Nozzle size??

[LittleGuy]

Just picked up my oil burner.

Pd $100 Can. for a 3 month old Beckett AFG.

It has a .65 nozzle in it now. What size should I throw in my unit.

I have a home made oil tank arch with a 3X3 pan.

I was thinking a 1.5 or 2. is this enough?

And what do you think I should get for an evaporation rate, I plan on putting a preheater pan on the back of the setup, as I have about a foot of space between the stack and pan.

Thanks.

[maple flats]

nozzles are cheap, try 1 ea of a few sizes and try with water in the pans, be sure the gun can utilize the sizes you choose and go with the one that boils best. If you are just blowing in the front you likely want a wide spray angle IMO, but then I do not boil with oil. You will reach a point of max efficient rate and then get a few spares of the best one. In a furnace you do best with a target wall to fire against but you may not need it for this application. Some of the others can likely answer that.
Dave

[LittleGuy]

I was thinking about just going back 18" or so and going straight up to 5" under half the pan. So I would have a square box then the narrowing under the pan, instead of a slope from front back. Don't know if it would work or not, all i've seen was the sloped arches.

[325abn]

You got your arch built already?? Thats great can, you post a pic? :D

My burner has a .8 on it now but I also have a1.5 . I will be firing this baby up this weekend for the first time with H2o.

I am going to experiment with water to see what works best. The dude I got this rig from claimed 30gal/HR but I am think 25 - 26 we shall see!

I think you will do better with a slope as oposed to a flat wall.

[LittleGuy]

Right now all I have done to the oil tank is, Cut in half, the front 2/3 framed for tha pan. Need to cut hole for the burner, Make the deck and stack for the back 1/3. Then I'm doing the inside and insulating. I can post pics of a step by step if you'd like. But just remember I'm doing this out of scrap I get for nothing. Very little will be new, other then the insulation and maybe stove pipe.

[maple flats]

just remember, fuel oil straight is 140,000 btu/gal and cut 50% with kerosene is a little lower (i think that was maybe 130,000 or so) and the nozzle size is in gph. You have much more than the 140,000 if you have a roaring fire with wood so plan accordingly. I do believe you can use a much higher % of available heat with loi than wood though but that might give you a starting point idea. Wood burning charts give btu/pound of wood or in the new NORTH AMERICAN MAPLE SYRUP PRODUCERS MANUAL (NAMSPM) they give a chart for BTU's by species for several and compare it to gal of #2 fuel oil. A couple of examples are black locust and shagbark hickery is 24.6 Mil btu/cord and equals 251 gal fuel oil or at the lower end red maple gives 18.6 mil btu/cord = 190 gal fuel oil. Compare these with the output of a typical woodfired evap designed like yours and do the math, you should get a good starting nozzel size.

[Fred Henderson]

Why would you cut your fuel oil 50% with kerosene?

[NH Maplemaker]

To prevent jelling of the #2 fuel ! Moble homes and Hous'es with out side tanks use Kerosene in them. Some oil companys will not put #2 in an outside tank. Jim L.

[brookledge]

Fred
Fuel oil will gel when its cold. Most of the cold weather fuel are treated or blended with kero. to keep it from gelling. But in most cases in homes the tanks are either in the cellar or in the ground so heating oil is usually not blended. If you have a 275 gal tank outside exposed to cold temps it will gel up and you will be out of business until you can treat the fuel. The same goes for diesel used in trucks.
Keith

[Fred Henderson]

I have been running diesel p/u's for over 20 years and have never had that problem because all diesel fuel that is sold in colder climates is treated( 50% mix or what I do not know) starting in August. I have a 275 gal outside fuel tank for my garage/shop and earh year before I have it filled I put in the right amount of Power Service Plus for the gallons that I am getting. I use that in my tractor,and RTV and have never had a problem in 15 years. I am thinking that it would be cheaper than buying mixed fuel. My idea would probably only work if a person had just one large tank and did not want the hassle of having to treat it when delivered.