My new/ old waste oil furnace

[Donman]

I got tired of cutting, splitting drying, hauling, stacking and burning firewood so I built this waste motor oil furnace using a salvaged gas furnace to heat my shop. Here is a youtube video of the first burn and my temporary oil storage and delivery setup. New furnace first burn 2.mp4 - YouTube
A half cup of kerosene in the cast iron frypan and a propane torch to light it off generates the startup heat. It takes 5 minutes or so to get the whole thing including the chimney up to heat but after that the furnace blower fan control switch senses enough heat to keep the blower running constantly. It burns about 3/4 gallon per hour and this secondary burner design with the slots instead of holes burns much cleaner than my prototype which had the holes like Spikes heater design of a year or so ago. I will post more pics and vids when I get my tank and pump setup finished.
Don

 

[davedj1]

Looks interesting, can you show the plate above the 8" frying pan? How big is the hole in the plate and what size (thickness) plate are you using? How do you control the drip/heat or does it just get hotter and hotter?
thanks,
dave

 

[KYErik]

Very interesting.

So how exactly is the oil getting from the large metal container up into the bent copper line so it can fall on into the burner?

 

[wdchyd]

Good luck with the furnace fabricating Donman...

As a waste furnace owner (about 14 yrs now) you'll enjoy the benefits of free fuel....

Beware of oil coming from other sources though, they say it's all good clean stuff (no antfreeze/water/brake fluid) but don't trust it too well....best to know where and what you are burning to lessen the chance of unwanted flamambles in the mix

Also make sure you make hatches in the combustion chamber for cleanings, that unit will require more cleaning effort than other types of heat..and DON'T BLOW YOURSELF UP..!!

 

[Donman]

Looks interesting, can you show the plate above the 8" frying pan? How big is the hole in the plate and what size (thickness) plate are you using? How do you control the drip/heat or does it just get hotter and hotter?
thanks,
dave

Davedj1, attached is a picture of the 3/16" plate with the 4 inch hole for the secondary burner tube and 2 primary air holes plus the fuel tube hole before it was welded in place.
The amount of oil pumped by the air bubbler pump gradually decreases as the oil level drops in the container. This part is temporary until I get my 10 gallon tank mounted. That tank has a large surface area that will take almost 3 hours of burn time to drop the level 1 inch. A crank height adjustment will be fitted to vary the oil height in relation to the pump height and that can also be used to control the drip rate.

 

[Donman]

Very interesting.

So how exactly is the oil getting from the large metal container up into the bent copper line so it can fall on into the burner?

KYErik, There is a 3/8 x 3/8 x 14" brass tee near the bottom of the container. Oil comes in the bottom, Air from the aquarium pump comes in the side and oil and air bubbles out the top and up the pipe until it curves where the bubbles separate from the air and form drips or streams of oil depending on the oil level in the container

 

[Donman]

Good luck with the furnace fabricating Donman...

As a waste furnace owner (about 14 yrs now) you'll enjoy the benefits of free fuel....

Beware of oil coming from other sources though, they say it's all good clean stuff (no antfreeze/water/brake fluid) but don't trust it too well....best to know where and what you are burning to lessen the chance of unwanted flamambles in the mix

Also make sure you make hatches in the combustion chamber for cleanings, that unit will require more cleaning effort than other types of heat..and DON'T BLOW YOURSELF UP..!!

wdchyd, good point about oil quality. I have been experimenting several years with different designs and know from experience what you mean.

As for cleaning the unit I made an adapter for my electric leaf blower so I can remove the fry pan from the bottom and direct the high velocity air stream up thru the unit and out the chimney. I used this method on a prior build and it worked really well.

 

[Donman]

Here is the video I promised after I completed the tank and pump system.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD3nIyhzDkI&context=C366deaeADOEgsToPDskIEMvA3uVOwTbqiykXUASQh]finished waste oil furnace - YouTube[/ame]

 

[wdchyd]

Nice Donman,

Enjoy the warmth of free heat....

Now that you have it tweeked you'll be able to add some safety shutoffs/overtemp switches so you don't blow yourself up

Nice Job.....:thumbsup:

 

[Donman]

This small improvement makes a difference in the heat developed and now I see no smoke at all. Makes more noise though. See it here: blower burn.mp4 - YouTube

 

[wdchyd]

Looks good Don..:thumbsup: