The Steamboating Forum

First thing you should ask yourself is how much you want to spend on fuel (In the 30+ years my father has run his boat, he has spent a TOTAL of $25 in fuel burning mainly waste motor oil). Also what type of oil do you want to burn as some burners will operate with one type but not the other.

For example: you can burn die-sel, kerosene, waste vegetable oil (WVO), and waste motor oil (WMO) in a steam atomizing burner, but trying to burn anything but kerosene in a vaporizing burner (die-sel can be done, but it is tricky getting the vaporizing coil the right length so as not to heat up the die-sel too much, in turn cracking the fuel and carboning up the element) will result in a plugged vaporizer in short order.

Most 12v automatic burners are not designed to burn anything other than die-sel or home heating oil (kerosene), as their nozzle orifice is usually too small for burning heavier oils such as WVO or WMO. I am sure one could consult with the manufacturer and figure something out.

I have some hands-on experience with all three types of burners, along with burning strictly good "racing" hardwood;

My father's boat has a VFT with a Williams steam atomizing burner gravity fed burning WMO, diesel, WVO, whale oil, peanut oil, whatever. He burns about 2-3gal/hr. It is probably the most forgiving type of oil burning. He starts with wood (doesn't take much, even on a Semple VFT-40), and switches over to oil at about 5-10lbs. With needle valves on the steam and oil, one can get very fine adjustment. The only downside, to me anyway, is the hiss of the steam and the slight water loss. There have been ZERO issues with corrosion. He did have issues with carboning up the burner, but he moved the burner further out of the firebox, and just like Den, he has had no issues since. Whilst running on salt water the water consumption is very little and is easily compensated for with water from the makeup water tank. Fuel is stored in a 9 gallon day tank mounted on the side of the boiler, with additional fuel in 1 gallon windshield washer fluid bottles inside of milk crates (four to a crate) disguised as nice padded seats. When the day tank gets low we just grab some bottles and fill 'er up. It can be a bit tricky in heavy seas.

Old atomizing burners are pretty easy to find, and are quite easy to make. Simple as a piece of 1/4" copper tubing with the end squished flat and nearly shut for the steam side (forming a "fan" of steam), and another piece of 1/4" copper tubing soldered on top with the end hanging just out over and ahead of the steam end for the oil. The oil will dribble out and hit the fan, in turn getting atomized (blown into very fine particles).

My boat has a kerosene vaporizing burner. It is quite quiet in comparison to my father's steam atomizing burner; only a gentle rumble. I burn regular old kerosene (NOT paraffin) and the only issue I initially had when I got my boat was admitting too much fuel upon startup, in turn carboning up my burner twice over a steaming weekend. I have since learned how to initially just barely crack the fuel upon startup and have had no issues since. I have now been steaming for 3 seasons on the same burner without cleanout. I do carry a spare vaporizer coil in case of emergency. The fuel tanks are cylindrical aluminum tanks which are NOT pressurized, fuel is pumped to the burner via an engine mounted displacement pump, burner is controlled by mechanical pressurestat. Kerosene is VERY expensive (about $4.50/gal here right now), so depending on your fuel consumption (I get about 1gal/hr so it's not too bad) it could be tough to justify going this route.

I crewed on the Burma Queen when I was 11 or 12 which had a 12v burner, burning die-sel. It was VERY quiet and very easy to operate; just flip a switch. Unfortunately the power required to run the size of burner necessary to power that 56ft pinnace mandated a sizable generator. In that case it was, an extremely noisy die-sel generator located in the aft of the engine room with no sound insulation; NOT very enjoyable.

There was another boat that attended the B&W steamboat meet that had a much smaller 12v unit on a watertube boiler. As far as I know, he only had 12v battery(ies) and no alternator/generator. He only burned die-sel and it was very quiet. I am not sure of his range running only on battery power.

Die-sel isn't very cheap these days either, and I'm unsure whether the 12v unit would readily burn biodiesel.

All that being said, I would like to try a budget pressure-atomizing burner using a high-pressure conventional die-sel injection pump and die-sel injectors, or a common-rail type of injection pump (steady flow) with a regulator and nozzle to match.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to filter your fuel. Choppy seas can stir up crud in your fuel tanks which can in turn clog your fuel lines or, worse yet, your very hot burner. We have been pretty fortunate, usually riding out the hairy conditions, only to have the burner clog up after entering sheltered waters.

