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Posted by Chris Edwards on March 29, 2008, 2:55 pm
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On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:35:24 GMT, max@hotmail.com wrote:
>I forgot, it might be possible with oil or gas firing, but not really with
>hardwood, but even then you would need some sort of automated control
>system.
Absolutely...I have already made the same point to my friend.
Personally, I think he's reverse-engineering the wheel.
--
Chris Edwards (in deepest Dorset) "....there *must* be an easier way!"
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Posted by :Jerry: on March 29, 2008, 12:42 pm
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> My only thought is how are you going to keep the engine / boiler
> runing
> without employing someone to keep it running.
Having a boiler in light steam during the night time is not so much of
a problem as long as the ash-pan area is correctly designed.
>
> Assuming you need 24 hour power are you going to have the boiler
> fired and
> the engine running all night un-attended?
Err, pre-heated water stays hot in an insulated tank you know, perhaps
people are forgetting that due to the onward scourge of domestic
'Combi' boiler?... As for electric power, lighting would be the main
concern and all it would need is a set of storage batteries and an
inverter.
> I bet the insurance folks would be interested in that?
Depends on were the boiler is located within the property and it's
grounds, also, if you re read the OP you will see that this is not
going to be in the UK, heck there might not even be insurance!
>
> As to hot water, the same applies, either that or you get up, pop
> down,
> light the boiler, get up steam, then pop back in for your shower?
>
> Power Stations ran 24/7, but they had three shifts to cover the
> maintenance
> and ensure that everything was running okay.
>
> It sounds nice, but not really practical, unless you have some form
> of
> storage of the heat and power.
>
It is practical, just a lot of work and thought is needed to plan it
all, it comes down to local conditions and what the alternatives are
as to whether it's worth the effort though.
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Posted by Chris Edwards on March 29, 2008, 2:57 pm
Please log in for more thread options wrote:
>
>> My only thought is how are you going to keep the engine / boiler
>> runing
>> without employing someone to keep it running.
>
>Having a boiler in light steam during the night time is not so much of
>a problem as long as the ash-pan area is correctly designed.
>
>>
>> Assuming you need 24 hour power are you going to have the boiler
>> fired and
>> the engine running all night un-attended?
>
>Err, pre-heated water stays hot in an insulated tank you know, perhaps
>people are forgetting that due to the onward scourge of domestic
>'Combi' boiler?... As for electric power, lighting would be the main
>concern and all it would need is a set of storage batteries and an
>inverter.
>
>> I bet the insurance folks would be interested in that?
>
>Depends on were the boiler is located within the property and it's
>grounds, also, if you re read the OP you will see that this is not
>going to be in the UK, heck there might not even be insurance!
>
>>
>> As to hot water, the same applies, either that or you get up, pop
>> down,
>> light the boiler, get up steam, then pop back in for your shower?
>>
>> Power Stations ran 24/7, but they had three shifts to cover the
>> maintenance
>> and ensure that everything was running okay.
>>
>> It sounds nice, but not really practical, unless you have some form
>> of
>> storage of the heat and power.
>>
>
>It is practical, just a lot of work and thought is needed to plan it
>all, it comes down to local conditions and what the alternatives are
>as to whether it's worth the effort though.
>
....It's in the middle of a Hungarian forest!
--
Chris Edwards (in deepest Dorset) "....there *must* be an easier way!"
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Posted by Mike H on March 29, 2008, 4:38 pm
Please log in for more thread options >'Morning troops
>
> A friend of mine is moving to the country where he has access to
>unlimited quantities of hardwood fuel. He's looking to find a small boiler
>and steam engine, which he says would be about 10HP (8 Watts ?), with which
>he hopes to power a generator to provide all his electrical needs, with the
>boiler also serving to produce domestic hot water and heating.
>
Oddly enough, today at the Statfold Barn open day, a group of us were
puzzling over some very new looking equipment. In the end the consensus
was that it might be the boiler for a workshop heating system. As far as
could be made out, an automatic stoking system fed wood chippings from a
large hopper to the boiler by means of an Archimedes screw.
--
Mike Hopkins
CSME <http://www.cheltsme.org.uk>
5" gauge (2 1/2" scale) Alice class Hunslet
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Posted by ticktock on March 30, 2008, 5:02 am
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> Notwithstanding the size of unit quoted, is there anything off-the
> -shelf known to anybody? I said I would ask the experts!
>
The simple answer Chris is 'no' (AFAIK) there is not a pre-packaged
unit available off-the-shelf that will do what you are asking.
However, can it be done is a different question to which the answer is
'yes' ...and... 'has been for quite some time, the technology for auto-
stoking and grating is well known. We used to operate coal fired
boilers with automatic stoking and grate agitation ....BUT ... the
downside was that the smallest was about 150kW. They were also damned
expensive bits of kit, with low day-on-day maintenance needs due to
the Controls but eye-watering 12monthly grate replacements (the best
agitated grate still tending to clog locally if not examined and
attended to by eyeball-Mk1).
A fluidic-bed boiler burning sawdust and chippings would alleviate
that, but your mate would need very deep pockets. Just not viable for
a small domestic situation. If it were mine I would opt for a
regular wood-burner with heat recovery and possibly a Stirling with
it's hot end in the flue running a car alternator for the batteries.
Alternatively, ditch the wood idea and go for a small CHP unit which
are available in small domestic sizes, with solar trickle for battery
charging.
As for the Controls element, for any of the packages... there is
nothing complex to them and the models/algorithms are all well known,
the sensing for the grate is the trickiest to get right.
In short... nice thought, shame about the costs.
Ian
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>hardwood, but even then you would need some sort of automated control
>system.