Michael Jacobsen

Mart Hale wrote:
Yes, other things to look out for is don't use wet sand, it gives poor results and steam can be a real issue with the heat source you are using.

I have been thinking that the cob  rocket mass design,  or mason heaters might be a good place to look for design ideas as they already store and release heat  for home heating....    

Oil gives great advantage as you can almost go heat on demand....

Attached is a photo of a guy who uses waste heat for his outdoor spa...      It has  "BOOM SQUISH"  written all over it,  but the concept looks good just needs regulation of the heat   ;-)

I have been experimenting with little sand batteries in a cast iron dutch oven. Learned about wet sand and about the issue with >1% organic matter from that. The top of the sand battery in my design will not be sealed. There will be space around the edge between the exhaust expansion chamber and the outer wall. No boom squishy designs for me, tyvm. In the photo you attached it looked like there was a pressure regulator on it. At least a nod to safety I suppose. The upside to using a old hot water heater like that is the chance of flashing to steam is largely mitigated. Not completely though.

I actually have an old 40 gallon gas water heater that I planned to use the tank from for the outer hull of the sand battery. Now though I may think about finding something else for that and save the water heater for a safety boosted version of that hot water heater. Why build one waste oil burner when you can make 2 at twice the price... Lol

Mart Hale wrote:I have a long thread on the sand battery (snip snip)

This is a proven method of using waste oil, it deals with all the problems of impurities in the oil.

Thank you! I will definitely check out your thread and the video. The oil burner design I'm working on is top fed and uses a rear disk break rotor as the base. I will post either a diagram at some point or pictures of the unit itself once it's together if I end up building it. I am mainly concerned with having the sand battery be on the exhaust chimney stack and if I'm going to have issues with backpressure on the system. The exhaust expansion area is a first-thought attempt to mitigate that somewhat while also potentially functioning as a cooking surface. There "might" be a nautilus shell partition in the expansion area that will route the hot gasses around and out. Going to try leaving it open at first and maybe switch later to see the difference.  Planning for ~4" ID on most of the pipework. I will be building and testing this unit outdoors but the hope is to be able to run it inside eventually if it proves safe.

I do not know what the appropriate forum for this would be. If this is the wrong one, my apologies.

I have access to a large quantity of waste oil at my current location. Much of it is used motor oil/transmission fluid. Instead of just tossing this "resource" I set out looking for options to utilize it and came upon the subject of waste oil burners. I'm currently constructing a burner that I would like to use in a couple different applications. This post is about a potential design for coupling a sand battery to the system to bank some of the heat for a longer period of time. I'm not 100% sold this is the way I'm going to go but I wanted to at least post the idea and a quick diagram and solicit feedback of the "That's Dangerous and You Should Rethink Now" variety. Preferably with at least some small pointer as to what is dangerous if it should be so.

If anything in the diagram is unclear or if you have questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you!

When I said the Cucamelon went wild, this is what she looked like at the beginning of October. We would get our first cold blasts a couple weeks from these photos and kill back a fair portion of her. She didn't fully die until November sometime. From what I am told, there should be a tuber there that will regrow this spring. We will see. If she does, I will give her something to climb on. I plan on constructing a wild fence for the beds anyway so perhaps I can trellis her on to the fence and send her the whole length of the property a couple times. Will be fun to see!

Still have a lot of work to do at the transition property.  I am already seeing spring blooming a month plus early. My and my neighbors apple trees already have leaf buds on, my garlic is sprouting already, as are a number of dock crowns and the Canadian thistlebeast that exists across the SW bed.

The porches on both sides are about to be ripped off and reengineered to be more material efficient. The surplus lumber will then be paired with reclaimed material from the torn apart deck of a friend and used to build a new storage shed/workshop in place of the small, sad, rusted out metal shed that has a black locust main leader growing into the back of and crushing...

The new water heater I am constructing for this place is coming along. I am teaching myself welding for assembly of some of the parts. A few more practice sessions and I will start the welding of the tank pieces. So many things to do/build, so little time... Lol

Here's a selection of update photos from throughout the year. I have way more but don't feel like uploading a ton so I only picked a couple highlights here and there. I may upload more later.

Fourth time is the charm? Maybe??? I am still working out dimensions on most elements. Some of it I don't think I will know until I begin construction. I am attempting to make the design somewhat modular so that the various tiers of the heater can be independently re-engineered as needed. Feel free to ask questions or point out mistakes as spotted. Thanks much!

Addendum: The open hot tank is designed for maximum surface area. I need to decide if I am just going to have a flat back or angled back to the tank to allow more airflow up into the tier 2 heat exchanger and exhaust manifold. I will have running water to top up the open tank as needed while the system is in operation. I also have considered a non-pressurized lid that runs to a condenser loop and back into the hot tank. If in the course of running it I find I am loosing too much water I will explore that idea further.

Glenn Herbert wrote:One important factor that I have not seen mentioned is that you are putting a heat exchanger around the burn tunnel/heat riser area.

One of the many mistakes I learned of with this post. The original post was my first thought design based upon the video I referenced. The current iteration has the rocket engine heating an unpressurized tank of water with a "pressureized" heat exchanger loop of copper submerged in the "hot tank", much as you suggested. Thank you for helping to keep me from boomsquishing!

Anne Miller wrote:Something that might be a consideration is using the water as a mass and running it under the floor.

I have only read about this concept though I like it.

I have seen designs for an underfloor heating setup using hot water. They are very interesting. If I was doing a design for a permanent home I would definitely consider it.

This design is for use in a 1970's era single wide prefab home (trailer). It was a piece of property I acquired with the trailer on it that I am renovating to repair a bunch of mold issues and water damage, etc. and upgrading/replacing some of the systems. It's still a neat idea, thanks for sharing!

Not sure if proper protocol is to make a new thread or to continue the original and edit the title. If I am doing it wrong, please let me know.

The original thread concept was around a constructing a boiler for use in a home heating/water heating setup. After the excellent feedback in the thread I have since shifted to working on an open air "water heater" design to replace the pressurized boiler.

Sketch one is my initial idea for the heat exchanger. The egg shape, big endian up, is from recommendations of Viktor Shauberger on how to most efficiently heat water. Vanes will be bent and welded to the egg exterior to encourage the flames spiraling around. Still unsure if the egg will be copper or iron. Copper would be best but sooo expensive rn. Probs just use iron but we will see what mysteries the scrap yard holds...

Second sketch is system layout again. This time with the addition of an insulated temporary hot water tank that can be pumped from back into the "battery" the water came from on insulated lines.