Building a waste oil heater

[Spook50]

For temporary use I've got my diesel/kerosene heater, but as a permanent fixture I'm looking at building a waste oil heater based on this design. My plan so far is to have a four or five gallon reservoir mounted somewhere higher than the heater (but at a safe distance to avoid any fire hazard) and utilize a drip-feed oil supply system controlled by a needle valve with a sight glass on it (planning to use this). I'll have copper tube feeding the needle valve after three or four wraps around the exhaust duct to preheat the oil before it enters the combustion chamber. The oil reservoir will be fed by a pipe leading from a 55gal drum I'll keep in a near corner of my shop, and I'll have a very fine (lowest micron rating I can find) oil filter and water separator installed in line between the storage drum and supply reservoir. My big draw is that I can get WVO and waste motor oil for free from the mom & pop quick lubes and smaller restaurants near my house, since I'm told by a friend who burns WVO in his diesel that they're more than willing to have someone take it away for them as they have to pay to have it professionally disposed of.

Have any of you built one of these (or something similar)? Any advice or tips you can offer based on your experience?

 

[D'Animal]

Looks like a Great Idea but with the average consumption of 1 quart an hour, you had better have a lot of old oil around.

 

[Spook50]

Looks like a Great Idea but with the average consumption of 1 quart an hour, you had better have a lot of old oil around.

I'm only in my shop 2-4 hours at a time, and with the kid I can only pull that off a couple times a week. I figure if I can fill a 55gal drum with burnable oil during the warm months, that would carry me through a winter pretty well.

 

[Gumby]

Most places around here get paid pretty good money for their waste oil. When I had a waste oil heater in a shop it ran very high pressure spray to properly atomize the oil. It was expensive and finicky. I'm sure they have gotten a lot better, but I don't see a home built burning very efficiently or clean.

 

[inthewall]

They are a pain in the ass. I have a commercial one in my shop. They are very finicky. I have to constantly adjust it to different types of oil, keep it clean, wont burn synthetic oil or gear lube. Preheated oil is mandatory.I have had to replace injector, pump, and ceramic interior in 5 years. Oh, all the oil your friends give you will have water or antifreeze in it, thats a given.I will sell you mine, come get it
Wood stove will be my next shop heater

 

[Spook50]

They are a pain in the ass. I have a commercial one in my shop. They are very finicky. I have to constantly adjust it to different types of oil, keep it clean, wont burn synthetic oil or gear lube. Preheated oil is mandatory.I have had to replace injector, pump, and ceramic interior in 5 years. Oh, all the oil your friends give you will have water or antifreeze in it, thats a given.I will sell you mine, come get it
Wood stove will be my next shop heater

Those are the exact complaints I've seen about the furnace conversions and pre-built heaters. The one I'm planning out is a basic stove design, much like the one in this video here



My goal is to use as many "junkyard" or scrap parts as I can. Just picked up a 40gal electric water heater on Sunday that I'll strip down to the tank and use as the main body of the stove. A couple friends of mine are helping me scrounge plumbing and steel buckets & drums to use for oil storage and transport (and the feed reservoir for the heater). If nothing else it'll be a fun project to tackle, and give me more much-needed welding practice.

 

[Gumby]

They are a pain in the ass. I have a commercial one in my shop. They are very finicky. I have to constantly adjust it to different types of oil, keep it clean, wont burn synthetic oil or gear lube. Preheated oil is mandatory.I have had to replace injector, pump, and ceramic interior in 5 years. Oh, all the oil your friends give you will have water or antifreeze in it, thats a given.I will sell you mine, come get it
Wood stove will be my next shop heater

That about sums up my experience.

 

[Gumby]

Those are the exact complaints I've seen about the furnace conversions and pre-built heaters. The one I'm planning out is a basic stove design, much like the one in this video here

My goal is to use as many "junkyard" or scrap parts as I can. Just picked up a 40gal electric water heater on Sunday that I'll strip down to the tank and use as the main body of the stove. A couple friends of mine are helping me scrounge plumbing and steel buckets & drums to use for oil storage and transport (and the feed reservoir for the heater). If nothing else it'll be a fun project to tackle, and give me more much-needed welding practice.

And this sums up most posts on Mud.

I'm thinking of doing this. What do you guys think?

Experienced people post with comments about how it's not a good idea

Then the op tells us all about why he's going to do it anyway.


It's fine if you want to do a thing, just do it. If you don't want advice, don't ask for it. There must be five posts just in chat right now just like this one.

 

[esh]

There are a few simple designs out there. I am trying to use one that doesn't involve forced air.

I am still experimenting with mine, but it basically involves a 5 gallon bucket, a cheap needle valve used in air systems to control flow, dripping into a siphon attached to some copper tube wound around the stove pipe, onto a Lodge cast iron lid (underside is a nice concave shape to form a uniform/adjustable pool). The lid sits inverted above an old frying pan inside my shop stove.

