fire brick question

[ckkrotz]

We are building an oil tank evaporator, and I've been looking at all the pictures I can find of them. One evaporator (Indiana-Jones') has the fire brick bolted on. My father, who is helping, thinks that the bricks would break too easily. How are the bricks usually held in place? My dad wants to use angle iron to make shelves to hold them in, but that's not going to be cheap, and I don't see anything like that in anyone's pictures. I looked at the pictures on fire bricking on W F Mason's website , and it just shows the bricks, with nothing to hold them in place. Are they usually held in place with refractory cement?

One more question... for insulation, I see that people use arch board or ceramic blanket... am I right in saying that arch board is different than something like high temp. cement board? I don't think cement board insulates that much, and I don't know if it could handle the extreme heat of an evaporator... Is there another name for arch board? We are just trying to figure out where to get insulation... We don't have a lot of time for a trip to Bascoms' but I don't want to do it wrong either.
Thanks in advance!

[3fires]

I have some videos on my Youtube channel of my setup. There's a playlist showing everything. But, I just stacked mine up and was careful when adding wood not to bump them too hard. I didn't have any issues myself, but you might want to take a look at my setup and see if it compares to what you're making, as that could make a big difference. That rig was getting 12+ gph when I finished last season with no forced air or the like and I could finish right on the front pan.

[Ausable]

We are building an oil tank evaporator, and I've been looking at all the pictures I can find of them. One evaporator (Indiana-Jones') has the fire brick bolted on. My father, who is helping, thinks that the bricks would break too easily. How are the bricks usually held in place? My dad wants to use angle iron to make shelves to hold them in, but that's not going to be cheap, and I don't see anything like that in anyone's pictures. I looked at the pictures on fire bricking on W F Mason's website , and it just shows the bricks, with nothing to hold them in place. Are they usually held in place with refractory cement?

One more question... for insulation, I see that people use arch board or ceramic blanket... am I right in saying that arch board is different than something like high temp. cement board? I don't think cement board insulates that much, and I don't know if it could handle the extreme heat of an evaporator... Is there another name for arch board? We are just trying to figure out where to get insulation... We don't have a lot of time for a trip to Bascoms' but I don't want to do it wrong either.
Thanks in advance!

I also have an Oil Tank Evaporator. We cut the top off where the bend starts and welded a reinforcment lip along the tank edge to rest the evaporator pans on. the bottom of the tank was left intact with the exception of a door to add wood and an ash cleanout door below that. On the back - near the top we built a chimney box and welded that on for the stack. Inside on the botton we have sand - the burner grate is about 6to8 inches above that. On the inside-sides we welded standoffs a little longer then the thickness of a firebrick - to the standoffs we welded a steel mesh. When we placed the arch in the Sugar Shack we added all the weighty stuff....sand - firebrick etc..... The firebrick was carefully placed between the sidewalls and the mesh. Have used this rig for three years and still holding up - eventually the steel mesh will probably burn out - but - good so far----Mike---

[ckkrotz]

I've been looking on here and see that people use mineral wool board in place of arch board... is that actually the same thing under a different name? My husband is a plumber and works with mineral wool board all the time, so it might be really easy to get if that's what we need.

[C.Wilcox]

Mineral wool would work for your evaporator. It's basically a fireproof insulation and that's what you need. As for the firebrick, mine in my oil tank evaporator are just standing on a piece of angle iron, but they're all mortared to each other with refractory cement. None of them have shifted in the past two years.

[eustis22]

Anchor your firebrick with refractory cement. Bascom's carries it and the price seems much more reasonable than local fireplace stores

[justahobby]

Just bought this for my new "lightweight" and portable evaporator:

Mcmaster.com 93315k54
$59.82 for a 50 sqft roll of 1" thick 2000°F blanket

Delivered to my house for a few bucks more.
According to the specs, this stuff insulates 2X to 3X times better than 1.25" firbrick.

In the firebox section, I sill have normal firebricks for durability.

[adk1]

I bought mine at a local hardware store. I didnt need alot though.

[Turtlecreek]

In my barrel evaporator I used 1/2 inch ceramic blanket from McMaster Carr an then I put 1/2 bricks all of the way up. The ones at the top I bolted in with some 1/4 20 bolts. The trick to drilling them is to use a masonry drill and put constant pressure on the brick, be sure to drill them on a flat surface. Mine have been in for a few years now and I have not had a problem with any of the cracking on me at all. This year I got 2 more half bricks and bolted them to my door for added heat resistance on it, I usually have the door glowing and last year the cast iron actually cracked, so hopefully this works.