Wood master cleanfire

[Den69RS96]

i found this the other day. Wood master came out with a new gassifier. It's a different design from most of the traditional owb. I wonder how this will hold up over the long run. I watched the video and it says the dry fire boiler is replaceable. I wonder how much this cost. Does anyone have experience with one?

http://www.woodmaster.com/product/cleanfire/

 

[Karl_northwind]

I'm always nervous about catalysts in the long term. ASME is nice though.
haven't seen one in person though.

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

Certainly a different direction than every other owb epa downdraft gasser. I like the modulating design based on the delta t of the supply and return lines, I assume that's how they will get away using the cat but I don't know how well it will work without storage. It is only 100k btu max output. I heard the price point is around 10k.

 

[S.Whiplash]

It looks pretty complicated, I saw one of their Flex-Fuel units once and had the same opinion about that boiler. Where you going to find an Austrian technician to fix the thing when you live in Butte MT.?

 

[maple1]

It does look complicated. Wondering how you get at the catalytic & HX area for simple cleaning & service, for one thing.

I've been kind of wondering for a while if a catalytic setup could be incorporated into a boiler. Seems it can. But then my thoughts turned to - with storage, why bother? Catalytics are used on wood stoves to gain long, slow burns (or maybe that is just a side benefit?). So if you can burn simpler, just as clean, with a gasification chamber - and not have to worry about what to do with excess heat because you have storage, I'm not sure the benefits are very clear cut.

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

I wouldn't consider this a "gassification" boiler. I believe they use the cat to get the high heat? Cat looks pretty easy to access from what they showed in the video. Just a cover in the back I the stove. I could be wrong but I think they are using a cat because of the "modulating output".

 

[Den69RS96]

I thought it seemed interesting. No batch burning or idling. The dry boiler and pressurized water system seem to eliminate most of the water leak issues. I wonder how the electronics will hold up.

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

I wonder how well it works though during the shoulder season when the days need as few as zero btus per hour.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

It is good to see that WoodMaster put some brain power into a "different" concept

I played around with catalytic designs myself for about 5 years.
My biggest concern is the longevity of the catalytic combustor.
If it is a ceramic type I don't see it to last more then 1 season, if at all, because it will see big temp swings, unless you use the torch all the time
If it is a metal type then the risk is that it will clog up very fast (finer mesh) because there is no automatic bypass for colder wood gas.

Also, I could not see any cleaning mechanism for the firetubes - you need them, plain and simple!

The cost savings on the water treatment will now go towards the catalytic combustor(s)
Wet wood, green wood or wood with a MC of >20% is the biggest enemy for catalytic combustors

For this unit to burn hot you need to integrate thermal water storage somewhere.
Smoldering will have a negative effect on the catalytic combuster

After all, with a couple improvements, this may well be a good concept.

The outdoor aspect will always be very appealing to many users

 

[Den69RS96]

I think its an interesting concept. I applaud their efforts. It's nice to see someone try to improve the design of an OWB after a few of the companies closed their doors.