I need to make a flu around the burning surface to get air moving better and burning hotter, but it basically works as a system. I use a little diesel and a couple rags to get it started. The siphon allows you to see fuel flow and pour in diesel.

here's a lid (I have an 8" lid which is too large for 8" stove pipe to fit around)- http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-L5MIC3-Miniature-Lid/dp/B001KOUGUO/?tag=ihco-20

I went after the same design as you.. here is his v2 that shows the burning surface - http://journeytoforever.org/RSwoh1.html

decent youtube video - http://youtu.be/SglY3Xph9lU

another from ozzirt (from the back of his 45 ute) - http://youtu.be/ryItHmcBz7c

and another - http://youtu.be/ElQVGJhAKA0

The last one gives the best information about the theory behind the burning plate.

 

[Spook50]

And this sums up most posts on Mud.

I'm thinking of doing this. What do you guys think?

Experienced people post with comments about how it's not a good idea

Then the op tells us all about why he's going to do it anyway.


It's fine if you want to do a thing, just do it. If you don't want advice, don't ask for it. There must be five posts just in chat right now just like this one.

Seems to be a trend doesn't it?

I was already set on building the heater, regardless of whether it ends up working or not (if it does, awesome. Mission accomplished. If it doesn't, to the recycling center it goes; no harm no foul and very little money invested, but welding experience gained). Long story short, I gain more than I stand to lose no matter the outcome, and it keeps me out of trouble this winter.

I've done a good amount of research on them and there are people who've had both good and bad experiences, so I decided to make a go of it. My curiosity was if anyone had built one in a similar fashion to the design(s) I'm copying. You hadn't said what kind your was, but inthewall's experience, based on the issues he had, sounds like it's based on something much different from what I'm planning. Not that I don't want to hear about bad experiences anyone has had with the same or similar stuff. Good experiences will give me ideas to aim for, and bad experiences will (with any luck) give me ideas to hopefully avoid the issues others have had.

Ken, it looks like you and me are taking very similar approaches. I'm hoping to avoid forced air myself (unless it's something blowing clean heated air farther into my shop). I hadn't considered using a concave burn plate though. Looks like a good idea to allow for easier fine adjustments. Hopefully next weekend I can get started on some measurements and cutting for mine. Do you have any pics of your heater?

 

[inthewall]

Spook, does it have fire brick or ceramic interior. What keeps it from burning out or warping metal?

 

[TheJackRabbit]

For me, I am still trying to collide two chuncks of Uranium to see if I get any heat. No luck so far...

 

[Spook50]

Spook, does it have fire brick or ceramic interior. What keeps it from burning out or warping metal?

The fire is drip fed the waste oil via a copper tube that I'll have routed through the air intake tube and regulated by a needle valve. As far as warping metal, the ones I've seen working successfully haven't had any issues, and this was using components that I would've thought would warp or just fall apart under the heat generated. As it is, they're only meant to create a small fire (unless you fxxx something up, and I keep a 5lb Halon fire extinguisher in my shop as a precaution already. Not that I expect to fxxx anything up, but who ever does?) inside the chamber. As a precaution in the case of oil dripping from the burn pan, I'll be putting fire brick in the bottom of the tank. It'll also serve as extra weight in the bottom to reduce the risk of tipping if anything hits it.

 

[Oakley40]

Most places around here get paid pretty good money for their waste oil. When I had a waste oil heater in a shop it ran very high pressure spray to properly atomize the oil. It was expensive and finicky. I'm sure they have gotten a lot better, but I don't see a home built burning very efficiently or clean.

This is true for many areas, not so much to pay but to recycle the oil back into motor oil. Burning it is not recycling.

If you go to www.earth911.org you can find a place to recycle oil and other household chemicals and products.

 

[Spook50]

This is true for many areas, not so much to pay but to recycle the oil back into motor oil. Burning it is not recycling.

If you go to www.earth911.org you can find a place to recycle oil and other household chemicals and products.

I would argue the point about burning not being considered recycling. According to one of the HAZMAT guys on base, the EPA considers burning of waste oil for the generation of useable heat a form of recycling. I'm going to ask him what the actual reference is that states that, but the guy knows his s***, so I take his word for it. The way he explained it was that the caveat is the combustion must produce useable results (in the case of waste oil heaters, heating a shop), or else it doesn't count.

 

[Oakley40]

I would argue the point about burning not being considered recycling. According to one of the HAZMAT guys on base, the EPA considers burning of waste oil for the generation of useable heat a form of recycling. I'm going to ask him what the actual reference is that states that, but the guy knows his ****, so I take his word for it. The way he explained it was that the caveat is the combustion must produce useable results (in the case of waste oil heaters, heating a shop), or else it doesn't count.

Point taken. I should have said burning (destroying) used motor oil is less desirable than reusing the oil for it's intended purpose. According to the EPA, one gallon of used motor oil provides the same 2.5 quarts of lubricating oil as 42 gallons (one barrel) of crude oil.

