Has anyone built a Seton/Greenwood style boiler

[Tim]

Hi guys. I have been reading posts here for a while trying to figure out the pros and cons of all the different boiler units. I have a portable sawmill so I generate about 10 - 15 cords of firewood a year from the waste products. I would like to use to heat my 2 kilns, 50 x 60 shop and 2,500 SF house. I live in the NW and it rarely gets below freezing so we don't have a huge heat load.

I like the idea of the massive firebox of a large OWB but I don't want to piss off my neighbors with lots of smoke and I don't have 10 - 15k for a E classic or some other gassifier.

With this said I wanted to see if the idea of building a Seton style was doable. Has anyone here built a this style of boiler? I was reading a post where I think "Jesse-M" said that he built his own. Here are the items I am considering

1. Fire brick or cast Refractory? I think I would rather go with cast refractory if I could get the mix right, have done some research on the components but if anyone has recommendations that would be great.

2. I would definitely go with secondary water storage so the fire can burn longer and hotter

3. Heat exchanger - My first inclination is to go with the Seton style heat exchanger for cost reasons but I was wondering what you guys thought about a Portage and Main style heat exchanger. The idea was to have horizontal running tubes above the burn chamber with turbulators and with a door on the back side for easy cleaning. I have attached a quick sketch I put together for this. Keep in mind this is not a construction drawing but just a 10 min sketch.

 

[mikefrommaine]

I don't have the ability to fabricate a boiler. But if I did the seton would be the last one I would copy. Have you looked at the garn?

 

[Tim]

I have looked at the garn and it looks amazing. I am not a welder which is why I like the seton. I have a friend of mine that does metal fab work for me by the hour so if I could keep the metalwork to a minimum it would be good. I figured that if I did the seton design a lot of the work would be building forms and casting the refractory with metal work for the doors and hinges ect. Also I am really trying to stay away from the corrosion issues that seems like people struggle with.

If you use really well seasoned firewood can you achieve a fairly smoke free burn from a standard OWB. Would the smoke be comparable to a standard EPA certified wood stove or insert?

 

[Hobartian]

Tim,

I have built my own boiler unit based on the design of Professor Richard Hill. I recommend reading his paper which is downloadable at the following link:

http://hotandcold.tv/wood furnace.html

This is a proven design and works great.

 

[Tim]

Thanks Hobartian. I have read your posts and studied your pictures and drawings extensively. I really like what you have done. I actually really considered that design. If I did that setup I would probably make the fire box a lot bigger. I am trying to avoid lots of wood processing. I like the way that design only burns the bottom of the piece so there is not lots of smoldering. Have you rebuilt your fire box yet? Thanks for the excellent job of sharing your experiences. It looks like the ash removal would be very cumbersom in that design.

 

[Hobartian]

A small highly insulated burn chamber makes burning wood with intense heat easier. In my heater the wood feed chamber is seventy centimeters long and about thirty three centimeters in diameter. The burn chamber adds a further thirty centimeters, This means I can add pieces of timber one meter long which gives long burn times before the need to add more timber.

As far as ash removal is concerned if you burn at very high temperatures the amount of ash left is very small. I remove the ash after about three burns by scooping it up with a tin on the end of a stick.

I haven't starting rebuilding the fire box yet but have ideas in mind so that I can really do a good job.

 

[ozzie88]

Hi guys. I have been reading posts here for a while trying to figure out the pros and cons of all the different boiler units. I have a portable sawmill so I generate about 10 - 15 cords of firewood a year from the waste products. I would like to use to heat my 2 kilns, 50 x 60 shop and 2,500 SF house. I live in the NW and it rarely gets below freezing so we don't have a huge heat load.

I like the idea of the massive firebox of a large OWB but I don't want to piss off my neighbors with lots of smoke and I don't have 10 - 15k for a E classic or some other gassifier.

With this said I wanted to see if the idea of building a Seton style was doable. Has anyone here built a this style of boiler? I was reading a post where I think "Jesse-M" said that he built his own. Here are the items I am considering

1. Fire brick or cast Refractory? I think I would rather go with cast refractory if I could get the mix right, have done some research on the components but if anyone has recommendations that would be great.

2. I would definitely go with secondary water storage so the fire can burn longer and hotter

3. Heat exchanger - My first inclination is to go with the Seton style heat exchanger for cost reasons but I was wondering what you guys thought about a Portage and Main style heat exchanger. The idea was to have horizontal running tubes above the burn chamber with turbulators and with a door on the back side for easy cleaning. I have attached a quick sketch I put together for this. Keep in mind this is not a construction drawing but just a 10 min sketch.

Hello, if those plans are suppose to be a gasser then you need to have firebrick in the 2nd chamber, thats where all the heat will burn hot when gases light off and think about adding air to 2nd also it will fire alot hotter. I built my own boiler [it an updraft] like your plans show,they burn different than down draft. I did post photos months ago look them up if you want.

 

[ozzie88]

http://www.heuristicengineering.com/papers/Richmond.pdf check this info site out, it what I base my boiler off of, shows detail for updraft boilers,page 16 also.