Kerosene generator
george
I am looking for more information.
In my Briggs & Stratton small engine service manual it describes
conversion of their engines to kerosene operation. They claim power loss
is 15 to 25% and fuel consumption is 15% less then running on gasoline.
Conversion is simply using two head gaskets and the engine must be
started on gasoline until warm and then can be run on kerosene, or the
combustion chamber in the head can be ground to drop its compression
ratio to 6 to 1.
Kerosene motors are nothing like diesel engines there compression ratio
is about 15 to 1, kerosene engines are more like turbo engines where the
compression ratio is lowered, and it still needs its fuel air mixture
ignited by a spark.
I live in California and am experimenting with small generators that can
run on whatever fuel is available gasoline, propane, natural gas,
kerosene, light diesel fuel-which I think is about the same as kerosene,
and heating oil.
I intend to use 12vdc battery storage feeding 12vdc to 120vac inverters;
using a 4 hp home built generator only when and if necessary to recharge
batteries.
Engine will only be run at max power driving a car alternator 100 amps
out with cooling fins strapped on the alternator and a 12vdc fan mounted
on its base, to cool what I believe will be about 200 watts of excess
heat.
george
Cap
george wrote:
> I am looking for more information.
> In my Briggs & Stratton small engine service manual it describes
> conversion of their engines to kerosene operation. They claim power loss
> is 15 to 25% and fuel consumption is 15% less then running on gasoline.
> Conversion is simply using two head gaskets and the engine must be
> started on gasoline until warm and then can be run on kerosene, or the
> combustion chamber in the head can be ground to drop its compression
> ratio to 6 to 1.
I will agree with wat is said here
>
> Kerosene motors are nothing like diesel engines there compression ratio
> is about 15 to 1, kerosene engines are more like turbo engines where the
> compression ratio is lowered, and it still needs its fuel air mixture
> ignited by a spark.
>
You have said two things ... increase of compression ratio and decrease of
compression ratio..... Maby you ment to say decrease of compression ratio,
and increase the pressure before ignition by using a turbo charger.... I
will agree with the last statement
>
> I live in California and am experimenting with small generators that can
> run on whatever fuel is available gasoline, propane, natural gas,
> kerosene, light diesel fuel-which I think is about the same as kerosene,
> and heating oil.
> I intend to use 12vdc battery storage feeding 12vdc to 120vac inverters;
> using a 4 hp home built generator only when and if necessary to recharge
> batteries.
> Engine will only be run at max power driving a car alternator 100 amps
> out with cooling fins strapped on the alternator and a 12vdc fan mounted
> on its base, to cool what I believe will be about 200 watts of excess
> heat.
> george
Kerosene or diesel can be run on spark ignition engines of low compression
( they have a very low octane rating... ) if it's preheated first. Or if
its a high compression engine the fuel can't be in the chamber untill you
want it to lite..ie a direct injected engine of diesel type.... kerosene is
not used as a 'diesel' fuel because it is a poor lubricant and the injector
pump will not last
The reasion for the preheat is that the kero ( or diesel ) must get above
it's vapor point to be able to lite..
An interesting thing would to use a dual combustion chamber of the honda
CVCC type and have different fuejs in the combustion chambers.... gasoline
in the aux chamber and kero or diesel in the main chamber... no preheat
would be required, and probably less smoke...
CAP
Steve Spence
http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm
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"Cap" <c...@thegrid.net> wrote in message
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george
That’s an interesting point about using a Honda cvcc engine, I have rebuilt
them 1975-1979 vintages. Their carburetors have two input hoses one for the
pre-chamber and another for primary and secondary jets, it would be easy to
split fuels as it already has two floats.
Its compression ratio would have to be lowered to run on kerosene or light
diesel, but grinding the heads combustion chamber would be a small task.
thanks
George
Charles
on the farm. We used a Farmall F20 tractor, built in 1928 I believe
(started by hand cranking only). It would be started on gasoline and
after warming up reducing the ignition timing then turn off the gas flow
and opening up the Kerosene valve and it would go all day. If you shut
it down you could restart on kerosene if the engine was still hot, but
if you waited 15 - 20 minutes you would have to restart on gas.
Your thoughts may work but I Would suspect retarding the timing would
cause the engine to run with more efficency/power.
