Slimy38
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 10:51 AM |
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Waste oil for heating
I've been in the garage this morning, and realised two things;
1. It's damn cold!!
2. I have lots of bottles of used engine and gearbox oil that I need to dispose of.
I normally take my oil down to the local tip and dispose of it properly, but then I thought about whether it's possible to use it in a heater of
some kind. I did find something called a SWOB (small waste oil burner), but then reading a bit more I saw they cost a fair bit, and there are now
regulations around their use.
Is there anything locost that could be done to make use of the oil as a heating fuel?
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nick205
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 11:21 AM |
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Can't help with regards to the heaters, but the first step I'd take is to remove drafts and insulate the space. If you do heat it keeping
the heat in will make a big difference.
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Myke 2463
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 12:58 PM |
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Try looking here.
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me11.html NTDWM.
Be Lucky Mike.
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adithorp
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 01:00 PM |
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If you do a google search you'll find designs for DIY waste oil burners. However they are notrious for being difficult to control and getting
out of control. I'd say "setting fire" but they're supposed to do that, just not everything else around them.
Burning waste oil is controlled (EU reg I think) but there has been an exemption for small scale burners however that is supposedly about to be (or
has been) abolished and a registration and licencing scheme brought in for them (then delayed...).
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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ian locostzx9rc2
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 01:48 PM |
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If you buy a new waste oil burner you have pay a yearly fee to your local authority as long as happy with where it's being used if you can get
hold of a secondhand one that's up to you !!! Thermobile ones Are very good efficient and amazing very clean but in a garage if it's less
than 600 sq ft it's a bit of an over kill and they burn approx 3 to 5 litres an hour
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Slimy38
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 02:12 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Can't help with regards to the heaters, but the first step I'd take is to remove drafts and insulate the space. If you do heat it keeping
the heat in will make a big difference.
Yep, already done that. It's a double skinned insulated wall, the weak point is the metal garage door but that now had the foil backed bubble
wrap insulation on it. It does keep the heat quite well, but the small fan heater I normally use takes a good half hour to get it up to a reasonable
temperature. And by 'reasonable temperature', I mean so I can pick steel up without it freezing to my hand!
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bi22le
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 02:22 PM |
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Procomp have one in their garage. I was picking their brains about it. It was a good few years ago that I went but IIRC daddy procomp (its a father
son business) used to design and install them. Their one heated the garage and part of the house.
I think it run on a perpetual evaporation principle which was prewarmed by a gas burner. They had a gravity fed tank and a valve that regulated the
drip flow, so it used very little. The drips would hit a hot plate that then evaporated the oil causing a flamable gas, this would ignite warming the
plate for the next drip. The exhaust was funnelled up to a CH heat exchange.
I guess it was a bit like fat from a burger dripping on hot coals.
[Edited on 16/3/17 by bi22le]
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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loggyboy
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 02:55 PM |
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http://garagewire.co.uk/news/garages-face-dilemma-ahead-of-small-waste-oil-burner-reg-changes/
Mistral Motorsport
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Slimy38
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 03:55 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
http://garagewire.co.uk/news/garages-face-dilemma-ahead-of-small-waste-oil-burner-reg-changes/
Yep, that was the very first article I found as well!
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Wadders
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 06:33 PM |
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My mate knocked one up using a waggon brake drum for the oil to drip into, and a stainless burn tube, the drum is force fed air from the side by a fan
from an old gas boiler, which creates a vortex up the burn tube.
The flame goes up through a fabricated and welded jacketed heat exchanger which is filled with a water/antifreeze mix and then exits through a
5" stainless steel chimney tube to above garage apex height. After 4 or 5 minutes any black smoke disappears completely.
The boiler is outside the garage in a purpose built attached brick built storage cupboard with a bunded bottom and steel doors. Its piped up to
several radiators inside the garage running from a header tank and domestic circulation pump.
Works a treat, but as said they do use a fair bit of oil, and even though there is no visible smoke, he does sometimes get little soot particles
settling on cars etc. In the depths of winter he has to mix some oil/diesel to get it started, but once burning it self heats the oil supply as the
feed copper pipe is wrapped round the heat exchanger.
Totally illegal but works well for him as he has no neighbours, just surrounded by fields. Probably wouldn't be a good idea if you liv e on a
housing estate.
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UncleFista
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 07:00 PM |
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I converted my home made wood burner (old gas bottle) to burn waste oil, using an A/C peristaltic pump, it worked great 
It's surprising how much oil they burn though, I was taking 20l tubs of used cooking oil from the Restaurant next door to work to use but it got
too much.
It's also smelly, dirty and makes a mess with even a few drips.
It's back burning wood now
If you give it a go I wholeheartedly recommend using a peristaltic pump, it was the only way I could work out how to keep the flow steady whether
using cold sludgy oil or thinner stuff as it heats up.
Mine was eventually controlled by an arduino using temp sensors but TBH was a faff and not needed.
Mine was as simple as using a length of brake pipe that fed into the stove and dripped into a stainless pet food dish, it worked very well indeed. Pro
tip, keep the end of the brake pipe clean, if it gets blocked with carbon, the pressure builds up and you'll have permanent oily splashes on
your shed walls and ceiling 
[Edited on 16/3/17 by UncleFista]
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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daviep
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| posted on 16/3/17 at 09:10 PM |
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I have a thermobile AT306 heating a double garage, it burns 2ltr/hour and after a couple of hours you can work in a t-shirt if you please, uninsulated
garage. It burns absolutely clean, apart from the heat haze it's impossible to tell if it's burning or not. It's a radiant heater so
it doesn't fill the air with moisture and cover everything in condensation. I love it.
Dealing with waste oil on a large scale is very messy if you don't have a decent sytem to handle it, you inevitably drip/spill more than you
think you will. Even at 2ltr/hour you burn quite a lot of oil, it's not the type of heater that you light for an hour or so as the lighting and
cleaning is a bit of a faff and has mess potential.
Cheers
Davie
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
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owelly
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| posted on 17/3/17 at 07:33 AM |
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Here's an incredibly technical drawing I made of my waste oil burner.....I changed it so the burn plate was attached to the door so when you
opened the door, the plate swung out with it..
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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