converting Royall boiler to gasifier?

Hello-

I have an older Royall indoor boiler I bought recently and having looked at the Seton gasifier, wonder if it might not be possible to convert the Royall to a gasifier by, lining the inside with refractory in such a way as to mimic the inside of the Seton. I understand there would be a bit more to it than to simply insert a refractory "box", but the simplicity of the Seton seems to indicate that it is not necessary to create two separate chambers.

Any thoughts or comments appreciated!

Thanks,

Chris

I don't know enough about the Seton or the Royall to comment on specifics, but I helped my brother design and build a gasifier based loosely on the EKO. It takes some messing around to get everything dialed in, and the temperatures generated by the secondary combustion create some challenges for the refractory material in the flame path. I don't know if you're thinking forced air. If so, then sealing the gas generation chamber becomes very critical and difficult.

I don't want to discourage you (I don't think) but it may be more complex than you're thinking to get a true gasification design to work.

I ran a Royall 6150 for about three years, but I could never get it to burn clean, even with an add-on cat. Or I should say, I couldn't get to burn reliably clean.

As nofossil said, there's more to gasifiers than meets the eye. I assume that if it was possible to convert OWBs and conventional wood-fired indoor boilers into gasifiers, companies like Royall would design them that way to begin with. After all, it would mean a significant wood savings for their customers.

I thought it was a great boiler--really well made and a real good heat producer. I visited the plant in Elroy a couple of times and was impressed with their manufacturing capabilities. But I got the impression that they were focusing on producing OWBS rather than trying to make more efficient, cleaner-burning boilers, which is a mistake that I think a lot of OWB manufacturers are making. But that's just MO. Under different circumstances, I would have been very happy with the Royall.

Like nofossil, I don't want discourage your idea, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Let us know what you decide to do.

And welcome to the Boiler Room. We're into talking about all kinds and brands of boilers around here.