I burned many gallons of kerosene in them days......
C
Terry King
tractors and stationary engines on this type
fuel. They were referred to as 'distillate' engines.
I have seen such old tractors with dual fuel tanks:
start on gasoline, switch to low-cost 'distillate'
which I understand to be kerosene. These were all
low-compression engines, as I recall.
Today, there is less cost differential, as I understand it,
between gasoline, kerosene, and #2 fuel oil /diesel, IF
you are not paying highway / excise / whateverelse TAX...
--
Regards,
Terry King ...In The Woods In Vermont
Chris Nickolaus
> In my Briggs & Stratton small engine service manual it describes
> conversion of their engines to kerosene operation.
<snip>
> the engine must be started on gasoline until warm and then can be run on
> kerosene, or the combustion chamber in the head can be ground to drop its
> compression ratio to 6 to 1.
I don't know if you have encountered the Lister Cold Start Diesels that were
popular some time ago (1930's onwards?) for narrowboats. They had an extra,
separate combustion chamber in the head that could be isolated by a valve,
allowing the compression ratio to be lowered to start with petrol fed via a
carburettor, and then when the chamber was sealed, the compression ratio was
high enough to allow them the engine to run as a diesel (with an injector
pump). This had the benefit of allowing hand cranking of quite large diesel
engines and removed the need for preheating.
I've never had the opportunity to have a good look at one of these- the only
time I got near one was starting it in a boat, and I don't know if prolonged
use of petrol fuel is acceptable, but these are beautifully engineered
engines.
I also encountered a car (possibly eastern European?) that could be started
on petrol, and then switched to kerosene once hot (in this case spark
ignition all the time), rather like the engine you describe. It seemed to
tolerate a remarkable range of oil weights.
Chris
--
Chris Nickolaus,
Christ's College,
University of Cambridge.
M. Simon
The military starts their backup diesil generators with compressed
air.
M. Simon Space-Time Productions http://www.spacetimepro.com
Free CNC Machine Control Software
Free Source Code
Control the World From a Parallel Port
Steve Spence
pretty cool, I think.
--
Steve Spence
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"M. Simon" <msi...@xta.com> wrote in message
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wmbjk
"Chris Nickolaus" <cd...@cam.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:3A6B13F9...@cam.ac.uk...
Both of my old (50's/60's) International powered tractors are similar.
Pulling a big lever opens decompression valves, cuts off the diesel fuel,
and activates the gas carburetor. For ignition, one has a mag, the other
battery-coil. On each, you pull the lever, crank the engine (with a
relatively small battery), and start up on gas. Let run for a few minutes,
reverse the lever, following up with the diesel throttle, and it's a regular
diesel. A little weird, but has its advantages, including having a complete
second fuel system for when you run out of diesel. Has about enough power on
gasoline to drag the machines off the road.
Wayne
Chris Nickolaus
> buses and trucks often have compressed air starters as well. They sound
> pretty cool, I think.
There are all sorts of interesting starter mechanisms- diesel submarines
being the obvious example of using compressed air. The Cambridge Technology
Museum has an old heavy oil engine that uses compressed air start from an
engine driven pump. I think pretty much all large diesels are air start-
the big two stroke Sulzers in ships certainly are- I can't imagine an
electric starter for a 9MW shaft output diesel!!
A large (and very old) Caterpillar tracked logging vehicle I once saw had a
small donkey petrol engine that was run to warm the water jacket for the
large diesel engine, and when it was warm enough, the clutch was engaged to
start the diesel. The diesel also had levers on the injector pump so that
you could shut off the fuel supply to cylinders individually ( I don't know
if there was some kind of valve lifter as well.) This meant they could
leave it running on a couple of cylinders over lunch!
Another simple solution is the inertia starter I saw on an old aero engine
(I think it might have been a Gypsy 6), where the flywheel could be spun up
either by an electric motor or a hand crank, before engaging the clutch. I
think the reason was that batteries and motors were much bulkier and
heavier than modern ones.
