burner

[jason pepas]

hey dudes,

I've been working on making a burner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8xJNXOB54

here's the text of a message I just sent to R J:

unfortunately my iphone decided not to record any audio, but it sounds
like a low frequency pulse jet (whoomp-whoomp-whoomp...), because the
flame is extinguishing and re-igniting about twice a second.

I think the problem is that I didn't make the departure angle wide
enough on the throat of the burner tube. I picked up a large brass
plumb bob this week, and on monday I'll use a torch to heat up the
throat and wallow it out a bit more. hopefully that will make the
flame stable.

I have a 55lb bag of refractory, a 20lb old propane tank for cutting
up into a foundry, as well as two smaller helium tanks for cutting up
into mini foundries. but I haven't started work on any of that yet.

I also have a 6 foot length of 4.5" steel tube which I was planning on
turning into a few quick-n-dirty crucibles.

[Jason Pepas]

also, I've carved monday nights as casting night out of my schedule.
are you guys meeting on a regular basis? we should get together and
consume adult beverages.

-jason

[Doug Pichler]

Cool burner. The last meeting I attended on this was last Tuesday the 31st at the open house. I didnt make it to the open hose this week, so I don't know what was discussed.

[Alex Cloutier]

What kind of refractory? Home-made or commercial? We have a lot of the
materials for the refractory, with the exception of some extra fireclay
I need to get, but if you have real legit refractory maybe that'd be
easiest to use. We'll need about 9 1/2 gallons of refractory based on
the vessel we're using right now. With the instructions we got from
backyardmetalcasting.com that ends up being around:

2.1 gal portland cement
2.1 gal perlite
2.8 gal sand
2.8 gal fireclay

I think we're good on all those except fireclay. Should I get more, or
will Jason Pepas' stuff suffice?

Alex

[Jason Lambert]

Jason p,
Are you working on your own furnace or are you pitching in on the one we are building?

[Matt Goodman]

You might try moving the propane inlet closer to the inlet side of the pipe.  I can't tell from the video totally, but the flame looks kinda "poppy."  

What pressure and propane jet diameter are you running it at?
--Matthew Goodman

=====================
Check Out My Website: http://craneium.net
Find me on LinkedIn: http://tinyurl.com/d6wlch

[Jason Pepas]

hey alex,

here are my notes from (gasp!) last year.

7/17/2010

went to armadillo clay. the only castable refractory they had was "AP Green Mizzou Castable Plus", which was $63.25 for a 55 lb bag (which is less volume than you'd think it would be -- did I get enough?). Is this any good? Did I get ripped off? Did I even get the right thing?

first, what is it?

according to http://www.empire-refractory.com/catalog/mizzou-castable-plus.htm:

"A high strength 60% alumina castable, with excellent resistance to slag penetration and spalling. It is used for many applications such as combustion chambers, low temperature incinerators, air heaters, boilers, burner blocks, aluminum furnace upper sidewalls and roof regions, forge furnaces, and iron foundry ladles."

this site has a more detailed description: http://refwest.com/mizzouplus55bags.aspx

MIZZOU is a 3000F conventional (CaO>2%) refractory castable with
low iron content, good slag resistance, and excellent volume stability.
Typical applications are combustion chambers, low temperature
incinerators, air heaters, boilers, burner blocks, aluminum furnace
upper sidewalls and roof regions, forge furnaces, and iron foundry ladles.

Maximum Temperature 3000F 1650C
lb/ft3 g/cm3
Material Required 138 2.21
Bulk Density
After 220F (105C) 143 2.29
After 1500F (815C) 138 2.21

Silica (SiO2) 34.1%
Alumina (Al2O3) 58.8%
Iron Oxide (Fe2O3) 1.3%
Titania (TiO2) 2.3%
Lime (CaO) 2.8%
Magnesia (MgO) 0.3%
Alkalies (Na2O & K2O) 0.4%

here is the material safety datasheet: http://msds.anhrefractories.com/hm/MIZZOU_CASTABLE_PLUS_(USA).pdf

did I get ripped off?

• this place has it for $73: http://refwest.com/mizzouplus55bags.aspx
• this place has it for $65: http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=empirers&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=831417262&Count2=748557686&ProductID=20&Target=products.asp
• this place has it for $70: http://shop.clay-planet.com/mizzou-castable-plus.aspx
• there is a place on ebay which has it for $35, but its $59 after tax and shipping. http://www.google.com/products?q=Mizzou%20Plus%20Refractory&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wf

looks like I paid a fair price.

did I get the right thing?

it seems what I see most commonly mentioned on the forums is "kast-o-lite", either the 2600F variety or the 3000F variety. however, budget casting supply has this stuff for $112 and $138 respectively (for a 55 lb bag), which is a lot more expensive than I thought it'd be. (see http://www.budgetcastingsupply.com/Castable_Refractory_Kast-0-Lite-26-LI.php and http://www.budgetcastingsupply.com/Castable_Refractory_3000F.php ).

