Burn pot waste oil engine

[parkland]

Hey guys.
Finally got to tinkering and bought a running pull of turbo from a cummins m11 475hp.


I attached the exhaust side of the turbo to one end of a 250liter propane tank and the air pushes into the other end at an angle to induce a swirl.

Have oil pump for turbo and oil cooler.

I decided to just use the empty tank instead of a jet chamber as I just wanted to burn waste oil started hopefully from some wood sticks etc.
Cut a hole in side and welded a 2 inch bung so you can load some wood and drop a burning diesel soaked rag to get it going. .


So far we used air blow gun aimed at compressor fins to try to spool it. It's a little tricky because you need to slowly blow some air through while getting the fire going otherwise it burns up the oxygen and dies. But push too much air too fast and that also kills it.

I know it will burn waste oil just sitting in the tank once it's hot enough but it's just tricky to get going.
We loaded a little bundle of kindling in there and got it spooling and it self sustained and took off for maybe 30 seconds but then ran out of fuel.

So I'm trying to think of a way to start it better. I don't want to add a gallon of diesel cause then it could run away.

I don't want to add gasoline cause it might be more dangerous with the fumes. (But would probably work great)

One video online (turbo wood barrel) they have a lid they're holding down so it looks like they can get wood burning quite well before trying to spool up.
I feel like that's my issue is it's hard to get the fire burning well when everything's cold so it's kind of all or nothing.

Other than that I'm surprised how smoothly it seemed to run when it did spool up. Very loud and roaring. No flames out exhaust .

Did accidentally chip a fin on the compressor by accident but it doesn't seem to affect it. Hopefully lasts.

[parkland]

I guess the only way to post pictures is external links.
I don't have any photo sharing apps

Anyways just wanted to share what I did and the issues as nobody I know cares or understands lol.

[racket]

Hi

Do what steam boilers do that burn the dregs of the cracking process , its like tar so needs heating to keep it fluid and able to be atomised , the ignition uses a propane flame that the oil spray is fed through the middle of, once the oil spray combustion is stabilised the propane is switched off as well as the spark ignition

Ideally you need to split the air from your compressor so that only ~25% goes to the flame area and the remaining 75% is fed further downstream to cool the combustion products so that the turbine wheel won't overheat, same as with a gas turbine flametube .

Theres no reason why this can't be made to run , it just needs a bit more "sophistication" ;-)

If you need more help , ask away :-)

Cheers
John

[parkland]

I put a slight tilt on the tank so it leans to the fresh air end.
It starts the first time every time now with the fuel pooling at the air end instead of the turbo end.

[parkland]

youtube.com/shorts/2eWS3OCwqlA?feature=shared



youtube.com/shorts/TirOq5AzY_U?feature=shared



Couple videos I got. Very tricky to film with one person starting it and another person adjusting the oil pump 😅

[parkland]

So we learned some things and put that poor m11 turbo into its afterlife 😅

Thinking about re doing things a little more better.

What oil would be good for a turbo? I'm assuming 15w40 is used just because it's there more than it being ideal.

Thoughts on next try is assemble the burn tank vertical and add a oil fuel pump.

We got it hotter today and where the air blows into the tank is red all the way around so I assume the air and combustion is burning in a cyclone as I hoped it would.

The turbo seized up during a start. We couldn't give it oil pressure or it wouldn't start so that's maybe why.

[racket]

Hi

Please , just build a DIY gas turbine engine , turn your burn barrel into a "combustor" with internal flametube and a single high pressure spray nozzle for the fuel, without doing it properly you'll keep on killing turbos .

Use the same oil the turbo would have if in its original job on an engine , also the same oil pressure or higher.

Cheers
John

[parkland]

I will do some more reading.

I would like to add a fuel injector but would like to use waste oil instead of diesel.

The amount of fuel these use waste oil is worth the hassle to make work.

I think the size of the barrel actually made it burn in a way the turbo didn't get too hot. We only got the exhaust glowing red once and not very bright.

I believe we killed it because of lack of oil flow. We started it with no oil flow because it spooled easier.

Will need to build a air start system with 2 air jets instead of just using the air gun.

We accidentally chipped a compressor blade off and between being out of balance and not enough oil I think that's why it died. But we found a rebuild kit on Amazon so may try rebuilding and putting new compressor wheel on
.

[racket]

I understand your desire to burn waste oil , but for things to work with any degree of control you'll need more sophistication of the setup .

Unheated waste oil will need fine atomisation , so higher pressure than heated oil which will burn more easily, but either way you'll need more time than for lighter fuels.

[parkland]

You are correct.
The way we have it set up there is zero control really.

We will need either an air atomizing nozzle to burn waste oil or else start it on one fuel then switch to waste oil once things are red hot where the air blows in from the compressor line and it will vaporize.

I'm looking at the combustor designs on here thinking the best operational way would be turn the waste oil to gas using heat but then the oil will slowly leave buildup and need to replace parts or take apart to clean.

Will do more reading.

[racket]

The best way is high pressure atomisation spraying through a propane flame to initiate ignition , standard steam boiler method .

BUT , because you have a turbine wheel to consider , you MUST cool the combustion products , this requires some form of flametube to divide the airflow in the correct proportions .