Vigas 60 Installation

[NYEDGE]

I have to start by saying thank you to all members on this forum for sharing their knowledge and experience.
I started looking into a gasification boiler in the summer and pulled the trigger on ordering one in September.
I was able to visit Mark of AHONA and see a couple of units running live (he said to "....come up and kick the tires on them..")
We'll I glad I did. I contacted a couple of other well known suppliers and I just got the feeling that I was another phone/order customer to them.

I tested the Biomass and the Vigas boiler when I visited Mark. I quickly decided the Vigas was the way to go. The unit monitors the
tank temps, stack temps, and boiler temps while adjusting the primary fans during the burn to optimize the temperature for all three.
You are able to set an "end" temp for boiler, and storage. A maximum flue temp can be set and the fans adjust accordingly to stay within range.

I have been burning wood in the unit for the past 2 weeks (on and off) during the final stages of installation. This past Saturday I finished the
tank insulation and the whole system is operating at a totally higher level now.

On average (after the insulation) I have been burning approximately a 1/2 load of wood for a burn time of 10 hrs. with a starting tank temp of 140-145
and ending at 194 - 195 while having a heat load from the house. On a full load I was able to burn for 15 hrs. with a starting tank temp of 142 and ending
at 194 - 195, again while heating the house and DHW.

It's to early to figure out a true burn schedule, but on average I have been loading the box 1/2 way for a burn cycle, 2 times per day.
I expected 2 burns a day, so I am very happy with the results.


System / House Information:

Heating 4500 SF house with Hydro Air and DHW as well. (I plan on connecting a heat exchanger in the spring to heat the pool)

Vigas 60 boiler (No Lambda control because the 60 and 80 models are not approved for it yet in the States. Hoping for an add-on in the future when approved)

All connections from the Vigas to storage, and to the existing oil boiler was made with 1 1/2" copper.
Storage consisted of 3 vertical air tanks that total 720 gallons.
A "box" around the tanks was constructed with 2 layers of 2" (4" thick in total) rigid insulation with foil on both sides for all walls and ceiling.
All joints were staggered and tapped with reflective foil as well.
All copper lines were wrapped with commercial grade fiberglass insulation (including inside the box) and all joints taped as well.
The box was then filled with blown in fiberglass insulation.

I added two new Wilo-Stratos pumps to my system that run off of 220 volt.
The pumps are so quite that you have to put your ear next to them to hear them run.

An Amtrol Extrol SX-160V expansion tank was added to allow for the additional expansion in the system.

Mark at AHONA designed the plumbing and electrical connections and He is a pleasure to work with.
The Vigas and my oil boiler are connected in parallel and the oil boiler will only turn on if the storage tanks drop below 140.

Here are some pictures of the install.

 

[sparke]

Awesome install congrats!

How much wood does the firebox hold(sorry if you already said but I did not see anything about firebox size)? My guess is 1/2 load is maybe a normal sized wheel barrow? Very impressive burn times and btu output for 1/2 load!! What outside temps have you been having?

Thanks

 

[NYEDGE]

Awesome install congrats!

How much wood does the firebox hold(sorry if you already said but I did not see anything about firebox size)? My guess is 1/2 load is maybe a normal sized wheel barrow? Very impressive burn times and btu output for 1/2 load!! What outside temps have you been having?

Thanks

The firebox measures 32" Deep x 23" Wide x 28" High (11.93 CF)
The outside temperatures have been between 16 - 25 F for the most part.
Today the outside temp is up to 35F.

Yesterday at 6:45 AM my tanks were 142 top, 138 bottom. I filled the firebox with a full load and at 10PM the tanks were 163 top, 159 bottom.
I loaded half the firebox at 10PM and this morning at 6:45 AM the tanks were 195 top, 195 bottom.
The until finished the burn at 9:45 AM with 191 top, and bottom tank temps.

Right now (1:15PM) the tanks are 174 top, 171 bottom. It looks like I'm going to skip a burn today and only fire this evening.
For the most part I've been reloading the Vigas when the tank top is at 145. (except for last night because the tanks were still at 163.

 

[NYEDGE]

Here's a picture that shows the wood quantity I usually use for a 1/2 firebox burn.
If I load the back of my Ranger it is enough for 2 burns.

 

[sparke]

Thanks for info. It is interesting to see your tanks are not stratifying as expected in the arrangement you have. Do you think it is because they are in constant use right now? Anyhow, great set up, thanks for sharing.

 

[NYEDGE]

Thanks for info. It is interesting to see your tanks are not stratifying as expected in the arrangement you have. Do you think it is because they are in constant use right now? Anyhow, great set up, thanks for sharing.