here's an interesting bit of info, from http://listserv.repp.org/pipermail/stoves_listserv.repp.org/2006-May/003266.html

Castable Dense
      55% Al2O3, abrasion resistant, 2600F      LO-ABRADE Plus  
<http://www.anhrefractories.com/products/datasheetsv1.asp>
     60% Al2O3, conventional, 3000F      MIZZOU CASTABLE Plus 
<http://www.anhrefractories.com/products/datasheetsv1.asp>
     60% Al2O3, low cement, 3100F      VERSAFLOW 60 Plus
     60% Al2O3, low cement, thermal shock resistant, 3000F      
VERSAFLOW 57A
     60% Al2O3, low cement, thermal shock, alum resistant, 3000F      
GREENKLEEN-60 Plus
     70% Al2O3, conventional, 3200F      KRUZITE CASTABLE Plus 
<http://www.anhrefractories.com/products/datasheetsv1.asp>
     70% Al2O3, ultralow cement, 3100F      ULTRA-GREEN 70 Adtech
     80% Al2O3, phos bond, one-component, ram/cast/gun/hand pack      
EXCELERATE ABR Plus
     94% Al2O3, conventional, abrasion resistant, 3400F      
GREENCAST-94 Plus
     fireclay, coarse aggregate, thermal shock resistant, 2550F      
MC-25 Plus
     fireclay, conventional, 2800F      SUPER KAST-SET Plus
     fireclay, conventional, general purpose, 2550F      KS-4 Plus
     fireclay, conventional, low shrinkage, 2600F      KS-4V Plus
     fireclay, conventional, plaster, 2500F      KS-4T
     fireclay, portland cement, general purpose, 2200F      HYDROCRETE
     free-flowing, abrasion resistant, 3000F      EXPRESS-30 Plus
    
Castable Insulating
    1900F      KAST-O-LITE 19 L Plus
    2000F {formerly VSL 35}      KAST-O-LITE 20 Plus
    conventional, 2200F      KAST-O-LITE 22 Plus
    conventional, low iron, 2300F (formerly VSL-50)      KAST-O-LITE 23 
LI Plus
    economical, low iron, 2300F      GREENLITE 23 LI Plus DS
    high purity, bubble alumina, 3300F      KAST-O-LITE 97-L Plus
    high strength, 2500F      GREENLITE-45-L Plus
    high strength, 2800F      GREENLITE 75-28 Plus
    high strength, aluminum resistant, 2500F      GREENLITE-45-L AL Plus
    high strength, cast/gun/pump, 2200F      GREENLITE CASTABLE 22 Plus
    high strength, low iron, 2600F      KAST-O-LITE 26 LI Plus
    high strength, low iron, 3000F      KAST-O-LITE 30 LI Plus
    portland cement, 1600F      KAST-O-LITE 16 Plus 

so it sounds like my product is "castable dense" rather than "castable insulating". hmmm...

that page goes on to list cubic inch yield for some of those products.

bizz1983 says: "I personally used mizzou castable plus for the foundry lining and i made about 11 crucibles mixed with graphite out of it. it is 3000 degree rated. and lasted through the test of time and alot of torture. i got it for $65 a bag..." http://backyardmetalcasting.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=54729#54729"

he also posted here: http://backyardmetalcasting.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=53649#53649

following that post, w3 has advice about making the refractory: http://backyardmetalcasting.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=53652#53652

"For the furnace make an insulating layer a couple inches thick (or more depending on how much room you have) only mix in some foam beads (ground up styrofoam) at a ratio of three foam to one refractory (volume of course). Mold this into your shell and then trowel on a half inch or so of just the refractory. This will give you a good hard face that will stand a lot of abuse with a good insulation behind it."

[Jason Pepas]

hey jason,

I'd be happy for this to become the burner for your foundry.  I had plans on making my own foundry, but I think I'd be much happier with collaborating with you guys.

-jason

[Jason Pepas]

thanks matt.  yeah, it doesn't come through in the video very well, but the flame is actually extinguishing and reigniting continuously (creating the pop).

the pressure could go to 20psi, but was dialed down to prevent the flame from totally going out.  my understanding is that this means I need the flare angle on the neck to be more dramatic.  I'll be working on that on monday.

I drilled out the propane jet a bit since the last photos I sent you.  my harbor freight calipers have it as a 0.051" drill bit.

-jason

[Jason Pepas]

hey I wanted to mention that all casting-related peeps have permission to dig around in my box (the one labeled "Jason Pepas") while I'm not present -- it has the burner and a steel muffin tin for making ingots.

-jason