Rocket stove or RMH for power generation?

Along with my radical plans for a multi room RMH, I have been trying to come up with a way to use the heat from either a Rocket stove or a RMH to generate electricity.

So far the only idea I have come up with is to heat water and have the steam spin a turbine that is attached to a generator.

I figure the only way to make this work would be to have two separate tanks. One of boiling the water and one that would be used as a cooling tank.
If done correctly I figure it would work. Problem is I have no idea how to make the set up correctly without an explosion from the Flash heated water.

Any suggestions?

My only real suggestion would be to hire a professional boilermaker. This is so potentially dangerous, especially in quantities that could generate real power, that I wouldn't risk my life, my family, and my house trying things by myself.

Jason E. Smith : The good news is that this is Old Territory, and that many of your Fellow Members have slogged their way

through this issue. Remember that All of us started from the square you are at now ! Your ability to think out side the box

will always be appreciated Here at Premies !

However I totally agree with Glenn H. The safety issues alone are horrendous !

Turning Heat energy into Work energy ( Horse Power, etc. ) Safely is definitely A job left to the Professionals!

When Water "Flashes to Steam " - it expands explosively 1700 Xs !!!

All that explosive power can literally rip your house apart . See link Below :







Think Boston Marathon bombing with more fatalities and more Full Thickness, Full Body burns ( You- or family members )


And finally Having such Equipment in your home will Bring you to the " Department of Making you Sad '', and require

Some one to certify that your "Live-Steam Power Plant " is correctly configured as installed, and the operator(s) on duty

24 / 7 is also properly trained and certified, and you will be looking at annual inspections and Inspectors Fees !

- I had some problems copy ing the link: I tested it and it works now ! Big AL

You could try being a jack of stirling engines trade.

I'm far from knowledgeable about rocket stoves but an easy seeming way to get electricity from a normal wood stove is to attach a TEG to it. Byron Gagne turned me onto this particular variety that puts out 70 watts and heats water as a byproduct.

Tegmart

I'm not sure what temps you have on a RMH but if you could bolt a few of these on to the barrel you might be in business.

Jason, i would think this is perfectly doable. Mind you, with the needed knowlege.

I don't know how good you are with resistance of meterial calculations, mechanics of fluids, calculation of heat resistance of the several parts. Recycling the water or not? Reusing the heat? Will the scale be big enough to avoid friction losses. Because, i think there is a limit with how big rockets can be enlarged.

Well, the first step, may be, would be to get in touch with your local model steam train enthusiasts. May be, is there is a steam power plant near you. You could find somebody there, who could be mad enough to help you.

But if you are not just day dreaming. You're about to embark into a journey, which can take from 5 to 20 years.

With the time required to learn everything you need to know. Like metal lathe turning, plumbing, maths, dynamic balancing of the turbine. Boilermaking. Not even speaking about the costs. How much would you think a micro steam turbine costs, if you are not making it? If it even exist. And if you have to make it, how much for the materials and tools needed?

It is doable. But may be not as easy as saying it.

you may get a few ideas from this guy. love him or hate him he is a real backyard jimmy rigging redneck engineer. I like the guy and very interesting to me.

Jason E. Smith : A couple of quick thoughts to share, Because this post will likely be seen again and again by future Fellow Members , the answers

to your Proposition are posted here as much for their Future benefit as it is for your immediate use ! Second, we need many more Members like

yourself that " Think outside the Box " - Without new ideas we will have no improvement in the craft . Keep them coming !


So if you watch video F.Styles shared (Mr.Teslonian) you only have to have a way to capture and store the resulting liquid/ Vapor Fuels,

then - You can pressurize that fuel and inject it into a simple boiler - In the video below this was gasoline injected at 140 P.S.I. -


https://youtu.be/5Me8b0ed59s


Two things to note here : This is 100 year old technology, and the video shows the entire boiler is being rebuilt after an on-road explosion !!!

So all you need is Some one to craft you a boiler, and the deep pockets of a Jay Leno !


AND because this is a Mobil Device You can call it a "Reproduction" and get a license to take it out on the road - much simpler than jumping

through the number of hoops to get a Fixed Facility Steam Generating Power Plant .

I have built a fuel vaporizer for my van and I know it works and I can be sure to tell you I dont need a "License" or permission to do it. Making and refining gas to use on your property fortunately wont need a pressurized tank that can explode and is a great way to detach from the big man and make what you want on your own and allows you have control over your own destiny and to fail or succeed by your own means. Some do it because they want to stick it to the man, some do it for emergency use and some do it because they like to play with backyard science. who cares why you do it but for the love of it all its all good and I love to see others interested in it.

Ok, this got me thinking a bit. If Jay Leno can do it, why can't we. Yesterday I happened to read an old editorial from Acres magazine that mentioned off grid steam engines for power generation. It lead me to Mike Brown Solutions where you can (or at least could 5 years ago) buy a solid looking steam engine and plans for a boiler. The byproduct is steam heat. This system will probably set you back $2-3K and it likely won't interface well with a RMH for your situation.

If you couple a steam engine per the link above with a battery bank, you could run the engine for a part of the day and generate enough juice to fill the batteries for a couple days of juice.

I looked around on youtube for other examples and found some simple ones and some scarily complicated ones. The impression I got is that you probably don't want the boiler inside your house if you proceed with this.

http://www.energent.net/documents/Geothermal_Resources_Council_2009_Paper.pdf

http://www.energent.net/Technology/microsteam-turbine.html


http://www.greenturbine.eu/GT15.html

I thought of an idea to use the barrel to heat water while potentially not affecting the temperature in the combustion chamber.
I will sketch up some plans once I get home, I am currently out of town and do not have access to any of my tools and equipment.