Thought I would post some photos of the progress on our fuel oil drum evaporator project. This project is very similar to, and is based heavily on, Gary R.'s project in this thread http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=3621 and others who have shared info on this site (many thanks to everyone for sharing that information). Based on suggestions from Gary and others, we've decided to go with a bread and butter approach on this for the time being. Just a 2X4 flat pan that we may weld fins onto for the heck of it based on Jim Schumacher's experience in this thread http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=6647. We are planning on putting in the right plumbing for a forced air system just in case our test boils don't give a satisfactory result, but are planning to use a natural draft for now. My dad is doing all the metal work on the project being that I can't weld to save my life. I am really good at getting welding rods stuck to steel though. So far he's got the top of the barrel cut off, a frame for the pan, and adjustable legs for leveling welded on. It's kind of hard to see in the photos, but we're trying to figure out the best angle for the ramp at the back of the firebox. At the moment it's tipped back so that the flames will have to run horizontally under the back 1 foot of the pan. The firebox will be approx. 24" deep and 27" wide so I'm thinking that with a good fire we shouldn't have too much trouble keeping that back foot boiling, but I could be wrong about that. Anybody have any ideas on whether this will work alright? Should we tip it all the way back so that it ends at the very back edge of the pan? At the moment we're planning on leaving 2.5 inches of space under the back foot of the pan where the flames will run horizontal so that we have a cross sectional area equal to the cross sectional area of the stack (8"). I was thinking that we could just add blanket, board, or more sand under the fire bricks as necessary if we needed to. Comments and suggestions are more than welcome if anyone out there has an opinion. Thanks!
Homemade 2X4 w/Flat Pan
50 taps....but always looking to expand
Mostly box elders with a scattering of red, silver, & sugar maples
Allis Chalmers C & Homemade Sap Sled
Fuel Oil Drum Evaporator
So far he's got the top of the barrel cut off, a frame for the pan, and adjustable legs for leveling welded on. It's kind of hard to see in the photos, but we're trying to figure out the best angle for the ramp at the back of the firebox. At the moment it's tipped back so that the flames will have to run horizontally under the back 1 foot of the pan. The firebox will be approx. 24" deep and 27" wide so I'm thinking that with a good fire we shouldn't have too much trouble keeping that back foot boiling, but I could be wrong about that. Anybody have any ideas on whether this will work alright? Should we tip it all the way back so that it ends at the very back edge of the pan? At the moment we're planning on leaving 2.5 inches of space under the back foot of the pan where the flames will run horizontal so that we have a cross sectional area equal to the cross sectional area of the stack (8"). I was thinking that we could just add blanket, board, or more sand under the fire bricks as necessary if we needed to. Comments and suggestions are more than welcome if anyone out there has an opinion. Thanks!
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