Drop In Blower

[WF MASON]

I've been working on a drop in blower system for a couple years now(off and on) , the idea is tubing frame with drilled holes, made to the same angle as the arch front , going across inside the arch above the door(s) opening , down each side of the front and connecting across the bottom below the doors on the grates. Another length of tube follows the brick rest or grate back exiting under the arch where a blower charges it. Depending on the size front , two tubes would charge it with air. It has been used this year on a 2'x6' dropflue, the evaporation went from 30 gph to 40 gph with the blower system.And dropped back to 30 when it was shut down.The increase in gph when a airtight arch or front is used is very impressive to say the least , I'm hoping with a change in hole size and blower pressure the 40 gph will go to 50. If it works it'll be something that could be added to any size wood evaporator.

[mapleman3]

How bout improvements to oil?? I want to get more gph beyond that of the preheater... but without increasing nozzle size. I'm wondering if I'm letting too much up the stack, I may add a bit mor insulation in the back to keep the fire in just a bit more.... we'll see I'm running a 600deg stack now, if I get that down maybe 50 - 100 degs I may pick up a few more gph...

[RileySugarbush]

Mason,

I don't follow what you are doing there. Sounds effective, but is it combustion air injection or something else? Any photos?

[WF MASON]

It is air injection.

[steve J]

Will this blower work on the little 2x3 that you Mfg Bill? Also do you Mfg a 2x6 and does anyone stock it here in Vermont if you do? I bought my 2x3 from Danforths 3 years ago but they are no longer in business.

[Russell Lampron]

Jim,

The one thing that would make the biggest improvement to your oil per gallon syrup ratio would be to add an RO machine. Expensive to start with but the savings would pay for it pretty quick. Imagine making the syrup you do now with a 1/4 of the amount of oil.

Russ

[WF MASON]

Jim, if you want to hash over the best btu's out of oil,and with the price nowdays everyone should be looking at being more efficient, that would be to make your arch into a double pass boiler, like that used on Navy ships when my dad was serving , he always said a arch made that way would be very efficient, then several years ago I saw a drawing in one of the 'big three' catalogs , D+G maybe, showing the double pass arch. It couldn't be done with a converted arch, you would need a rectangle box arch to make it work. The burner and stack are on the same end.I would think it would increase gph also. The heat stays in the arch twice as long.A auto stack draft fan might be needed for this to work. My knowledge of oil (like everything else) is slim.

[802maple]

The arch you were remembering Bill is the waterloo Turbo or now it is made by Lapierre, It is very efficient

[brookledge]

One thing that worked for me was when I bought my new evaporator I kept the same width but increased the length by 4 feet. I found out that it burned the same amount of wood but saw a major increase in boiling rate.
If you go from a 2X6 to a 2X8 you will burn the same amount of wood but will see an increase in boiling rate.
It should be the same for oil. Especially when the stack temps are over 500
Keith

[Uncle Tucker]

I don't understand the air injection. If we want to blow air to the top of the fire, then why do we use pan gasket?

[brookledge]

Pan gasket is used to keep the smoke,ashes and heat in the arch. Otherwise when you have the blower cranking it will make a mess.
The theory behind adding air to the gasses is to try to get complete combustion. Just like when flue gasses ignite when they come out of the stack. Those gasses will give of more heat if they are burned in the arch instead of after they leave the stack.
Keith

[Russell Lampron]

Injecting air over the fire gives the unburned gases a source of oxygen so that they can ignite before exiting the firebox. There is already enough heat there for this to happen. It makes your evaporator more efficient because you are using the heat created instead of letting it go up the stack. The automotive industry has been using this technology for years to heat catalytic converters up to operating temp sooner and cut down on hydrocarbon emissions.

Russ