Right now the tanks are at 166 top and 161 bottom. Usually during charging I see a more varied temperature spread and also when the tanks start dropping down in temperature.
I feel that the draw from the tanks is pretty steady and I would rather see a close spread in temps than a bigger spread. (please correct me if I'm wrong)
If several zones call at the same time I do see more of a difference between the top and bottom dur=e to colder return temperatures.
Once that surge has passed, the temps average out again.

If you see that it should be different, please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[sparke]

Sounds like there is some mixing going on. In general you would like to see hot water layers in your tank. I.E. Top = 180*, 3/4 =175*, 1/2=170*, 1/3=165*, Bottom = 160* That situation would be almost perfect. If your tank is mixing water and the tank is pretty much one temp top to bottom - that is bad. Of coarse if your tanks are in constant use, the data is hazy. Hopefully someone else will pipe up and explain it in a better way...

 

[NYEDGE]

Now: 157 top 146 bottom

At 3PM (1 hr. ago) the zones call for a raise of 3 deg. (kids home from school) during these times, and when charging tanks a bigger difference in temps occur.
I think that once the tanks are charged to 195 top and bottom, they should draw off equally unless a big load on the tanks happens and a bigger
amount of cold water returns at once. Since my last fire was at 10PM last night (18 hrs. ago), and the tank top is still at 157, I don't think I'll worry that much about it.

 

[goosegunner]

So does the boiler idle on and off to get 10-15 hr burn time on a load of wood?

or

Does it burn on low fire somehow?

 

[bigburner]

Did you run the system before the tanks were insulated and if so what type of differences did you see --my reason for asking is there has been a 3 year procrastination going on here about the insulation on my boiler rand tank. Must be giving up a gillion BTUS per day.

 

[NYEDGE]

So does the boiler idle on and off to get 10-15 hr burn time on a load of wood?

or

Does it burn on low fire somehow?

The primary fans are controlled by the unit so they start off at 100%.
You set the limit temp for the boiler, which I have set to 90C (About 194F)
You set the limit temp for the stack, which I have set to 200C (About 392F)
You set the shut down/end of burn stack temperature, which I have set to 70C (About 158F)

The unit starts at 100% fans and will only decrease when the boiler/storage temp is reached or the stack temp is at the limit.
When the boiler gets close to the limit temperature, the fans will slow down automatically.
The unit will know when the burn cycle has finished due to the low stack temperature and shut off.

Once the tanks are charged, the unit may idle if wood or coals are still present, but it pretty much runs all out unless one of the parameters are met.
If the boiler gets up to the 90C, the fans cut back to 10% (I set the limit) until the boiler temp drops, and then they ramp up again to raise the temperature.

 

[goosegunner]

Thanks, That sounds like a very nice way to control.


Is that all set with the Vigas controller or do you have other controls in the system.

gg

 

[NYEDGE]

Did you run the system before the tanks were insulated and if so what type of differences did you see --my reason for asking is there has been a 3 year procrastination going on here about the insulation on my boiler rand tank. Must be giving up a gillion BTUS per day.

I ran the system for about a week or so with just the boiler charging the tanks while I finished the connections and I took it easy at the time and only burned 1/4 loads or so.
Once I connected the house and it was online, I ran all out. The temps in the Vigas boiler area were exceeding 95 deg. so I connected a large fan to blow air out of the area.
Now that the insulation is done, the area is between 58 - 60 deg., which I contribute mostly to heat loss from the Vigas, black pipe to chimney, and approx. 8 LF of 1 1/2" copper yet to be insulated.

The insulation has helped tremendously keeping the temperature in the tanks up.

 

[NYEDGE]

Thanks, That sounds like a very nice way to control.


Is that all set with the Vigas controller or do you have other controls in the system.

gg

All of those parameters are set and controlled by the Vigas.
I have a Ranco control module that monitors the tank temperatures and controls when the oil burner needs to turn on.
I have it set to 140F. If the tanks drop to 140F the oil burner will work when there is a call for heat.

 

[bigburner]

Ya I new that just wanted to hear it from some one else. Maybe insulation next week! My wife's ranger has another axle out back. LOL Been hauling my chain saws around with it, kinda handy. She wants it back in her garage.

 

[NYEDGE]

Ya I new that just wanted to hear it from some one else. Maybe insulation next week! My wife's ranger has another axle out back. LOL Been hauling my chain saws around with it, kinda handy. She wants it back in her garage.

Definately a good idea to insulate as soon as possible, and ya the Ranger is fun