Hydraulic oil mixed with automotive oils

[rdbates1]

I'm having a very hard time finding WMO.  Would a Changfa burn a mix with a large percentage of hydraulic oil mixed with various automotive oils?  Another option might be a hot bulb engine but would it react to the fuel about the same as a regular diesel?

[ajaffa1]

A diesel engine can be made to run on almost any oil. You may have to mix it with kero or regular diesel to get the viscosity you require, especially if you live in a very cold climate, some people use regular gasoline as thinner. Many people use different blends for summer and winter. It is vital that your blended fuel is filtered down to at least 5 microns to ensure no metal particles get into the fuel system.
You might find it advisable to use a two tank set up where you start on regular diesel before switching to your blended fuel. It is also common to switch back to regular diesel before stopping the engine, this ensures an easy start the next time.
A further problem with hydraulic oils is that some are hydroscopic and will absorb water out of the atmosphere over time.
This could cause corrosion issues to fuel tanks, pumps, injectors and etc.
Most people running WMO find that they get carbon deposits inside the engine which can lead to premature engine failure, this is readily treated by water injection which cleanses the cylinders of these ash deposits.
good luck,
Bob

[rdbates1]

For water injection, I've thought of using a garden personal cooling mister since it's low volume and creates a fine mist.  The engine will run 24/7 driving a 5k generator feeding a grid tie inverter so the load should be constant and also near the capacity of the engine.  I'd like to be able to run veggie oil but there is a large bio-diesel refinery in town and the grab every drop of oil in the area.

[ajaffa1]

Hi rdbates1, I don`t quite understand the set up you are proposing. A grid tie invertor is usually connected to the mains supply and converts dc power to ac power to match the voltage and frequency of that mains supply. This allows home generated power to be safely used on site or exported to the grid. Does your Changfa produce dc power or are you planning to rectify it before sending it to the invertor? Perhaps you are talking about a system with a cross over switch so you can run everything off the generator but switch back to mains power in an emergency.

Perhaps I have misunderstood completely and you are planning to use the generator to provide the voltage and frequency side of the inverter which would allow for solar panels and or battery backup to supplement the generator. I`m not sure how well that would work as the frequency and voltage would only be as stable as the governor/AVR on the generator.
 
A lot of people just squirt water into the air inlet, the engine will start to bog down if you give it too much. You don`t have to run water into it all the time, just a regular flush should do it. There are people on the forum who have set up automatic water injection systems but I don`t know how successful or otherwise these are.

Very sorry to hear that some greedy sod has taken all the WVO for biodiesel. Straight WVO dried and filtered would have been a good fuel for your setup. Perhaps you should open a fast food joint and recycle your own waste oil.
Bob

[rdbates1]

I'm planning to run a 240v generator head and boost/retify the output to around 315v DC which is the optimal input for the inverter I found.
I'll also be running a waste oil fired boiler.  The reason for the project is I bought a house in western Oregon with a pool.  In the summer with the A/C and pool pump running power runs upwards of $250 a month with gas at around  $80 for hot water.  In the winter gas and power prices flip. With both running I should be able to reduce my energy costs to very little and heat the pool which is pretty chilly even in August around here.

[ajaffa1]

The Changfa should run fine on filtered waste motor oil. I`m not so sure about the boiler. Generally oil boilers have different sizes of spray nozzles for different weights of oil. A bit of tinkering should sort it. Be careful to ensure a clean burn so you don`t block up the exhaust flue with soot. Recommend you fit a carbon monoxide detector in the boiler room to be on the safe side.
Bob

[ajaffa1]

Swimming pools are a pain, had one years ago in the UK. One spring we took the cover off to find a dead sheep. It must have been in there for months, the entire surface of the pool had a thick layer of animal fat. What a bit*h of a thing to clean.

A mate of mine is a potter and he uses waste oil to fire his kiln. has to run it at very high temperatures for 24 hour periods. I`ll ask if I can have a sticky beak at his setup and get back to you.

[rdbates1]

Thanks guys for all of you help.  I'd be very interested in taking a look at some burner designs.  I've been looking at a kit on http://www.ckburners.com to convert a Beckett burner to waste oil.  The boiler will also be supplementing domestic heat and hot water.  My wife and daughter both can drain a water heater pretty quickly.

I can't imaging finding a dead sheep in the pool.  It would definitely be an "off the books" cleanup while my wife wasn't home or she would never get in it again.

I've got a salt system for the pool too and am extremely please with how well it works and how little effort it takes to keep the pool clean.  One of the benefits of the generator will be to run the pump at least some to keep the pool clear in the winter without the heater running.  I'm in the process of remodeling primarily the yard now and don't have a fence around the pool itself.  The first fall we were here I was finishing putting the cover on and one of our dogs decided to walk out on the cover and started to sink.  Fortunately, I was able to get him off of the cover, which hasn't been on since, before he sank to the bottom.  My wife's young daughter was outside and ran in to tell her mom that Mr. Bob had said a bad word.  My mind raced as I tried to remember what I said, which normally would have been noteworthy, but I only called the dog stupid.  I'll definitely take a look at a good cover once the fence is up and have also thought about a solar heater to supplement the pool heat.