I've finally managed it

[therecklessengineer]

Lizzie Lister has finally done some useful work.

New big end bearings at the weekend, and today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dETWDSN1B00


When I flick the switch I'm turning off the 3kW heating element - you can hear the speed increase. It's also running a TAM105 at the same time, so a little over 3kW I guess. At maximum fuel it'll hold 4kW, but there's a smokescreen from the exhaust!

[julianf]

How come the speed increase?  I would have thought there to be a momentary dip in speed as the generator presents more load, and then back to normal, as the governor catches up?

(i dont know much about these things though!)

[therecklessengineer]

When I flick the switch I'm turning off the 3kW heating element

At the beginning, it's running loaded. 

[julianf]

now i see... : )

[Tony]

I'm envious - go Lizzie!

How did you manage to lug her into your outbuilding?

So is that a V belt or a flat belt?  For a single belt that's good going for 3kw

[Dickjotec]

Very nice, as you probably know my lister is off line, I am waiting for the bits. Don't under estimate the amount of heat you will get. I have just got a hot tub as a heat dump for the summer.
Dick

[therecklessengineer]

I'm envious - go Lizzie!

How did you manage to lug her into your outbuilding?

So is that a V belt or a flat belt?  For a single belt that's good going for 3kw

A combination of levers, engine crane and swearing. The biggest issue was getting her high enough to drop her onto the studs which were set into the concrete.

It's a flat poly-v type belt. The alternator was originally part of a very cheap chinese genset. The end that has the pulley on it used to be the engine crankshaft. I machined what remained of the crankshaft, and made an adapter to fit a selection of power steering pulleys.

[Rotary-Motion]

very clever and nice job!

[therecklessengineer]

She's now done about 10 hours and used 10 litres of fuel (mix of bio and old engine oil) running at an average load of 3kw.

A 170 litre batch of homebrew done entirely on Lister power (with the exception of the compressor for getting the methanol out of the drum)

This could be a win! Now to use the heat generated...

[julianf]

What's your opinion on the suggested abrasive residue issue with using WMO?

spencer keeps going on about it on any forum he can find, but i can see how there may be some truth in it (i wonder if it may be the ph buffers in the oil)

[therecklessengineer]

I've seen those posts.

As you might know, my day job involves running very large engines on a wide range of fuels. Everything from road diesel to HFO 380 - which is so thick and nasty we have to heat it to 120 degrees before we can pump it let alone run an engine on the stuff.

I also deal with the engine oil in such engines, both the analysis and processing of. So I have considerable education and experience in both fields.

Amongst other things in WMO, there is a carbon content which is residue from the combustion process and is quite abrasive. I can imagine it'd do damage to fuel injection equipment. Currently, I'm not that bothered about the small quantity I've put through the Lister - it was really an experiment. However, if I am going to run on WMO long term (and I think I will) then I'll get one of Nathan's centrifuges to remove the carbon sludge from the oil before going into a tank to run the Lister.

There isn't really much else in WMO that is going to damage anything, other than the inevitable coking up of the injector/head. Preheating the oil should reduce this, but I expect Lizzie would need more servicing than she otherwise would.

I was actually very surprised how well Lizzie ran on the stuff. There was hardly a hint of smoke at the 3kW load I had on her.

[julianf]

Yep, i did know of your background, hence was interested to know what you thought.

What do you think about the pH buffers?  Are they calcium compounds, and, if so, would these cause abrasion, post combustion?

The posts from spencer were all about cylinder / exhaust damage.  He said he had no issues with any of the components prior to combustion.

[therecklessengineer]

Yep, i did know of your background, hence was interested to know what you thought.

What do you think about the pH buffers?  Are they calcium compounds, and, if so, would these cause abrasion, post combustion?

The posts from spencer were all about cylinder / exhaust damage.  He said he had no issues with any of the components prior to combustion.

Re-reading my post, I sound like a bit of an arsehole. Apologies for that if it came across that way!

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what alkaline compounds are used. However, lube oil is generally designed to be partially burnt - some will always find it's way into the combustion space so I can't imagine anything would be added could potentially do damage. And, as far as I am aware, adding alkaline compounds to engine oils has been phased out as the introduction of ULSD has stopped the formation of acidic compounds in the combustion process.

I know that largely the damage is caused by sodium and vanadium compounds when running on HFO. I'm now wondering if these are present in mineral engine oils.

[julianf]

I did not take it the wrong way at all - no problem there.  As i said, i value your input, as, with the removal of the ROCs, i cant see how my own lister is ever going to see active duty.  If, however, i could run on WMO, that may well change.

I have the lister, a couple of large (one is in excess of 200kg) PMAs, and a suitable GTI. 

...but then the ROCs thing happened : (

[therecklessengineer]

Jolly good.

I see no reason why you couldn't run a Lister on WMO - just be prepared for a little more maintenance, and I think adding a centrifuge for the oil before going into a feed tank for the Lister would probably help somewhat.

I'm getting a fuel consumption value of just about 300g/kWh (excluding heat recovered) which is really very good. The Internet seems to suggest about 500g/kWh. By comparison, a modern medium speed CAT diesel (it's the only figure I can remember off the top of my head) uses about 230g/kWh. Admittedly that's at 200kW.

I have a 5kW UPS that I've acquired. I'd like to hook it up to the Lister so I can run at full load for a few hours a day - generate all my hot water and electricity in that time. When I stop the Lister, the UPS then takes over.