New Turbulators

[jebatty]

If I'm following correctly, putting refractory up the sides of the firebox may not be helpful. My firebox does accumulate some creosote, which burns off enough so that so far, at least no cleaning needed. The bottom of the firebox is refractory, and stays clean due to the heat below in the refractory tunnel. Manual for the Tarm states that if (unusual situation) creosote accumulates on the refractory on the bottom of the firebox, it needs to be cleaned off.

The firebox obviously is much cooler than the gasification tunnel. Its purpose is to maintain combustion to drive gases into the gasification tunnel. I supose a hotter firebox wouldn't hurt, but I'm not sure it helps.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Thanks for that link to the refractory mix, leaddog. Doesn't sound too hard.

I think that to the extent that the firebox generates heat, it's good to have as much metal exposed as possible for heat transfer. Most of that is done in the hx tubes, but every little bit helps. That said, I think you could cast little ramps on either side to help direct the fuel towards the nozzle. I'm thinking about making some forms for the flame-deflector bricks in the secondary burn chamber so that I have something to replace the stock bricks when they start to deteriorate in a couple of years.

 

[jebatty]

The refractory bottom in the Tarm is sloped on the sides to spill the wood load toward the nozzle. I think there is a compromise in that as the amount of slope increases, the size of the firebox decreases. There likely is an ideal size of round wood that works best, and split wood, with flat and round sides, as well as the size of the splits, may contribute to bridging.

 

[ebbci05]

I just bought an EBW-100 at the end of Dec. 2007. Its only been a little over a month and my turbulator agitator has broken. I was wondering if this is a common problem that I will have to deal with all the time. I haven't had much luck so far with my boiler and was wondering if anybody else was having problems with theirs.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Welcome to the Boiler Room, gopherwood. I'm not familiar with that boiler, or at least if I am, I'm drawing a blank.

Can you give us a few more details?

 

[wdc1160]

ebw-100???

ecoburn wood boiler 100??

 

[Eric Johnson]

Right you are, Bill. My bad.

We have a couple of Econoburn dealers here in the forum, so hopefully one or more will check in with some information and help. If not, start a new thread and I'm sure you'll attract some help.

 

[Nofossil]

We have drifted some distance from the original topic....

Turbulators seem fine, and pretty consistently lowering the flue temps by better than 100 degrees. I'll start a new thread when I get hard efficiency numbers.

 

[jebatty]

NoFo - clean hx tubes - When you collect data, it may be impt to clean the hx tubes frequently, as dust/soot on the tubes has a material impact on heat transfer. Accurate data will need a constant state of hx tubes.

I think most of us are aware of, but may not pay too much attention to, is the importance of clean hx tubes. For example, I have been brushing the hx tubes about 1/mo. When I brushed the tubes today, and immediately fired up the boiler, I saw a 100 degree drop in flue temp. There really didn't seem to be much in the tubes. Sight exam is deceptive. This will be a reminder to me to clean the hx tubes more frequently.

 

[Nofossil]

NoFo - clean hx tubes - When you collect data, it may be impt to clean the hx tubes frequently, as dust/soot on the tubes has a material impact on heat transfer. Accurate data will need a constant state of hx tubes.

I think most of us are aware of, but may not pay too much attention to, is the importance of clean hx tubes. For example, I have been brushing the hx tubes about 1/mo. When I brushed the tubes today, and immediately fired up the boiler, I saw a 100 degree drop in flue temp. There really didn't seem to be much in the tubes. Sight exam is deceptive. This will be a reminder to me to clean the hx tubes more frequently.

I have to wait a bit to get any kind of buildup. I keep mine pretty clean.

For me, flue temp varies a lot, within a burn and from one burn to another. I'd like to understand better what affects it. I've also been looking at the difference between secondary combustion temperature and flue temperature. That's probably a better indication of both turbulator effectiveness and HX crud buildup.

 

[ebbci05]

The EBW-100 is an econoburn 100,000 btu gasification boiler. Right from the get go I have had numerous problems. First, I had a leak in the bottom of the boiler at one of the studs. Then, when we had it hooked up the pressure relief valve leaked and would shut off. Now, just a couple of weeks ago, my turbulator arm broke from the agitators. I also can't seem to keep the temp up unless it is not windy and 20 degrees or higher. I bought a 512 gallon water storage that has two coils in it. One to heat the water and one to feed my domestic hot water. But I haven't been able to utilize this because my boiler won't get it up to temperature and keep the house warm. Econoburn shipped me a new EBW100 because of the leak, but I am hesitant to install it if I am going to deal with these problems all over again. The boiler is only a little over a month old Mine seems to gasify good at start up and then seems to slow down at halfway. It goes better if I stir the wood around or add some kidling. Once you get the pile of coals ift does good but it takes so long to get there. Anyway any advise would be helpful.
Eric

 

[jebatty]

I don't have an Econoburn, so I'll let those people respond as directly as they can. I sense not only your frustration but also disappointment in what you hoped to be a great experience. I trust things will work out, even if a rocky start.

The theory and mechanics are pretty straight forward. A firebox, forced draft, and chimney on the burn side. If the draft fan is working, and the chimney is producing good draft, the fire side should be OK. On the plumbing side, hot water out, some sort of control on the return to insure that the return is not too cool, and a pump to push everything along. On the electrical side, an aquastat to sense boiler temp and turn the pump on, with a hi-limit and probably a lo-limit control. I know this is simplified, but think through the operation carefully. Something obviously is going wrong, and maybe you can isolate what that is. That will be the clue to get you in operation.