I had a look at some big gas (originally coal gas) engines made by the
National Gas Engine Co, which were 70 litres swept volume (single
cylinder), and managed about 50kw output!! The flywheel (which weighed
about 2.5 tonnes) had to be turned using a crank until the cylinder was
just after top-dead-centre, when flicking the magneto by hand was used to
start the engine. If it doesn't catch on the first try, you have to crank
the flywheel round for another go!
bas...@zotnet.net
wrote:
>Today, there is less cost differential, as I understand it,
>between gasoline, kerosene, and #2 fuel oil /diesel, IF
>you are not paying highway / excise / whateverelse TAX...
Where I'm at, #2 diesel is more expensive than premium unleaded
gasoline.
bas...@zotnet.net
wrote:
>Steve Spence wrote:
>
>> buses and trucks often have compressed air starters as well. They sound
>> pretty cool, I think.
>
>There are all sorts of interesting starter mechanisms- diesel submarines
>being the obvious example of using compressed air. The Cambridge Technology
>Museum has an old heavy oil engine that uses compressed air start from an
>engine driven pump. I think pretty much all large diesels are air start-
>the big two stroke Sulzers in ships certainly are- I can't imagine an
>electric starter for a 9MW shaft output diesel!!
Yes. Usually about 400 psi stored in tanks to give 5 or so good start
attempts. The air is introduced directly into the cyliders via a
starting air valve in the heads.
>
>A large (and very old) Caterpillar tracked logging vehicle I once saw had a
>small donkey petrol engine that was run to warm the water jacket for the
>large diesel engine, and when it was warm enough, the clutch was engaged to
>start the diesel. The diesel also had levers on the injector pump so that
>you could shut off the fuel supply to cylinders individually ( I don't know
>if there was some kind of valve lifter as well.) This meant they could
>leave it running on a couple of cylinders over lunch!
Saw such an engine at the county fair a couple of years ago.
Steve Spence
<basil*@zotnet.net> wrote in message
news:44rm6tcu5raeqda14...@4ax.com...
good reason to use veggie oil, or biodiesel made from used fry oil.
http://www.webconx.com/biodiesel.htm
Gene S. Berkowitz
www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/archives/2000/aug/25/greasepower25.htm
--Gene
bas...@zotnet.net
not willing to put up with the toxic and hazardous chemical byproducts
generated by the process.
I use so little fuel each year ~$450 that it just isn't worth it to me
to bother with making biodiesel though I certainly applaud the concept
for those that can justify it.
In this area, most restaurants recycle their grease through an
approved waste hauler that sets out grease tanks and picks them up
from time to time.
On Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:17:06 GMT, "Steve Spence" <ssp...@webconx.com>
wrote:
Steve Spence
biodiesel, the byproducts are harmless and biodegradable in 30 days. I use
it for washing parts and hands as a degreaser. it's glycerin, with a slight
methanol content, but we have refined our methanol recovery methods, so we
reuse the methanol, not waste it.
--
Steve Spence
Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter:
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We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.
--
<basil*@zotnet.net> wrote in message
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bas...@zotnet.net
wrote:
>if you burn straight veggie oil, there are no chemicals, and if you make
>biodiesel, the byproducts are harmless and biodegradable in 30 days. I use
>it for washing parts and hands as a degreaser. it's glycerin, with a slight
>methanol content, but we have refined our methanol recovery methods, so we
>reuse the methanol, not waste it.
>
>--
>
>
Doesn't the website indicate that you have to start on diesel and
switch over to heated vegetable oil to use it with out reformation?
Also, caustic soda is no laughing matter. People really need to be
careful when making the biodiesel. I live in a condominium complex and
I'm not sure the homeowner's association would appreciate me setting
up such an operation in my garage.
Steve Spence
to keep the injectors from coking. but no dangerous chemicals.
I started processing biodiesel in my kitchen. lye is dangerous, but so is
drain cleaner. just take proper precautions.
--
Steve Spence
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we borrow it from our children.
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<basil*@zotnet.net> wrote in message
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bas...@zotnet.net
large pintle type injectors would swallow waste veggie oil fairly
well.
Have you had good results with adding a little veggie to regular
diesel?
On Mon, 22 Jan 2001 16:15:16 GMT, "Steve Spence" <ssp...@webconx.com>
wrote:
>you are correct. start up and shutdown must be done on diesel, or biodiesel,
Steve Spence
approach. http://www.veggievan.org
--
Steve Spence
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<basil*@zotnet.net> wrote in message
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