Disastrous leaks....

[oneoldbanjo]

as i said, just an idea. This is all test theory, i haven't acutally done any fabbing yet. If i do, i' won't make a post of the results, as it seems everyone is shooting it down

I guess people are giving their comments based on their knowledge and experience.......and are hoping to help you avoid spending a lot of time and money on something that is bound to give you poor performance. If oil were the "proper" way to build and OWB......you would not be the first one to do it and the use of oil in a furnace would be common. Furnaces have been using water to transfer heat in buildings ever since the boiler was invented and if there was a better way it would have been used. Oil is not an efficient media for storing or transferring heat, and water is the most cost effective and efficient liquid for this purpose.

If you didn't post in this forum in order to gather up information and learn something.......I guess there really isn't any reason for us to comment.

Hope it works out well for you.

 

[trialanderror]

check out that link i posted.

 

[trialanderror]

Hello again,
Just thought of something else regarding the use of a hydraulic pump. If you ever got a blockage (valve failed closed, or something) a centrifigal pump will "slip", and build up no pressure. A hydraulic pump on the other hand will continue to build pressure until something blows. Thanks.

low pressure relief valve. maybe 5psi?

 

[olyman]

Heck fire you have all the answers. Why ask us? (quote)
and how---!

 

[trialanderror]

Hello,
I'll be the devils advocate, and pose a worst case situation. Suppose the relief lifts, you would need some sort of resevoir to dump the oil back in to. (I do not know how OWB's work for water levels, and keepng them at a safe operating level, or low level shut off senario would play out). I guess my concern would be the oil being relieved from the system, and the boiler possibly running dry. (About one of the worst things to happen to a boiler.) Again, I don't know how valid of a concern this is regarding OWB's, but I know with other "conventional" boilers, there are fail-safes to prevent them from running dry. Perhaps someone else can offer an answer to this. Thanks.

with water it wouldn't matter.
with vegetable oil, it's not an environmental hazard..

either situation, it could pump to a reservoir...

 

[trialanderror]

i guess my next question is beyond the scope of this site.

I'm going to have to do google and hit some other forums, and maybe irc channels to find out what happens with cooking oils as they're heated, if oxygen exposure changes anything, etc. I wouldn't think it would matter, not 'cooking' with it, just moving it around to exchange heat....

Or if extreme peroids of extreme heat will result in seperation and making of sludge, etc.

this post was not meant to be "OFFENDING" in any way or form. This is a wood burning and equipment related site. No one here mentioned they were chemists, so i began my hunt on google.

You know who you are.

 

[Baldman]

After reading this thread and seeing the response I also have to ask... why even post if you already have all of the answers?

Do what you want done and after you get the desired results, come back and share with the group! (and even boast, gloat, etc)

It is that simple!

 

[trialanderror]

still don't have the answers. i think veg breaks down with heat. still searching.

esters, alcohols and glycerine.

 

[peterc38]

still don't have the answers. i think veg breaks down with heat. still searching.

esters, alcohols and glycerine.

I hear glycerine will work if you mix something called "nitro" with it

 

[rx7145]

I have a friend who had a large leak on the bottom of his Central Boiler. It was one of the older CL models. It drained out in the night and in the morning he had no heat. Thought he had run out of wood. Still a full fire box. Plugged the leak and refilled with no problems.

Sometimes you get lucky.

 

[blackdogon57]

Think I will stick to H2O. This is one of the top ten stupidest threads ever.

 

[ray benson]

Everyone is confused.

I'm going to experiment with my small OWB to heat OIL instead of water.

The reason? Oil will take MUCH higher temps before boiling without the need of high pressures. To acheive water to 400F requires nearly 280PSI. I'd rather have a leak instead of an atomic bomb.

One problem is some oils will boil in the 400 degree range, and that's beyond melting points of some low temp solder joints.

another,the first thing that blasts out of peoples mouths is 'what if it spills on the ground?'

Alright. Is olive oil hazardous if it's spilled? No.
Problem solved.

Next up is leaks. If high quality fittings are used, chances of leaks are extreme minimal to none.

So, is there any reason to not try heating oil?

They do make non-toxic heat transfer oil for use in liquid heating systems up to 600°F. Wouldn't pump hot oil into a house. A water or water/antifreeze mixture would be safer and more efficient.

 

[builder1101]

I'd give it a shot. Nothing wrong with some experimenting. If it doesn't leak, then where's the concern? 180F water is just as dangerous and will cause 3rd degree burns as anything hotter. Maybe we should all turn our OWBs down to 110F just for safety?

I would do a small loop confined outside to see how it performs before plumbing up hundreds of feet.

 

[Paul61]

With a handle like "Trialanderror".........we would expect nothing less!
:hmm3grin2orange:

Paul

 

[Baldman]

:agree2:

 

[November Wolf]

Why we trying to reinvent the wheel here?

 

[builder1101]

nothing wrong with experimenting. It's not hazardous asking some questions. I don't think he's trying to reinvent something. Just has a need for hotter liquid. How good it absorbs and releases heat probably isn't his concern. He'll be ahead of the program as far as how long it lasts...no rust or corrosion.