waste oil evaporators

[featheredcoyote]

does anyone mfg. a waste oil evaporator?

[lew]

Not to my knowledge. But to burn waste oil only needs a different burner, not a different evaporator. Commercially built waste oil burners are relatively small, in that they can only burn a small amount of oil. The number evades me now, but I think it was enough to run a 2x6, maybe a 3 foot evaporator. Larger units a usually handmade relatively easily. We found that using a nozzle smaller than 7-8 gph was difficult because it would clog relatively easily. It's really just a matter of some how filtering your oil, which can be done with settling, and heating your oil just prior to ignition.

[maple flats]

It seems I remember a thread about waste oil burners. I think the regulations required you to only burn oil you had generated or they had a specified maximum they could burn. If that is true, I doubt anyone could run an evaporator on waste oil. I think a member on here posted that they had been stopped from burning waste oil. If my memory is right, it sounds like more over regulation to me.

[GeneralStark]

In Vermont it is illegal to use waste oil in a direct fired evaporator. In a steam system, that is a different story. The various equipment dealers generally do not manufacture evaps. specifically for waste oil, but they could certainly be retrofit to do so with a correct burner. In my experience burning waste oil in vehicles and in a steam boiler, good filtering and pre-heating are essential as well as the correct burner and nozzle. It really sucks when the sap is running hard and your rig goes down because the nozzle is clogged, your filters are fouled, or the power goes out.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

In Vermont it is illegal to use waste oil in a direct fired evaporator. In a steam system, that is a different story. The various equipment dealers generally do not manufacture evaps. specifically for waste oil, but they could certainly be retrofit to do so with a correct burner. In my experience burning waste oil in vehicles and in a steam boiler, good filtering and pre-heating are essential as well as the correct burner and nozzle. It really sucks when the sap is running hard and your rig goes down because the nozzle is clogged, your filters are fouled, or the power goes out.

I looked into this before converting to an inferno arch and did a lot of research. I decided against it after the above reasons listed. Biggest nozzle I could get from local dealer was 3.5gph nozzle. I had access to plenty of good waste oil and could have made it work but to this day 10 years later I still feel I made the right decision.

[lew]

We boiled with waste oil for about 20 years. Hauling and storage are the biggest hassles. I believe in NY you can only haul a 55 gallon barrel legally without permits and such. The volume you can store without permits USED to be 1000 gallons, the same as no. 2 oil. I'm not sure on that any more. All states are different, check with your states regulations before you start. If you can do it legally, go for it. I loved waste oil, that is when you could get your hands on it easily. Now, in my area, most shops that produce enough to bother with burn it themselves. They get frustrated with filters and nozzles plugging but do it any ways to dispose of the oil rater than paying someone to haul it away and get heat out of it as well. The last year I burned it I ended up paying $1 a gallon for it, plus haul it and store it. I knew that I had broken the rules about hauling, probably about storing it nowadays as well. But when I was burning it I loved it. You could see the difference in the oil when you switched over from no. 2 oil to the used oil. The pans just seemed to dance. No real hassle in burning it though. Just pump it to the burner, heat it, burn it. Just a couple of pressure regulators and a fine screen (I believe #100 mesh) in the mix and voila! cheap heat. Big nozzles are the key. Nothing below 7-8 gph or you will have a plugged nozzle regularly. I ran a 13 gph nozzle under my 5x10 all flue rig. Rarely did I have a nozzle plug, maybe once a season. And when that size nozzle plugs it's really easy to fix. pull the nozzle apart and blow it out with a compressor or you can shove a wire through it. For an oil nozzle, it has a huge opening. You're shut down maybe 10 minutes.