuel from wood / plastic
« on: January 05, 2020, 09:17:36 AM »
Snowman,

You are way off base here..  its not simple wood tars..  there are over 300 compounds in the condensible gases - some more volatile than the rest.   With the proper catalyst - the oil is closer to diesel
Have you ran pyrolysis oil in an engine before??  Aside from the acidic properties - which can be solved with the proper catalyst - there are zero coking issues.   

The main benefit is the ease of storage compared to wood gas...    Wood gas is an on demand process that requires a ton of attention to keep it going whereas pyrolysis oil is near the same as diesel and can be stored long term and used on demand the same as any other liquid fuel - in a tank

In my case - I have an abundance of free wood at my disposal and excess solar power during the summer months to process the oil

Wood gas does not scale.. its a fallacy..   I can make thousands of liters of oil from wood in the summer and burn it all winter on demand

Read the research papers...  google wood pyrolysis..  the science is clear

Nobody has time to monitor a wood gas plant...   its a pain in the ass..  the process of converting wood to oil is self sufficient and wood is in an abundance (for me)..  spend a few days making a few thousand liters of oil and then rest easy till winter


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