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waste oil burners

updated sat 7 nov 98

 

Bob Whelchel on fri 30 oct 98

I am looking for waste oil burner designs to fire a kiln. Thanks

Marcia Selsor on sun 1 nov 98

Dennis Parks wrote the bokk literally on Waste Oil Firing. That is out
of print but may be located thru interlibrary loans. Early issue of
Studio Potter Magazine on Alternative fuels also has good info. The
subsequent book, Studio Potter (published first by Daniel Clark
Foundation then Chilton) also has information. The design on fuel oil
burners IMHO provides more control for the climb in temperature. Beware
of "clinker build up" when firing with oil. This is from inefficiant
combustion and is a carbon buildup of real density which can clog your
burner ports.
The drip system for burning oil is good but oil is difficult to combust
in the early stages. If you convert a domestic furnace burner for fuel
oil to be used in the early stages and then switch to used waste oil
(cleaned thru a large coffee can of charcoal briquets) you will have
more success.
Oil gives some great copper red reductions!
Marcia in Montana

Bob Whelchel wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I am looking for waste oil burner designs to fire a kiln. Thanks

Donn Buchfinck on sun 1 nov 98

An easy one to make is out of a 4 inch wide piece of channel steel


so you have this burner port
lets say it is 4 1/2 x 5 inches tall

take a piece of this 4 inch channel steel it is shaped like

]
and put it in the burner port with the flat side down and the little arms up
this is to hold to oil
make a bracket that will hold the steel at a 30 to 45 degree angle
I do not know if it is bad for the steel to rest on the bricks but I would
have it so air can get under the lip of the steel

the kiln has to get hot before you use this
the trick is so the steel gets hot and makes the oil vaporize
the tip of the burner gets all narley so eventually you have to make a new one
some people use a little water dripped with the oil to help in this action
you need to have the container of oil on a stand above the height of the
burner port, gravity feed is what we are working with
use a hose that has a small spigit on it that then goes to a copper tubing
that will drip the oil onto the angle iron
from this point on it is up to you to figure out how much oil is needed
oil is a large molecule so it will not take a lot

I have seen this type of burner used on wood kilns effectivly, you set the
burner up on the kiln after you get it hot
Ruggles and Rankin used to finish off there kiln with it
and so did Makenzie Smith at the Archie bray foundation
I would be interested in how they built there burners

lastly I would not use waste oil because of the heavy metals that are in the
oil that have come off the engine parts. I would use home heating oil or
kerosene

Donn Buchfinck

Vince Pitelka on sun 1 nov 98

>I am looking for waste oil burner designs to fire a kiln. Thanks

Bob -
I have mentioned this before on Clayart, but will repeat here. Many years
ago, I had a friend named Doug Nordby, in Trinidad, California, who was a
self-taught potter. Previous to his involvement in clay he was known as
Father Doug, and with his Universal Life Church certificate performed all
the weddings for the local bikers. Through his association with Crescent
City potter Mike Selfridge, he got "fired up" about salt-glazed ceramics and
pursued it with a vengeance. His potshop was built in a low place, and in
the frequent Humboldt County storms he would wear rubber boots, and work in
six inches of water. Didn't phase him a bit. His kiln was constructed of a
single thickness of recycled hardbrick, fired on recycled crankcase oil
spiked with a gallon of gasoline to 50 gallons of oil, gravity feed from a
drum on an old redwood stump nearby. He used the standard "hot plate"
drip-oil burners as described in Olson, supercharged with Kirby
vacuum-cleaner blowers. His kiln was about 60 cubic feet, and I would
estimate that his burners were putting out approximately two million BTUs at
high-fire temps. When the kiln was reaching temperature, you could walk
around the outside of it and repeatedly get clear views of the pots inside
through all the holes in the kiln. He had no trouble reaching cone 11.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166

Milton Markey on sun 1 nov 98

Bob,

You may want to read up on oil firing. There's an excellent book, which may
now be out of print (published in 1978, I think). The title: A Potter's Guide
to Raw Glazing and Oil Firing, by Dennis Parks. I'm unsure of the publisher's
name. I read this book from cover to cover when I studied ceramic sculpture.
Parks perfected the technique of oil firing and is a true "pro" in this
endeavor.

Milton MiltonsLin

Yucca Valley is bracing for it's first dip into the 30-degree range, since
February. Time to check the propane tank to see if there's enough fuel to heat
the house!

Paul Monaghan on mon 2 nov 98

The Kiln Book by Olsen has a section on waste oil burners which you
might find very helpful.

Paul Monaghan
WEB2U Productions
The SECRETS are at
http://www.web2u.com/secret


Marcia Selsor wrote:

> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> Dennis Parks wrote the bokk literally on Waste Oil Firing. That is out
>
> of print but may be located thru interlibrary loans. Early issue of
> Studio Potter Magazine on Alternative fuels also has good info. The
> subsequent book, Studio Potter (published first by Daniel Clark
> Foundation then Chilton) also has information. The design on fuel oil
> burners IMHO provides more control for the climb in temperature.
> Beware
> of "clinker build up" when firing with oil. This is from inefficiant
> combustion and is a carbon buildup of real density which can clog your
>
> burner ports.
> The drip system for burning oil is good but oil is difficult to
> combust
> in the early stages. If you convert a domestic furnace burner for fuel
>
> oil to be used in the early stages and then switch to used waste oil
> (cleaned thru a large coffee can of charcoal briquets) you will have
> more success.
> Oil gives some great copper red reductions!
> Marcia in Montana
>
> Bob Whelchel wrote:
> >
> > ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> > I am looking for waste oil burner designs to fire a kiln. Thanks

Louis Katz on tue 3 nov 98



> Hi Bob,

I have used several waste oil burners. The louvered drip plates are very
simple, but you need a tall chimney and a tight kiln to get much out of
them. They are slow until the firebox heats up. One work around is to
design the louvers so they drip forward and then back. This allows the heat
from the bottom plate more opportunity to heat the upper plates.a simple
diagram is located at
http://www2.tamucc.edu/lkatz/temp/burner.jpg
Louis

--
Louis Katz
lkatz@falcon.tamucc.edu
http://www2.tamucc.edu/lkatz/lkatz/
(512) 994-5987
Looking for the recipe for Erie Gold

Kate Smith on thu 5 nov 98

Onr thing to keep in mind re waste oil burners is the fuel contains heavy
metals. There are enough heavy metals in used motor oil to require
regulation by the EPA when used for simply heating smaller buildings.
The metals come off of bearings include chrome & cadmium to name just
two.

I would imagine this could contaminate a kiln and functional ware just as
lead in a glaze could.

Phil & Kate Smith
PotterSmiths'
White Bear Lake, MN

Louis Katz on fri 6 nov 98

If heavy metals are your concern consider burning waste Deep fat frier oil.
It is a pain to seive, and you have to keep it warm to get it to flow, but
when it burns it smells like donuts.
Louis
--
Louis Katz
lkatz@falcon.tamucc.edu
NCECA Director At Large
Texas A&M-CC Division of Visual and Performing Arts Webmaster (512) 994-5987