"Most 12v automatic burners are not designed to burn anything other than die-sel or home heating oil (kerosene), ...."

This statement may lead some to think that kerosene is the same as home heating oil. In fact, Die-sel oil and home heating oil, or No2 oil in the USA are all the same. Kerosene is a lighter fuel with a lower heating value than No2 oil.

Remember -if you are going to pressurize the fuel tank,make sure the tank is designed for pressure[all that Fred has shown are.] Years ago ,the GMC truck engines would not pick up fuel if they ever ran out.The solution used to be to place a air hose with a rag over the cap and pressurize the fuel tank.Not more than 4 lbs as the ends of the fuel tanks would bulge and everyone would know what you did! Bad enough to run out of fuel in the first place

We were at McConnel Is one year and were cruising around in Jake Turner's Dads boat. The burner in it worked very well AND picked up the fuel from the tank with no pump or pressure to the tank.As I am a firm believer in the "Kiss" method of doing things ,I asked Jake for a rough sketch and this is what I got! Well I did say rough sketch The design is so simple that this drawing will do just fine![/img]

Wes,

I can attest to rolling seas stirring up what ever is in fuel tanks besides fuel, as I became adrift 18 miles from shore in my boat from plugged fuel lines!! Fortuneately, coasties to the rescue and a rather embarrasing tow to dock So I consider that a shake down cruise..lol

How about trying a babington burner design using steam or a presure atomizing burner like the big ships use with fuel heaters and forced draft.

Keith

I have been burning _diesel & kerosene in my boat since 1990.... I've used both a kerosene vaporizing burner and a steam atomizing burner.

First of all, both kerosene and _diesel are hydrocarbons: they contain both hydrogen and carbon. When burned completely, this results in water and CO2 as combustion products. The approximate formula is C12H23, the combustion reaction is about

4C12H23 + 71O2 --> 48CO2 + 46H2O; the combustion of 1 kg of _diesel will yield 222 ml of water - in english units, combustion of 1 gallon of _diesel yields .2 gallons of water.... about 2x the amount of steam typically required to atomize the _diesel in the first place in a small boat. Steam atomizing burners do NOT cause corrosion problems outside boilers, any more than steam causes corrosion inside boilers. Note that in the presence of hot soot, steam is reduced to CO and H2; in general a reducing atmosphere is good for steel or copper.

I found vaporizing burners inherently unreliable in the long term - sooner or later they get plugged up with bits of carbon internally. The steam atomizing burner has worked very well, and is readily cleaned if need be, whereas the vaporizing tubes are more difficult.

For fuel pressure I've used a small gel cell and an automotive sealed electric fuel pump designed for gasoline, which has worked fine on _diesel. I need electricity for running lights anyway, so the battery is easy enough to charge once a week.

This system is simple, doesn't involve pressurized tanks, and can be immediately turned off if need be.

I start combustion using a small propane tank, which I use to atomize the _diesel until we have steam pressure.

- Bart

Bart:

When you start with a small propane cylinder, is it a 1 pound torch cylinder, or larger? About how much propane is used for a startup? I am assuming you need about 15 minutes firing on propane till you have enough steam to switchover to steam atomization? Is the fire with propane atomization better or worse than with steam atomization?

I've tried it w/ a small one, but it's kind of weak and freezes up.... for a long time I used a small 10 lb cylinder; I now just grab a 20 lb one (I have several since my Burning Man art car uses propane for fire effects). I should just splurge and buy a small aluminum one, but those will develop legs given half a chance. It doesn't take much w/ the design of my oil burner. A 20lb cylinder will start the boat prob. 25 times or more.

Note that the actual volume required is small. Anyone allergic to propane in a small boat can use a CO2 extinguisher w/ a regulator; I'm sure nitrous oxide would work as well . I should try it with my heavy duty inflater pump; that would let me just use the battery.

- Bart

NO2 will allow more fuel to be burnt, in turn making your boat into a race boat. I believe some racing classes frown on the use of N2O