Have you thought of using used fryer oil as a fuel source? Pretty regular supply stream if you know someone that has a resturant and you will get somewhat similar BTU values, as cooking oil is around 120K BTU's and waste oil is around 125K. Fryer oil tends to burn a little cleaner and you get the added benefit of having your shop smell like french fries.

It's best to use up all of the fryer oil at the end of the cold season and clean out your tank before summer or it will go rancid.

Good luck!!

 

[Spook50]

Point taken. I should have said burning (destroying) used motor oil is less desirable than reusing the oil for it's intended purpose. According to the EPA, one gallon of used motor oil provides the same 2.5 quarts of lubricating oil as 42 gallons (one barrel) of crude oil.

Have you thought of using used fryer oil as a fuel source? Pretty regular supply stream if you know someone that has a resturant and you will get somewhat similar BTU values, as cooking oil is around 120K BTU's and waste oil is around 125K. Fryer oil tends to burn a little cleaner and you get the added benefit of having your shop smell like french fries.

It's best to use up all of the fryer oil at the end of the cold season and clean out your tank before summer or it will go rancid.

Good luck!!

I'd love to use WVO, for just the reasons you cited. There are a good amount of mom & pop restaurants near our house that I'm sure I could get plenty of oil from. I hadn't considered the possibility of it going rancid during long term storage though. I'll have to figure out how I can either dispose of what I don't use, or clean/filter it enough to prevent it from going rancid.

 

[esh]

I got my setup more or less working today. Just added some stove pipe and a couple holes to make a flue and it got burning consistently hot enough to be viable for the winter. The trick is in controlling the drip rate which is where the needle valve becomes important.

It has become a very simple system, probably $40 in parts total. Most of the effort is getting everything positioned conveniently. Startup takes about 10 minutes to get the oil going, getting oil flowing, pouring about 1/4 cup of diesel onto the plate and lighting a used shop rag. After things get going, sweep the rag off the plate, and get the oil flow right, set the flue in place.

I am burning synth for now, and it seems to work well enough. After comments I'd heard and read, I thought I would have to cut it with dino or diesel.

As with ozzirt's case, it may only work from the back of a 45 ute.

Burns pretty clean after it gets going, but there is a slight odor outside.

 

[Joe_E]

They are a pain in the ass. I have a commercial one in my shop. They are very finicky. I have to constantly adjust it to different types of oil, keep it clean, wont burn synthetic oil or gear lube. Preheated oil is mandatory.I have had to replace injector, pump, and ceramic interior in 5 years. Oh, all the oil your friends give you will have water or antifreeze in it, thats a given.I will sell you mine, come get it
Wood stove will be my next shop heater

This is why i stopped hooking my buddy up with the oil from the job. We are producing around 5 drums a month. Problem is everyone dumps gas, a/f, and everything else in them. Or the mechanics will leave the pan on top uncovered and rain will add a couple gallons of water to the mix. I was doing the company a favor by having him come grab them and burn in his shop but not anymore.

 

[Spook50]

I got my setup more or less working today. Just added some stove pipe and a couple holes to make a flue and it got burning consistently hot enough to be viable for the winter. The trick is in controlling the drip rate which is where the needle valve becomes important.

It has become a very simple system, probably $40 in parts total. Most of the effort is getting everything positioned conveniently. Startup takes about 10 minutes to get the oil going, getting oil flowing, pouring about 1/4 cup of diesel onto the plate and lighting a used shop rag. After things get going, sweep the rag off the plate, and get the oil flow right, set the flue in place.

I am burning synth for now, and it seems to work well enough. After comments I'd heard and read, I thought I would have to cut it with dino or diesel.

As with ozzirt's case, it may only work from the back of a 45 ute.

Are you using an intake duct of any sort? Doesn't look like it in your pics, but I wanted to make sure. At this point I'm planning on making an intake duct for mine that'll enter from the top of the main body and terminate 12" or so (maybe more or less. I figure this will take some fine tuning for the best combustion) above the burner, with the drip/feed line running down the center of that and ending a couple inches up inside the duct. It'll also feed outside air into the heater, rather than drawing air from my shop into it. That was based on a couple HVAC guys I know telling me it'd be more efficient to do it that way, which makes sense to me. I still have to figure out if it would be better to use equal sizes intake and exhaust ducting, or use smaller intake than exhaust ducting for the sake of a better "forced air" effect once I get a good draft going. Pretty sure I'll use 6" ducting for the exhaust, so it's between 6" and 4" for the intake. I also need to school myself up on how to properly install the exhaust ducting so the insulation on my roof (corrugated metal, same as your) isn't exposed to too much heat. I know just feeding a single wall duct through an opening in the roof would be dumb, but beyond that I'm admittedly clueless.

BTW here's the needle valve I'll be using to control my oil drip. It's less costly than the one I found at Grainger, and I've never had anything but good experiences with the quality of products I get from McMaster. It's the straight, single inlet sight-flow valve. http://www.mcmaster.com/#sight-feed-needle-valves/=kca9x7